Back in December 2019 we took a day trip to Andorra during our Christmas break in Barcelona. As Andorra is just a short bus journey away, we felt it was a great way to tick another Country and Principality of our list, and hopefully see some snow!
Where is Andorra?
Andorra is one of the smallest nations in Europe. The tiny Principality can be found nestled in the Pyrenees between Spain and France.
Currency/Language
The official language of Andorra is Catalan, but English, French and Spanish are also commonly spoken. The official currency used is the Euro.
Getting to Andorra
As Andorra has no airport, visitors fly into Spain or France and make the journey to Andorra by bus or car. As we don’t drive, we choose to take the 3hr bus journey from Barcelona. We used Alsa for our journey, there are a number of other companies who leave from Barcelona Nord bus terminal. Check out the Andorra Tourist information for all options.
What to see and do in Andorra?
We opted for a day trip and therefore only got to visit the Capital, Andorra La Vella. On reflection we do regret not spending a couple nights there, and seeing what else the country has to offer. If you are planning to see more of the country, we recommend checking out the Andorra tourist information, who were superbly helpful with any questions we had.
Old Quarter
After leaving the bus terminal we followed the crowd and ended up in the very small old quarter of Andorra La Vella.
Here we wandered around the beautiful alley ways and cobbled streets, finding beautiful buildings such as the Church of Sant Esteve, which surprisingly was open, and even more beautiful inside.
La Noblesse du Temps & Andorra La Vella sign
‘La Noblesse du temps’ which translates as ‘The Nobility of Time’ is a famous piece of artwork, by Salvador Dali. The melting clock depicts the passage of time and is a pretty cool to see.
The Andorra La Vella sign, sits on a bridge crossing the very fast moving La Valira River. If you need that proof of visit photo, I guess this is the perfect place.
Shopping Mile
We like to fly hand luggage only so space was tight and shopping therefore wasn’t top of our list. However, the shops in Andorra are tax free and were absolutely swarmed. We walked past some well known high street/designer shops and going by the bag laden customers leaving them, there must have been bargains to be had. Cigarettes are also a big seller in Andorra, every few metres a shop was selling them.
Kids Parks
A park with a view, what more could you want? Well we found two of them in the city centre alone. These play parks catered for everyone and were very well maintained.
Megan had an absolute ball running about having a go on everything, until she decided the quickest way down the 6 ft ladder was to fall backwards to the ground. Like all kids after a moment of shock and the promise of sweets, she was back running around again.
Food
Now Daddy is no foodie, and you will rarely see him gushing over meals, but we had two great meals in Andorra that we need to share.
For lunch we ate at ‘Chester’ which was a burger place. It was Megan’s choice and only just opening as we arrived. We weren’t expecting much, but how wrong could we be, it was delicious! The menu was varied, with all food made fresh to order, and reasonably priced.
Having walked past a packed San Telmo, an Argentinian restaurant during lunch time, we knew exactly were we wanted to head for dinner. As we were eating early before catching our bus we got lucky and the place was quiet. We opted to share the mixed grill between us, and it was absolutely amazing. We thoroughly recommend if in the area.
Sunset
Megan’s legs were “REALLY” about to fall off when we spotted a roof top bar called ‘Plan B’. The rooftop provides a great view of Andorra La Vella as the sunsets. A perfect way to end the day in Andorra.
Caldea Spa
Sadly, we didn’t have time to squeeze a few hours here into our schedule. Another regret, and perhaps an excuse to stay over night and chill out at the Caldea Spa . You can’t miss this place, it’s a huge big futuristic building at the top of the city.
Getting home
No lies, this was utter madness. We had tickets booked, but there were three buses all leaving at the same time, and no one was able to give clear guidance as to which bus was ours and what stand to queue at. It was a bit of a free for all, but after a mad scrummage we got onto the second bus and crossed our fingers it was heading to Barcelona. That wasn’t the end of our headaches! It became clear that everyone else also decided this was the perfect time to leave Andorra and the queues at the Spanish boarder were huge. With no toilets onboard it wasn’t long before we were regretting that red wine with dinner!
Would we recommend Andorra for a day trip?
We really regret not spending more time in the country itself. Unless the aim of your visit is to go shopping, I really wouldn’t recommend a day trip. The country I feel offers much more than Andorra La Vella and sadly apart from what we seen on the bus trip in , we never got to experience that.
Thank you for taking the time to read about our day trip to Andorra.
The Lewis Family.