Tucked away in the mountains that act as a natural border between Spain and France is a small country full of interesting places and a perfect destination for nature lovers. Here starts a complete travel guide on Andorra, the country in the Pyrenees.
What is Andorra like?
Andorra is a country located in the Pyrenees mountain range, between Spain and France. It is a really small country, from one end of the country to the other it is less than 45 km. Andorra has a permanent population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants, of which only 30,000 are Andorran nationals. The population increases a lot during the winter season.
90% of Andorra’s territory is occupied by mountains, forests, rivers and lakes. The main towns of Andorra grew and developed at the bottom of the valleys, where you will find its capital, Andorra la Vella.
The marked presence of the mountain range in the daily life of Andorra justifies the fact that Andorra is marketed as the Country in the Pyrenees.
Andorra is a fairly old country, independent since 788, when Charlemagne would have expelled the Arabs from the region.
In 1278 and 1288 two very important agreements were signed for the history of Andorra, known as the Pareatges, between the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix, which gave rise to the institution of the co-principality, whereby the sovereignty of Andorra was shared by the signatories of the agreements.
For centuries, Andorra remained an independent political entity, under the protection and influence of both Spain and France. The system of government, instituted in the 12th century, is quite unique: Andorra is a parliamentary co-principality.
Andorra has a parliament and a head of government, but constitutionally it is run by two princes: one is today the president of the French republic and the other is the bishop of Seo d’Urgell, which is the nearest town on the Spanish side of the border. Both princes share identical powers. That is why the official name of the country is Principat d’Andorra.
Andorra did not join the United Nations until 1993, when a new constitution declared the Andorran people to be the sole sovereign of the state, although it maintained the co-principality system.
Important: Andorra is not part of the European Union.
The capital of Andorra is Andorra la Vella. It is located in the center of the country, at the bottom of the valley.
Andorra is made up of the seven parishes that you can see now on the screen. They are administrative divisions without autonomous powers, and could be described as the equivalent of provinces in Spain.
The Andorran flag has three colors, blue, yellow and red, with the coat of arms of Andorra placed in the center of the flag.
Two notes on Andorra’s economy. 80% of its GDP depends on the service sector, where tourism and banking stand out. There is almost no agriculture or livestock. Andorra today imports almost all of its food. Most of the cultivated fields are dedicated to tobacco, if you look carefully, you will see quite a few plantations, which are maintained today thanks to public subsidies.
Basic information about Andorra
Let’s go through the basic information you need to know to visit Andorra.
The official language of Andorra is Catalan. Although Spanish and French are also widely used. You can easily get by with either of these two languages.
Andorra’s immigration requirements for those visiting for tourism are identical to those in Spain or France. Basically, from the perspective of the Andorra authorities, if you have entered Spain or France, you can enter Andorra. You don’t need any other authorization.
In the half dozen times we have visited Andorra, we have never been stopped at immigration control when entering the country. We don’t know if there is a possibility of getting an Andorran stamp in your passport, you will have to stop at the entrance to talk to an Andorra agent about it.
Although not a member of the European Union, Andorra’s official currency is the euro. So the euros you buy to visit Spain will also work in Andorra. Fun fact: although Andorra is not part of the European Union, in addition to using the euro, it has its own euros, which you will find if you are lucky. They are minted alternately in the Spanish and French mints.
As for healthcare, as Andorra is not part of the European Union, the European Health Card that we residents in Spain use to get healthcare in other EU countries is not valid for Andorra. There is an agreement between Spain and Andorra that allows a Spanish worker to obtain health coverage in Andorra, but for a trip of a few days there is a time-consuming procedure with red-tape involved.
If you are going to visit Andorra, we strongly recommend that you take out health insurance. If you have taken out insurance to visit Spain or other European countries, check that it also includes coverage for Andorra.
Cellphone in Andorra
Since Andorra is not part of the European Union, the rules that allow international roaming within EU countries do not apply to Andorra.
