Continuing our backpacking adventure, Bridget and I arrived in Andorra La Vella on time at just before 2 pm.
Nestled between Spain and France, high up in the Pyrenees, Andorra is one of Europe’s smallest countries. At 1023m, its capital, Andorra la Vella is the highest altitude capital city in Europe.
The 67,000 people of Andorra enjoy a high standard of living with low taxes and a healthy outdoors lifestyle.
The main language spoken is Andorran Catalan although most Andorrans also speak Spanish.
During our time staying in Andorra La Vella we wandered around the small and compact city centre and also did a couple of day trips to explore more of the scenic mountainous surroundings.
Above is the Pont de Paris, a modern bridge dedicated to Andorra in 2006.
The above statue ‘La Noblesse du Temps’ can be found at Plaza de la Rononda. It was created by Catalan artist Salvador Dali and represents a melting clock.
Andorra La Vella is a duty free place and its main pedestrian street is lined with designer shops… and lots of perfume shops called ‘Julia’.
Early in the morning, the main colourful and pedestrian Meritxell Street is fairly quiet but from about mid-morning until late into the night it becomes busy, teeming with people.
Historic centre
The historic centre of Andorra La Vella is located in the Barri Antic neighbourhood of the city. Casa de la Vella was built in 1580 and between 1702 – 2011 it was the parliament building
The picturesque church of Esglesia de Sant Esteve was built in the 12th century and is one of the main focal points in the historic centre.
The historic centre has narrow cobbled streets and is also now home to wine bars and restaurants
Back in Les Escaldes, the newer part of town and at 10 pm on Friday and Saturday nights (and 9.30 pm on the other nights) a fountain display across the River Valira d’Orient can be enjoyed.
Food and drinks
For our first evening in Andorra we went to the Refugi Alpi restaurant. Traditional food in Andorra has Catalan and French influences but this specialised in cuisine from the French Alps!
Bridget and I shared a huge cheese fondue, together with roasted vegetables and a sangria each.
Full of warm melted cheese baked inside a loaf of crusty bread this was not the healthiest of options! At least we ordered the vegetables too, its all about balance 🙂
For our second evening while in the historic centre we found a Mexican restaurant called La Adelita. Being in a Mexican place the obvious drink for me was a Margarita… on this occasion I gave it a 7 out of 10! A tad on the sweet side but at a reasonable cost of €6.80 (around £5.87).
The vegetable burritos were delicious and again, not a bad city centre price of €12.50 (£10.79).
At the end of the meal we were given a tequila based liquor shot each. These were so tasty we purchased a bottle for just under €9 from a duty free shop… the only ‘problem’ was we would have to drink it all before our flight home in 3 days time 🤔
Also in the historic centre we visited La Tapeta wine bar where I had a generous glass of Argentinian Malbec for just €4.50. Bridget reminisced from our first holiday abroad together when we went to Majorca as teenagers back in 1986 where we were introduced to Liquor 43! A throw back taste from the past… over 39 years ago!
On our first day, in our hotel bar I asked for a local beer to try and the closest thing in Andorra which is classed as ‘local’ is actually from the Spanish region of Valencia. This was refreshing and tasty.
Accommodation
We spent 3 nights in the Hotel les Closes which I highly recommend. It had a great location in the city centre, we shared a large comfortable twin room, the shower was excellent and despite its location the room was silent so we both slept very well. The breakfast was fairly average but plentiful with lots of fresh bakery products aka carbs… With few cooked options it wasn’t quite as varied as the fab breakfast we had enjoyed in Barcelona…
Summary
Overall I loved our short 3 day visit to Andorra. There is an efficient bus service and it’s easy to get around the country even without a car. Another couple of days would have been good! In terms of the budget, the prices were pretty average for a Western European country and a bit lower than Barcelona.
I’ve split the Andorra section of this trip into 3 posts with two more coming up next . These outline the two ‘middle’ days we spent exploring this small mountainous principality.
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