City Review: Andorra la Vella, Andorra

Hi everyone! I’ve been really working on prioritizing my blog this year, but I’ve been so deep in some of the less fun website stuff… I need to make sure I keep writing along the way. So here I am, sitting down to continue sharing more about our European road trip from last month. I still have so much to tell you! And today I’m going to tell you all about Andorra la Vella, Andorra.

I also decided on a new post type called “city review,” which I’m planning to keep relatively formulaic. I’ve done review-type posts in the past, but my goal is to make them more functional for anyone who’s looking for advice on traveling to that city. City review #1, coming right up.

About Andorra La Vella

Andorra is a funny little country with a lot of quirks, thanks to its tax-haven status for many Europeans, the fact that it’s a microstate, and its sandwiched location between Spain and France. The capital, Andorra la Vella, doesn’t have that big-city feel that many other European capitals have… though it makes sense once you understand Andorra a little bit better.

Andorra has a population of about 80,000 people, and about half of them live in Andorra la Vella and the surrounding area. The official language is Catalan, though Spanish, French, and Portuguese are also spoken.

Andorra la Vella was founded in 1278, and many of the buildings in the city date back to this time period. Its current parliamentary democracy wasn’t formalized until 30 years ago, in 1993. And while Andorra isn’t part of the EU, its official currency is the euro.

How Many Days Do You Need in Andorra La Vella?

Andorra isn’t much of a destination, truth be told. We visited it as we passed through in our rental car during our road trip, and I think that was the best way to visit. The amount of time you need, though, depends on your motivation for visiting.

Are you there to shop or are you there for the novelty of visiting another country? In that case, you should be good with just an overnight stop or even a day trip from Barcelona.

If you’re there to go skiing or snowboarding, you’d probably want a few more days to enjoy the Pyrenees slopes!

We were there for about one and a half days, and two nights. We’d planned to go skiing during our full day there, but there was no snow… so we just had another day in the city. I think one day and one night would have been plenty for us.

Things To Do in Andorra La Vella

No matter what you like, there’s probably something in Andorra la Vella to keep you entertained.

If you like learning about history and politics, you can visit Casa de la Vall, which is basically Andorra’s parliament house. It’s also a museum, and it only costs a few euros for entrance. However, we didn’t get to go inside — they were holding a private tour and asked us to come back later, but we didn’t have time. If you visit, you’ll have to come back here and tell me whether it’s worth it!

Nature lovers can embark on a short hike called the Rec del Sola. This hike takes you up the side of a mountain, giving you amazing views of the valley below and surrounding mountains. The walk is a little steep, but it’s fairly easy. And once you’re up there, the trail is flat and you can walk as long as you want before coming back down. Besides the views, my favorite thing was the number of chickens and stray cats we came across on the way up!

If you like shopping, be sure to check out the Shopping Mile. Andorra’s status as a tax haven means you’ll find lots of duty-free type items like perfume, cosmetics, and cigars — along with typical European mall stores like MANGO, Bershka, Calzedonia, Pull & Bear, as well as more upscale retailers like Cartier and TAG Heuer. The Shopping Mile starts at Avenida Meritxell and eventually turns into a pedestrian zone at Avinguda Carlemany, winding toward neighboring city Escaldes.

Les Escaldes is also home to Caldea Spa. Apparently spas and thermal baths are pretty popular in Andorra, and I guess we missed the memo because we didn’t even bring our swimsuits on this trip. But it was impossible to miss the towering glass spire of Caldea Spa — though there are also other spas, if you don’t care about being in Andorra’s tallest and most iconic building.

And finally, though I mentioned we weren’t able to hit the slopes, it seems like Grandvalira is generally considered to be the best. In fact, it’s the largest ski resort in all of the Pyrenees Mountains.

How Expensive is Andorra la Vella?

Having just been in Barcelona, Andorra la Vella didn’t seem to be any more expensive. For two people to have dinner, a drink or two, and some dessert, we typically spent around €30-40. Some places did have a “menu del dia” for lunch, which will generally get you an appetizer, a main course, a dessert, and a drink for around €12-15. Remember — tax is already included, and you don’t have to tip.

Our biggest expense in Andorra la Vella was parking. To park at the “Aparcament Comunal Dr. Molines,” a public parking lot, it cost us about €50 for less than 48 hours. The location was pretty good… it was just expensive! I think that was the most expensive parking of anywhere we went during our two-week trip.

Where We Ate

A couple of the places we ate during our time in Andorra la Vella stood out, so I wanted to share those!

Barra Mar’s Gastrobar: Good food with a big menu, good service, good drinks, and good dessert! Best dinner we had in Andorra.

Barra Mar’s Gastrobar
Av. Dr. Mitjavila, 8
AD500 Andorra la Vella, Andorra

K L’Irina: Has a lunch menu del dia until 3:30pm (I believe) on weekdays. After lunchtime, it’s a bar/cafe for the rest of the evening. House wine was cheap at €1.80 per glass! They also have Wi-Fi and portable phone chargers for customers.

K L’Irina
Carrer Bonaventura Armengol, 11
AD500 Andorra la Vella, Andorra

Where We Stayed

Using our Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, we booked the Hotel de l’Isard on Av. Meritxell partially with points, and partially with money. Like I mentioned, we had to park in a public parking lot, but it was only a couple of blocks away.

The best thing about Hotel de l’Isard was definitely its location. It was right in the city, part of the Shopping Mile, and it was really easy to walk everywhere we wanted to go. We even were able to walk along the river to Les Escaldes, because Andorra la Vella really isn’t that big. But we loved the location of our hotel.

As far as the hotel itself, it was fine. If the location was the best thing, the shower was the worst thing. I’m writing this blog post at a small square table, and I bet it’s bigger than the shower. But for the price, and for only two nights, it worked just fine for our needs.

Final Thoughts

Andorra la Vella certainly wasn’t my favorite city we stopped at during our road trip, but I’m still really glad we went! It was a new country to visit, helping me get closer to my goal of visiting my 30th country while I’m 30. (Andorra was #26.) And while I thought it would be a lot like any other mountain town in Spain or France, Andorra la Vella’s unique quirks made it worth a visit — at least for a day.

 

Are you thinking about visiting Andorra la Vella? What else do you want to know? Feel free to leave me a comment!

-Cathy

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Originally Published on February 16, 2023.