Andorra’s telephone operator charges absurd rates to those who connect while roaming. If you are traveling with a European cell phone, it is essential that you put it in airplane mode when approaching the Andorran border to avoid having to pay roaming charges in Andorra.
If you have contracted a plan or purchased a SIM card for use in Europe, make sure that it can also be used in Andorra.
If your phone accepts eSIMs, the solution is to get an eSIM valid for Andorra, which is what we did. Remember that we have a 15 percent discount code for new Airalo users and 10 percent for existing users. If you like Holafly, which also offers a card with unlimited data for Andorra, we have a small discount for Holafly card purchases. Once you have entered Andorra, activate the eSIM to connect to the internet. Ours worked great.
How to reach Andorra and move around
First of all, let’s talk about how to get to Andorra. You can also get to Andorra from France, but as we are only specialized in Spain, we are only going to look at the options from Spain.
The transportation options we will talk about next are basically two: the bus or the car.
And it would be good to clarify at the outset that:
- Andorra has no airport, so it is not possible to arrive by plane. The nearest international airport is in Barcelona, 200 kilometers away.
- Andorra has no railway lines, so it is not possible to reach the country by train. The nearest railroad station is Lleida Pirineus, 150 kilometers away.
The first option to get to Andorra is by bus. The main starting point is the city of Barcelona. There are several companies that make the trip. ALSA departs from Barcelona Nord Station and takes 3.15 hours for the fastest service. Andorra Direct departs from terminals 1 and 2 of Barcelona airport, passes through Sants station and takes 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Lleida is the second city with regular departures to Andorra. It can be a good option if you want to get to Andorra from Madrid or Zaragoza. This is because the high speed train line from Madrid to Barcelona passes through Lleida.
When you arrive in Lleida, you will change the bullet train for a bus that will take you to Andorra in just over two hours.
There are three companies that offer this service: Alsa and Hife operate from both the bus station and the high-speed train station in Lleida. Andbus only operates from the high-speed train station.
Whether you depart from Barcelona or Lleida, make sure you choose a fast service, there are services that take longer with more than 30 stops along the way.
The final destination for both buses from Barcelona and buses from Lleida is Estació Nacional d’Autobusos, Andorra’s bus station, which is located in its capital, Andorra La Vella.
It is a small bus station south of the capital. It is important to note that if you arrive in Andorra by bus, you will most likely need a second transport to get to your accommodation.
The second option for getting to Andorra is by car, either owned or rented.
The easiest starting point for this trip is Barcelona. The route to Andorra runs along a combination of toll and non-toll highways and one-lane roads in each direction in excellent condition.
The approximate travel time to the entrance of Andorra is 2 hours and 45 minutes.
The second point of departure is Lleida, an option for those who want to combine high-speed train and rental car.
The route to Andorra runs on a one-lane road in each direction through beautiful scenery.
Approximate travel time to the entrance to Andorra is 2 hours and 10 minutes.
A comment on travel times. In the case of Andorra, travel times can only be approximate. This is because there is a very important factor that can considerably increase the travel time: the customs control when entering Spain.
We are not talking about passport control, which is almost non-existent, but the control of the Spanish customs authorities for those leaving Andorra and entering Spain. At certain times of the year, the queues can be very long.
We have been to Andorra several times, always by car, and have had long queues at customs, just as we have had zero queues on several trips, as you can see now in the pictures we took on our last trip.
So our advice is to never combine your return from Andorra with a flight to Barcelona or anywhere else in Spain. It is too big a risk.
And now we are going to answer some questions for those who are thinking about renting a car to visit Andorra.
The first question is where it would be better to rent a car, in Spain or in Andorra. We believe that the best option would be to rent in Spain to avoid wasting time in Andorra changing means of transport. Because you would arrive in Andorra and you would have to go to the car rental company.
The second frequently asked question is about the state of the roads in Andorra, especially in winter.
In general, Andorra has an excellent road network. Always keep in mind that it is a country located in the mountains, so you will not find major highways. But the roads are good, including several tunnels that help you pass from one valley to another.
All roads in Andorra are free, there are no tolls, with the only exception of the tunnel linking Andorra with France.
