Bridget and I were keen to explore the mountains of Pyrenees but neither of us had been able to find much information online in advance of the trip so pre-planning for this section was a bit minimal.
However once we arrived in Andorra we discovered there is a good bus service which connects towns and villages across this tiny country.
On this day we took local bus L4 (€1.90 each paid in cash to the driver) and travelled from our base in Andorra La Vella to nearby Canillo.
There are a couple of Canillo attractions which promised panoramic mountain views and for this we had pre-booked a dedicated bus tour while in the Andorra La Vella tourist office the previous day.
Our tour was to start in Canillo at 12.30 so having arrived in the town in plenty of time we started out with a coffee in the lovely shady back yard of a local cafe.
Canillo is one of 7 parishes which make up the country of Andorra and from Canillo town you can take a cable car up into the mountains for walking in the summer and skiing in the winter.
After the coffee we had a look around the historic town centre and came across a mill that had been traditionally used for wheat cultivation.
Tibetan bridge
As our ticket time approached we walked to the dedicated tourist bus stop, showed our tickets and boarded the bus. We were a few minutes early however we found that several buses circulate around the 3 stops between 10 am to 4 pm and the ticket time is really a guide to space out the bookings. The 3 stops are: the Tibetan bridge, the Mirador Roc viewpoint and the initial pick up stop in Canillo town.
The full sized bus drove us for about 10-15 minutes up the switch backs towards the top of the mountain overlooking Canillo. At the stop everyone disembarked and started to walk the rest of the way for 900 meters uphill towards the bridge.
As we got higher the spectacular views across the valley opened up and it took about 10-15 minutes of walking uphill before we reached the bridge.
The Tibetan bridge is 603 m long and sits at an altitude of 1875 m. This is one of the longest Tibetan pedestrian bridges in the world and offers magnificent views of the surrounding Pyrenees.
About half way along the bridge, there was a couple of people having a rope tied to their feet so they could leap off and fall hundreds of meters into the gorge below to do a bungee jump 😳
Having walked over 600 m across the bridge we got to the other side where we stayed for about 15 minutes, watched another bungee jumper and then walked back again.
We stopped for a refreshing drink at the mountain top cafe before walking back down to the bus. This was a warm and sunny 24 degrees day, perfect weather!
Mirador Roc del Quer
Next up was the ‘Mirador del Roc’ the 20 m long observation deck which is suspended in the air and offers more panoramic views of the Andorran Pyrenees. The bus dropped us off at a car park and we had to walk, again, for about half a km to get to the viewing platform.
A statue ‘The Ponderer’ can be found perched on the edge of the observation deck. This was designed by an Argentinian sculptor called Miguel Angel Gonzalez.
As Bridget and I were driven back in the bus to Canillo we were thinking about what to do next. We had heard that one of the most sacred places of Andorra was in a nearby village called Meritxell.
We called back into the tourist information office and the helpful lady explained it was 3 km away and you could walk there by crossing over the mountains! This sounded exciting. (And we also learnt that Meritxell is pronounced ‘Merry-chell’)
We had a plan…
As we were to be walking over a mountain, some sustenance was in order. We called into the cafe next door to the tourist office and for me, it was Estrella (as a cold local beer on a hot day) and vegetarian empanada (to remind me of our trip to Argentina last year)…
Following the directions given by the tourist information lady we walked behind the tourist office, over the bridge and turned right onto a path at the small church.
Thankfully we saw a sign towards Meritxell 👍
The path climbed high up the mountain for the first km which opened up views across Canillo.
At the first km we came to a tiny hamlet called Prats 😂
We noticed a familiar yellow Camino shell on a blue sign… follow the shells to the left for a few hundred miles and you would find yourself in Santiago de Compostela! But we had to turn right…
The next 2 km towards Meritxell were downhill.
And through shady trees…
Basilica Sanctuary of Meritxell
This was a short walk and in less than an hour the mountain path had lead us straight to the Basilica Sanctuary of Meritxell.
There are two parts to the Basilica of Meritxell: the new sanctuary which is designed in Andorran architecture and the old sanctuary. It was granted the title ‘Minor Basilica’ by Pope Francis.
Construction of the new sanctuary began on 8th September 1974 following a devastating fire which began on 8th September 1972 and destroyed the origional Church of Santa Maria de Meritxell.
Our Lady of Meritxell is considered to be the patron saint of the valleys of Andorra. This began as a cult but became officially recognised by the Andorran authorities in 1873. The patron saint is seen to protect people against the risk of floods, wars and pandemics.
One of the rooms at the Basilica was dedicated to the Bible and we learned the Bible is availble in over 1000 different languages.
The Romanesque chapel of the Old Sanctuary is dedicated to Saint Mary and was built in the second half of the 12th century.
Once we left the Basilica, our plan was to get the public bus back to Andorra La Vella. We walked down the small winding village road and to the main road to find a bus stop…
We did find a bus stop but it was on the side going back to Canillo… Nothing was showing on Google Maps so we began to walk towards another town called Encamp on the way back…
We walked and walked along the dual carriageway but no bus stop was in sight…
By now it was about 7 pm but the weather was warm and pleasant, there was a footpath inside the crash barrier of the main road (so we didn’t feel unsafe) and it was all a gentle downward slope towards Encamp. And the far reaching views across the valley were panoramic.
So it could have been worse!
Eventually we arrived in Encamp, found a bus stop, waited a few minutes and bus L2 arrived, bound for Andorra La Vella! Hurrah!
Once back in the city we walked to the historic centre, had a look round and finished off a wonderful day with a delicious Mexican meal.
Booking the mini tour
It is advised to pre-book the round trip Canillo bus as the tickets sell out in advance (we did this at the tourist information office the previous day in Andorra La Vella). This was good value at just €19 per person which included entrance to the Tibetan bridge, the Mirador and the round trip buses.
Summary
Other than pre-booking the panoramic viewpoint tour we organised this day ourselves. We hadn’t set out to explore the Basilica Sanctuary of Meritxell but as we were open minded to opportinities for the rest of the day this led us to an interesting place to visit.
frombluetogreen.com 
One comment