Andorra

Fresh-air, mountains, winding roads, spring sunshine AND snow?

After living in Barcelona for three months, in the shadow of Pyreneès, it was time. The mountains were calling us.

So too was the opportunity to strike another country off the list – the tiny micronation of Andorra.

We were heading there in the off-season, where it was neither too warm for hiking, and too cold for skiing. While not the best time to visit, watch the video to see how much the weather changed in 24 hours, it did mean we could do Andorra on a budget – our car rental was around 60 euros for the weekend, and our hotel about 130 euros. Not bad for a whole weekend.

Getting there
We set off late on Friday evening from the Hertz car rental at the airport, with a tiny fiat 500 with a retractable roof. The race was on to get to the hotel before the sun went down.

Unfortunately, we lost the race. It took about three hours to reach the border into Andorra – which meant by the time we’d entered the country, it was dark and we were unaware of the stunning mountain landscape we’d driven into until we woke up the following day.

Spring sunshine

We woke up early on Saturday to beautiful sunshine and vivid green mountains. It was time for breakfast, and, being vegan (and in Jo’s case gluten-free too!) we weren’t expecting much from the hotel breakfast buffet. But we were wrong. The owners had gone all out, catering to our needs – despite us being so difficult, a refreshing change to the usual orange bowl of fruit we’re usually treated to!. Thanks Hotel Sant Miquel!

With stomachs full to the brim, the roof retracted in the Fiat, we set off to explore the mountains.

The views were incredible. It was like the Swiss Alps, but on a budget.

We ended up doing a loop of the country, taking on the well paved roads, climbing up mountain sides and stopping at various stops to walk to different viewpoints which look down into the valleys below.

All in all it took about 4-5 hours to get round the whole circuit of the country, which included views such as the Mirador Roc Del Quer viewpoint, a platform created by the tourist board that juts out from the side of a hill giving you a panoramic shot of the valley below.

With the weather threatening to break out into rain, we drove back to the main city in a search for food we could eat, and we were pretty surprised when we came across what seems to be the only veggie restaurant in the country: Veggie’s World.

With stomachs again full of food, we set out to take advantage of Andorra’s tax-free status. The capital city/town is a strange one. It’s basically a shopping mall, dominated by retailers selling luxury goods, cigarettes and alcohol en-mass to people passing through. It ain’t pretty – but it meant we were able to buy a new camera with a pretty decent discount on top.

After what felt like a long day we headed home just as a thunderstorm started brewing. The off-season definitely has its drawbacks too.

We awoke on Sunday to a surprise new weather condition…

SNOW!

The place was covered in it. We truly were getting the full Andorra-experience.

After raiding the amazing breakfast buffet once more, we checked out and de-snowed the car. I don’t think we’ll be taking the roof down for this one.

With the snowy landscape around us, we thought it’d be interesting to revisit some of the spots we visited the day before, to get some comparison shots.

Going back up into the mountains, the road conditions weren’t their best, and we perhaps shouldn’t have been tackling them in this tiny Fiat. With a lack of barriers on either side of the roads, and ice and snow not providing the best grip for our tyres, we got to the first stop, took our pictures and decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to tackle the other back roads.

So we decided we’d visit a lake instead. Which was distinctly average, but had a cozy cafe/restaurant with a roaring fire.

With our feet thawed we headed back to Barcelona, with the sun on our backs and the snow melting, it was a beautiful journey back home.

Andorra provided the perfect weekend getaway from the city, we experienced both weather fronts and saw the majority of the place in the space of 36 hours. We’re unsure if we’d visit again, but we do know it’s 100% worth it if you’re looking to escape Barcelona and to get a dose of fresh mountain air.

Like this? Follow us on Instagram for more: @thesewildjourneys & @this_wildworld, or on YouTube: @thesewildjourneys