For those visiting Andorra in winter, the issue is the snow on the roads.
What we are going to explain now applies both to the stretch between Barcelona/Lleida and Andorra and to the roads in the interior of Andorra.
Even in the middle of winter, when the mountains are covered with snow, the roads are kept clear of snow, especially those at the bottom of the valleys, in a very good state of preservation.
The country has a fleet of snow plows, more modern than the one in the picture, working to keep the roads clear at all times.
The main problem is if it storms and snows heavily. At that point, the machines can’t be everywhere, and you may have to put chains on your car’s tires if they’re not winter tires, which is a real challenge for anyone who’s not used to it.
That said, the chances of this happening are very slim. Before setting off you will check the weather forecast, and if it starts to snow, you will turn around and head back to the safety of your hotel.
The risk of having problems with snow on the road between November and April is small, but it does exist.
We love driving through snowy landscapes, but you have to evaluate your risk tolerance, even if it is very small.
And taking into account everything we have said so far, let’s try to see what would be the best option to get around Andorra.
Tourist attractions are spread all over the country. They are located in the four cardinal points. And public transport in Andorra is very limited, and does not reach very beautiful areas of the country.
There are several public transport lines that run through Andorra, with different frequencies and schedules. But the problem of relying on the bus in Andorra is threefold:
- there are very interesting places that the public bus does not reach.
- it is not always easy to find information about public transport.
- some lines have very low frequencies, with a bus every hour or even more. A big waste of time.
According to people who live in Andorra, public transport is not very reliable. In winter, during the snow season, the ski resorts organize their own transport services from the city to the resorts. These services are free of charge and the schedules change from year to year.
There are cabs, the most comfortable option, but you have to be careful because they are very expensive.
Here we are very much in favor of public transportation, but in the specific case of Andorra we believe that if you don’t have a car, you will greatly limit your experience in Andorra. Unless you book excursions. Many travel agencies and local tour operators offer excursions around Andorra in vans or 4×4. The cost is less than a cab, but the tours are shared with other travelers. It all depends on whether you are traveling alone or with more people, when renting a car can be more advantageous.
The car, on the other hand, has a small problem: parking. In all the cities and many villages of Andorra, there are many parking lots, but most of the times you will have to pay to use them, even in on street parking. This is because space is very limited. Even in the most unsuspected places, you will have to pay. And forget about free parking in the big cities, it is simply impossible, except for the first half hour in some parking lots.
But our advice is that, despite the inconvenience of parking, if possible, visit Andorra by car. The landscapes you will discover by car are unforgettable.
When to visit Andorra
Andorra can be visited during the 12 months of the year, always keeping in mind that each season is very different from the other. Let’s take a look at each of them.
Between November and early April is the ski season. Days are short and temperatures are low, especially at night. The mountains are covered with snow during this period, which makes for beautiful scenery.
It is the only high season in Andorra, both in terms of prices and the influx of visitors. The towns get crowded at the end of the day, when skiers return from the resorts, and on weekends and holidays the roads are also very busy.
A good time if you plan to ski.
Spring, between April and June, is the country’s first low season. It is still cold, but the ski resorts have closed and the country is quiet again. It is a very quiet time for sightseeing in the country, but many attractions may be closed. There may still be plenty of snow in the mountains.
The period from July to September is a kind of mid-season in Andorra. Temperatures are mild and can rise a lot during the day. It is an excellent time for sightseeing in Andorra, especially between July and August, when you will find everything open. In fact, if you are looking for good prices and few people, try the first half of July. August is much busier.
The period from October to December is the second low season in Andorra. The cold arrives, but the snow has not yet fallen in large quantities and the ski resorts are closed. It is a very quiet time for sightseeing in the country. But many places may be closed. If you are lucky, you will have the privilege of seeing the fall colors in the trees, a wonderful sight.
Knowing that it is possible to visit Andorra in any month of the year, what would be our recommendation for those who can choose the date of their trip?
Actually, any season is great, really.
