Discover Andorra in winter: 6 best things to do!

If you want something different, there are a few things that can persuade you to go on holiday to Andorra next winter. The sun shines 300 days a year. The influences of neighboring Spain have particularly penetrated into the kitchen (mmm!). And you hardly meet the Dutch. Already convinced?

Winter sports in Andorra

Skiing in Andorra is a very good idea anyway. For beginners, it’s the perfect playground to learn, and for advanced players, it’s a must-visit place. With three ski areas and a total of more than 300 kilometers of ski slopes, there is a lot to enjoy here for every skier or snowboarder.

Good to know: with one lift pass you can go to all ski areas in Andorra.

• Grandvalira: this is the largest ski area with 210 kilometers of slopes
• Vallnord – Pal Arinsal: slightly smaller, but just as attractive, with 63 kilometers of slopes
• Ordino Arcalis: the smallest, with spacious 30 kilometers of slopes

But there is more to do. Much more. Discover Andorra in winter: these are the six best things to do!

1. A day of skiing in Grandvalira

Grandvalira is by far the largest ski area in Andorra with 210 kilometers of slopes. In fact, this ski area consists of several sub-areas that have been connected in recent years. You can ski anywhere on the map without having to use the ski bus.

The highest point in Grandvalira is at 2,640 meters.

The reason why the snow is so good here is twofold: due to the special location, there is a lot of snow here every season. And if necessary, the entire ski area can be provided with extra powder with snow cannons.

Tips for a day of skiing in Grandvalira

In the ski resorts of Andorra you will generally find many beginners. As a result, the blue slopes are in demand, while the red and black are deserted. Even in the afternoon you can sometimes still draw fresh traces in the white corduroy. So take especially red and black and you have the feeling that you have this area all to yourself.

We have mainly explored the pistes around El Tarter, on the piste map the right part. It is the highest part of Grandvalira. The slopes are mainly blue and red. Almost all slopes are just below the tree line and that always looks great – especially with a layer of fresh snow.

For lunch you have to be at Restaurant L’Arrosseria Pi de Migdia Grandvalira at noon. This restaurant is located in the central area of ​​El Tarter in Grandvalira, where the children’s area and the ski school are also located. The name actually says it all, it is a so-called Arrosseria, a restaurant specialized in rice dishes. You can have lunch here with paella-like pans on the table with poultry or fish. Of course with bread beforehand, desserts after, drinking a cup of tea at your leisure. So make sure you are on time on the slopes, make a long morning meters and take the time for lunch. It’s too good and fun to be in a hurry.

• Take the lift to the top of Tosa de la LLosada and descend via the slope Esquirol all the way down to the valley. It is one of the longest slopes in Grandvalira and certainly the most beautiful!
• Stay up in Tosa de la LLosada be sure to hang out and look out over an incredibly beautiful mountain area.
• Get up early: Grandvalira is the ski area of ​​Andorra and so it is busy in the morning at the lifts in the valley.

2. A day of skiing in Vallnord – Pal Arinsal

The Vallnord – Pal Arinsal ski area is a lot smaller than Grandvalira, but it is just as nice to visit for a day. And because all the ski resorts in Andorra are so close together, I’d like to see them all if I were you. Vallnord is ‘only’ 63 kilometers and therefore less popular, but that also means: less busy. There are some incredibly beautiful descents waiting.

Vallnord is the combination of Pal and Arinsal. At the moment you take a gondola from one side to the other between these two areas, but from ski season ’23-’24 you can also take the piste back to Pal from Arinsal. There will be a lot of work on this next summer.

It is immediately noticeable how super quiet it is to ski in Vallnord. Here too, the lifts are not very fast, but because you don’t have queues anywhere, you can do a lot in one day.

The slopes in Arinsal are super wide and the perfect playground for long carve turns.

• Take the elevator to the top Pic del Cubil anyway, at 2,358 meters. There you have the best view of the entire ski area. You can almost touch Spain here, if you were to hang over the edge.
• Super beautiful is the valley descent from the summit in Arinsal to Cota, a piste of more than seven kilometers and more than 1,000 vertical meters. You want to do it again immediately afterwards.
• Drop by for lunch in Rustic in Pal and at least get the patatas bravas.

3. Wellness in Caldea

Once the skis are in the lockers and the ski boots have been exchanged for something more comfortable, it is of course time for the après-ski. And it looks a bit different in Andorra than you might be used to from the Alps. This is a good tip to warm up the muscles after a cold day in the mountains.

In the capital Andorra la Vella, Caldea is an extraordinary place. It is the largest spa in southern Europe. You can’t miss the building: it is the futuristic pyramid of glass. They call it a spa themselves, but Caldea is more like a combination of a sauna complex and a water park (but without slides). It’s too crowded to relax here.

It’s big for sure. There are even two parts: Thermoludic and Inúu, with the difference that Inúu is only for adults. There are several outdoor pools and you can even dip in a bath of lemons or oranges.

4. Spend the night at La Borda de Conangle Mountain Lodge

Naturland is located in the south of Andorra, close to the Spanish border. If you have spent a few days in the ski areas, then I would plan two days in Naturland afterwards.

Naturland in Andorra can best be described as an outdoor park. A place in the mountains where you can do all kinds of cool outdoor activities.

And recently you can also spend the night there. La Borda de Conangle is a brand new Mountain Lodge with a handful of double rooms. La Borda de Conangle is located at an altitude of 2,000 meters and you have a beautiful view of the Pyrenees.

The rooms are cozy and fully equipped. The nice thing is that it feels like coming home. Shoes off, sit by the fire with a book, glass of wine. You don’t have to leave the house for dinner either, because there is a restaurant downstairs (with a very good menu!). Waking up in the mountains is always nice, especially in a beautiful place like this.

5. Learn or go cross-country skiing in Naturland

Cross-country skiing has a goat wool sock image and it is high time that something was done about it. Yes, it’s much slower than skiing or snowboarding and no, that’s not boring. Far from it, it’s my new winter hobby.

I think one of the best things about cross-country skiing is that you travel through untouched nature, where hardly anyone comes. Where in ski resorts you are often surrounded by a lot of other people, you cross-country skis through deserted areas and you are one with nature. Birds chirping, squirrels jumping away: things you’ll never notice at a ski resort.

In Naturland you can learn cross-country skiing, if you have not yet mastered this sport. It is a very accessible sport: within an hour you learn to brake, gain speed and get up if you fall. You don’t have to learn much more, you just have to start doing it.

From the Lodge you can start various cross-country trails, from short and easy to long and challenging, with a guide or just enjoy yourself. I would do the latter. After one such morning on thin slats you’ll be converted, I’m sure.

6. Take a trip with a moon bike

Snowmobiling is one of the coolest things to do in the snow. But that also has disadvantages: they make a lot of noise and use fossil fuel. Not exactly good for the environment and for the animals in the mountains.

A moon bike is the perfect alternative: an electric snowmobile with a ski in the front and a caterpillar track on the back that also allows you to make a trip through the snow.

It is not completely silent: the caterpillar track, which makes a track through the snow, also makes noise, but a lot less than a classic snowmobile. It is especially fun to do. You quickly understand how to drive a moon bike, hang a little in the corners, you determine the speed yourself.

From Naturland you can go out with moon bikes. Guides take you along a marked route in the vicinity of the Lodge.

Also do such a trip, and preferably at sunset, then this is about what awaits you…

As small as Andorra is – about the size of Texel – it is still a country with a lot to discover. That’s because almost all of this country is made up of mountains. Here you are outside all day in the winter. For skiing, cross-country skiing, moon biking or just for a nice walk.