Nestled deep into the Pyrenees Mountains between the French and Spanish border, Andorra is the six smallest country in Europe, boasting excellent winter ski trails, stunning natural views and many opportunities for exploration and adventure for residents and visitors alike.
Andorra consists mostly of rugged mountains, which led to many years of isolation, keeping it relatively absent from European mainstream history. Even today, there is no train or airport that will take you to Andorra. The closest main airports are Barcelona and Toulouse, which are both over three hours away.
We drove north from Spain through Andorra and the roadways consist predominantly of winding, mountain roads with few tunnels. You can imagine how isolated it would have been even 100 years ago without these updated routes!
Though Andorra is most famous for its world-class ski resorts and well-to-do tourist infrastructure, it is also a pleasant destination during the summer months. The capital of Andorra, Andorra La Vella is the highest capital city in Europe.
With an alpine and continental climate, it has more snow in winter, low humidity and is slightly cooler in summer than the lower altitudes. There are also, on average, 300 days of sunshine per year. Walking around, you could absolutely feel the mountain air and there was a bit of a chill that you wouldn’t experience just a few hours south in Spain.
Today, the population of Andorra is about 85,000 people with approximately 1/3 of the population being of Andorran national decent. The rest is a mix of French, Spanish and Portuguese. Catalan is the official language of the country, but we heard Spanish and French also widely spoken.
At first, it seemed strange that such a small region between two of Europe’s largest countries would even gain, let alone retain its independence. Surprisingly, Andorra has been its own principality since A.D. 1278!
We stayed for a few hours in the capital city of Andorra La Vella. First impressions were, of course, the scenery. Every corner, street and crossing looks like it belongs in a postcard. After walking around a bit, you can clearly distinguish that tourism accounts for the majority of the GDP at 80%. With duty free status, Andorra is a popular destination for purchasing goods. Walking down the main boulevard, you were surrounded on all sides by cigarette, perfume and handbag shops.
My favorite part of the city was walking through the old neighborhood, with small, winding pedestrian paths, sidewalk cafes and glimpses of mountains tops through the breaks in buildings. The city center also had a clock statue from Salvador Dalí!
Overall, our short visit to Andorra left me with a few lasting impressions.
- Andorra is full of natural beauty and stunning scenery no matter where you look.
- It is extremely well kept and looks almost like it popped out of a storybook.
- And lastly, in the future when I’m rich and famous (yeah right!), I’ll plan a long winter vacation there and stay at one of the many mountain ski resorts.
Sources: Visit Andorra, Wikipedia
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