But if you want to ski, you have no way to escape the winter, when the resorts are open. The landscape is beautiful and Andorra is full of tourists. It is the period with the highest prices of the year and also when traveling around the country takes the longest time due to traffic and the difficulties imposed by the snow.
Spring and autumn are the best times for those seeking peace and quiet. Prices are very good and the number of tourists in Andorra is very small. But part of the tourist infrastructure is closed. The amusement parks in the ski resorts are not open and many of the small churches are closed.
And in summer you won’t find snow, but it’s a lovely time to visit Andorra, with long days, mild temperatures and the tourist infrastructure in full operation.
How many days to dedicate to Andorra
Two or three nights in Andorra will allow you to have a first superficial contact with the country. You won’t have time to see half of Andorra’s attractions, but you will be able to visit a ski resort and a Romanesque church, as well as have some time for shopping at the end of the day. Just keep in mind that two or three nights will force you to miss a lot of places, and we assure you that there is plenty to see and do in Andorra.
If you have four or five nights in Andorra, especially during the winter and summer periods, when there are more activities to do, your experience will probably be more complete. This period of time will allow you to move around Andorra, visit many places of interest, walk around, do leisure activities and also do a lot of shopping.
Whenever we go to Andorra, we always stay for a week and in the end we always end up lacking time to do everything we wanted to do. For us, a week would be the ideal time to get to know Andorra for the first time.
Can you go from Barcelona to Andorra and back on the same day? Technically you can, but it is marathon tourism, a practice we always try to discourage. You will spend more time on the road than at your destination. Count on a minimum of five hours on the road, round trip, not including the customs queue when returning from Andorra. That’s just to get to Andorra la Vella. And once in the capital, what are you going to do? Because, for us, the capital is the least interesting place in the country You’ll spend on gas, tolls and parking. I don’t know. Honestly, Andorra deserves much more than a quick trip.
Who is Andorra ideal for
By now you should have a pretty clear idea of whether Andorra is a destination for you or not. But let’s highlight the traveler profiles for which we think Andorra would be perfect.
In our opinion, Andorra is first and foremost a nature destination. That’s why it will delight lovers of beautiful landscapes, mountains, rivers, lakes, hiking and animals.
Andorra is also an excellent destination for families with children. In addition to having many attractions for the little ones, there are many great programs aimed at families. If you go, as we recommend, to a tourist office, you can find booklets like these here, which cost 1 euro, with amazing nature activities programmed for the little ones to complete.
Although it was not our case, we also saw many tourists in Andorra accompanied by dogs.
Finally, for lovers of outdoor sports, especially cycling, Andorra is also a perfect destination.
Accommodation in Andorra
Andorra is a major tourist destination, so it has a wide range of hotels scattered throughout the small country.
Most of Andorra’s hotels are concentrated in the main cities and towns, with some options in more remote locations. If you are traveling to Andorra by bus, it is a good idea to choose a more central location. If you are traveling by car, you can go to more remote locations.
If you are going to Andorra to ski, it is good to stay in towns with direct transport to the ski resorts, or close to them.
The main urban core is formed by the union of Andorra la Vella and Les Escaldes. The two municipalities form an urban continuum in which it is difficult to say where one begins and the other ends. If you are not traveling by car, stay in Andorra la Vella or Les Escaldes.
Those who do have a car can stay in either town, looking for a hotel with parking if possible, or go to another town anywhere in Andorra. The distances are never great.
Lately, we have preferred to stay outside the center, closer to the mountains, in contact with nature. And when we want to go to the center, it is never more than 20 minutes by car.
There are two regions outside Andorra la Vella and Les Escaldes where we would recommend looking for accommodation: La Massana, Ordino and the Ordino valley, on the one hand; and the stretch between Encamp and Canillo up to El Tarter, on the other.
The only places we would recommend avoiding are Sant Juliá de Lòria and Pas de la Casa, as they are the furthest from the center of Andorra, which increases the time needed to get anywhere.
Shopping in Andorra
Andorra is sold as a shopping paradise and many people, including quite a few YouTubers, collaborate in conveying a deeply flawed image.
