Anyone Been to Andorra?
 

My husband and I are planning to spend a couple days in Andorra in April. So far, I have not been able to find much information. We would greatly appreciate any hotel recommendations and any ideas on what to do.

At this point, I am looking at Hotel Pyrenees in Andorra la Vella and considering a day trip to the village of Ordino. Thanks!

http://www.booking.com/country/ad.fr...FQxNZwodCBfDQQ

This gives you a better choice. I just googled "Andorra Hotels" and voila-ten pages of hotels.

Blackduff

What to you intend to do in Andorra? Shop, ski, walk? We stayed in Andorra because we had business there, at the Hotel Pyrenees in May and the hotel itself was fine. From what I remember we had a fairly large room with full breakfast for 50 euros, which we thought was good value. It's in the centre of Andoora la Vella - make sure you ask for a room on the back though, as the hotel is on a busy street - there are only about two main roads in and out of Andorra, and so all the cars and trucks go right through town.

I personally would never go back to Andorra, but then I don't ski. Don't know if you would be doing that in April though. Most people go to shop, as it's a tax haven. For that reason huge parts of it are devoted to ugly shopping areas - big electronic stores, etc.

I also find the architecture depressing - it's a narrow valley, which can be dark when there's not sun, the houses are built of dark local stone, the roofs are dark slate.

As soon as we were able we went over to the French side of the Pyrenees,and stayed in a village around Font Romeu, where the countryside was more open and green, still great mountains, but with lakes and fields. We found it much more inviting.

I would avoid Andorra la Vella at all cost. It is noisy and not very pretty.
Why don't you stay in Ordino or try Les Escaldes/Engordany : you could go to Caldea (spa).
Beware of customs : Andorra is not part of the EU and Spanish and French customs officers take their job seriously on the way out. :-)

weekends are very busy in and out of andorra. try to go weekday.

lines leaving can be very frustrating.

the surrounding mountains are attractive. french side, as mentioned, less populated.

Andora is great for skiing and hiking, but Andorra la Vella is, as already mentioned, quite ugly. Instead of staying in Andora, why not consider the Cerdanya in the Catalonia Pyrenees? It's much nicer and there is a lot more to see and do.

The village of La Seu d´Urgell is only a short drive from Andora and there are several excellent places to stay in the area.

Reen,
I have been to Andorra and feel the same way as Carlux about Andorra la Vella-it's known as the Ginza of the Pyrenees-mile to mile ugly shopping centers, as Carlux says.

Most visitors go to Andorra for that cheap shopping, for cheap skiing with a party atmosphere (like an Ibiza of the Pyrenees) and to take the thermal waters at the huge Caldea spa and hotel (which can be fun).
www.caldea.com

I think you would enjoy the countryside much more than Andorra la Vella.

And as lin and Pvoyageuse have wisely warned, the traffic in and out can be truly, truly horrendous, especially on weekends, with lines and lines of cars waiting to be inspected at the border. We've suffered through this.

Another option:

The Alt Urgell-Cerdanya on the Spanish side, running from Seu d'Urgell (just 9 km. south of the border) to Puigcerdá. This area is *extremely* beautiful and for us, much more enjoyable. We visited in Jan. and chose not to venture into Andorra because the scenery and charming mountain villages in the Cerdanya equal or even beat anything we could find in Andorra.


Nice lodging options there in all price ranges.

Just a thought...

Yes, been there and absolutely no desire to return.

Thanks to everybody for the helpful responses. For reasons that I won't go into here, my husband is quite set on visiting Andorra.

What I will do, thanks to your suggestions, is visit during the week and stay outside of Andorra la Vella. I was looking at Hotel Coma in Ordino (looks like Ordino has good bus connections to Andorra la Vella, but is much more rural and scenic).

One more question: we will be coming from Toulouse and will not have a car. Is it better to take the bus or take a train to L'Hospitalet and then take a bus? Thanks again for all your help on this somewhat obscure topic.

Commençal is a very nice bike built in Andorra. They have a whole set of versions but they're mostly VTT bikes.

Quality = Very Good
Price = Very High Too

Blackduff (happy Commençal rider)

Reen,
I will recomend you to go with a car or alternatively stay in Andorra la Vella. The bus connection with Ordino is limited to one every hour and stops somewhere around 8 Pm.
There are taxis for about 10-14€
Andorra la Vella is overcrowded with shops and banks. But there are lots of good hotels at reasonable prices.
Andorra outside the main city is a nice little country with very good sky areas and beatiful hiking in the summer.
Regarding transportation from Toulosse th

Sorry I click on the wrong one and the message was gone.
Transportation from Toulouse is limited to a few of buses per day.
http://www.andorra.com/portal/comunica/comunica.asp#Bus
The train connection via Hospitalet pres d'andorre has one train very early in the morning from Toulouse and a bus connection to Andorra.
www.sncf.fr
There is also an helicopter service:
http://www.heliand.com/ing/pages/transfers.htm
http://www.helitrans.ad/Company.htm