I belong to a generation that embarked on bus trips of many, many hours to go shopping in Andorra. It was after the end of the dictatorship and the beginning of democracy in Spain, when in addition to finding products that could not be found in Spain (such as cheese and butter), everything was much cheaper. We would leave at dawn, the bus would drop us off at a large supermarket in Andorra and hours later we would start our return trip. At that time, the roads were not as good and safe as they are now. 14 hours by bus for three hours of shopping.
This reputation as a shopping paradise was passed down from generation to generation, an idea spread mainly by people who never returned to Andorra.
Until 2013, there were no good and service taxes in Andorra. At that date the IGI, the Impost General Indirecte, which would be the equivalent of VAT in Spain, was created. The main rate of IGI is 4.5%, much lower than VAT.
The limitations imposed by the Spanish tax authorities are fundamental in understanding and evaluating the advantages of buying in Andorra.
Despite having numerous cooperation agreements, Andorra is not a member of the European Union. And when a traveler enters the European Union, he or she is subject to customs restrictions, which is not the case when traveling between EU countries. So, if you cross from France to Spain, you are not subject to customs restrictions. But entering from Andorra to Spain, there are a number of limitations that you should be aware of.
There is a special interest on the part of the Spanish Tax Agency in transporting money, because traditionally Andorra has been used for money laundering. If you are carrying more than 10.000 euros, you’ll have to declare them.
From 900 euros of purchases, you are obliged to make a customs declaration when entering Spain.
This amount is per person. In the case of children under 15 years of age, the excess is 450 euros.
The amount is not cumulative. That is, if you are two people and you buy an iPhone of 1,000 euros, you will exceed the individual franchise and you will have to declare the product and pay import taxes.
In addition to the total franchise, there is a maximum amount per product, regardless of its value:
- tobacco – 300 cigarettes
- alcohol with a content of more than 22% – 1.5 liters
- alcohol of less than 22% alcohol content – 3 liters
- perfume – 75 grams
And other restrictions, such as a maximum of 1 kg of coffee, for example.
And you may ask, will I be stopped on my return to Spain? We don’t know, customs controls are always random. Most of the times we left Andorra we were not stopped. But once we had to open the trunk to show the few purchases we had made.
As you know, there is a magic recipe for not having problems at customs: comply with the laws.
Let’s see now what is worth buying in Andorra and what is not.
Due to lower taxes, alcohol and tobacco are the star purchases in Andorra. Both products are cheaper than in Spain, and much cheaper than in France (they are a big hit with French shoppers, remembering that Andorra is wedged between Spain and France).
But even if they are cheaper, customs restrictions make it impossible to justify a trip to Andorra just to buy alcohol and tobacco.
Prices can be 30% to 50% cheaper.
In Andorra you will find an almost absurd number of perfume shops. Some of the most important brands are Júlia and Gala. Major international brands also have stores, such as MAC, Kiko, L’Occitane, Rituals and The Body Shop.
And the department stores house many cosmetic brands such as Cacharel, Dior, La Roche, Sesderma, Shisheido, et cetera.
Perfumes and cosmetics can be a bit cheaper than in Spain, but always remember that customs restrictions are very strict, in the case of perfumes, 75 ml of perfume.
But there are so many cosmetic stores in Spain that sell very cheap products in Spain that we never get to buy cosmetics in Andorra.
In Andorra there are many pharmacies. Some people buy medicines in Andorra because they are a little cheaper than in Spain. Many are French-made and cost less than their Spanish equivalents.
There are also many opticians in Andorra. Opticians in Andorra are known to sell prescription glasses at very good prices. But when we talk to a trusted optician here in Spain, we learn the magic of the prices: Andorran opticians tend to use second-rate lenses of inferior quality.
We never order glasses in Andorra, we believe that our eyes are so important that trust in the professional is much more important than the price.
Winter sports are one of the great attractions of Andorra, and in the country you will find many stores offering specialized equipment. Prices can be somewhat cheaper than in Spain. The great advantage of Andorra for those looking for this type of products is the variety of brands and products, with many models that you will not easily find in a store in Spain.
When it comes to buying electronics and photography in Andorra, in the age of Amazon, prices are not as competitive compared to prices in Spain. And you still have to be very smart to avoid surprises. Don’t go near the “bazaars”. They are small stores, you will never know what they are going to sell you. Buy in authorized stores. It can be in stores like FNAC or the hypermarket E-Leclerc, or in brand stores. Make sure you understand the product warranty. As Andorra is not part of the EU, many product guarantees are not valid in the EU.
And always remember the duty-free allowance.
We have never bought high value electronics in Andorra. At most, something we needed for home, such as a cordless phone, where the savings were really very small.
Beware of cell phones. Since you won’t be able to test the SIM card in Andorra, you won’t know if the cell phone you bought is working properly until you cross the border and are back in Spain.
Buying clothes in Spain nowadays is cheap. So our assessment of clothes shopping in Andorra is that it is more like a Spanish city where you will find cheaper and more expensive products, but with no significant price difference between the countries.
In Andorra you will find all the usual brands.
As for food, prices are very similar to Spain, some products a bit more expensive and others a bit cheaper. You may find French brands that are not common in Spanish supermarkets.
We have already bought something in Andorra to find it cheaper in Spain.
Gasoline is cheaper in Andorra. On our last visit, 20 cents a liter compared to brand name gas stations in Spain, five cents compared to low-cost gas stations. Because of this price difference, our advice for those visiting Andorra by car is as follows: on the outbound trip to Andorra, fill up with the fuel needed to get to Andorra and do not fill up before entering the country, do it already in Andorra. On the way back, fill up before leaving Andorra. The fuel savings will not offset the cost of the trip, but it is always worth it.
There are gas stations all over Andorra and, in our experience, the price is very similar from one to another, the maximum variation we saw was one cent. Gas stations of the same brand usually have the same price throughout the country.
We have talked about prices and products, but where are the stores in Andorra? Actually, they are all over the country, but the main commercial hub is at the bottom of the valley, in the municipalities of Andorra La Vella and Les Escaldes.
The address you should know is Meritxell Avenue, which connects Andorra La Vella, the capital of the country, and Les Escaldes. Although they are two different municipalities, it is like a single city, you do not realize that you are passing from one municipality to another.
In Andorra La Vella, Meritxell Avenue is narrow and very busy. In Les Escaldes, where it is renamed Carlemany Avenue, it becomes a pedestrian avenue with a much nicer look.
In Andorra / Les Escaldes you will find numerous stores, large and small, as well as supermarkets. You will also find department stores, such as the classic Pyrénées. Finally, in Les Escaldes you will find a large shopping center, Illa Carlemany.
There are stores in other parts of Andorra, including small shopping centers. But Andorra La Vella / Les Escaldes has the advantage of offering a very pleasant area for shopping on foot, with a large variety of stores.
The other town with a large concentration of stores is Pas de la Casa, on the border with France, where mainly French people shop. We did not like either the look or the prices, which were more expensive than in the center of Andorra.
Let’s go with the million dollar question: is it worth traveling to Andorra just to go shopping? Our answer is very clear: no, traveling to Andorra just to go shopping is not worth it.
If you take into account the cost of traveling to Andorra, eating and sleeping, what you save on shopping does not compensate, not even remotely, the expense of the trip.
Now, does that mean that Andorra is not worth it? Far from it. Andorra is a spectacular destination, but what makes it a great destination is not the shopping, but its spectacular scenery and nature. And the snow in winter.
If, in addition to wanting to get to know a small and beautiful country, you want to take the opportunity to do some shopping, go ahead! We are not saying that you can’t shop in Andorra. In fact, every time we go to Andorra, we end up buying something. But the point of traveling is never to go shopping. Shopping is an extra.
Our Andorra Road Trips
We have published three road trips, each one lasting one day, taking you through the most outstanding places of Andorra.
Check our full collection of road trips here.
This concludes our travel guide to Andorra.