Dianne’s bucket list is to go to the world’s smallest countries. Not just simply to say we’ve been there, but also because they usually have an interesting history. When we took our Spain trip in 2015, we decided to take a side trip to Andorra. What we found in Andorra when we visited was amazing.
The History
Andorra is a wonderful, small, country tucked up in the Pyrenees mountains, between Spain and France. It’s considered 17th of the world’s smallest countries. When we tell people we’ve been there, most confess they never even knew Andorra was a country.
It started its history around the 9th century. In the early days, Andorra moved under the protection of different sovereignties – under several crowns, lords and counts, Catalonia, Spain and France. Unlike most other countries, the borders of Andorra have remained the same for almost 8 centuries. While Andorra maintained its individual status for centuries, it did not ratify its constitution until the 1800s.
Andorra the Country
Getting to and from Andorra is indicative of a typical small country. There are no commercial planes or trains, only a bus route. Driving is the way to go. We drove from Barcelona, but be forewarned, the tolls were over $120US just to get there! Once you hit the border of Andorra, it’s only a 45 minute drive to the opposite border.
The country may be small, but the viewscapes throughout the country are quite inviting and beautiful.
Andorra offers quite a lot for those who decide to visit Andorra. The capital is Andorra La Vella.
(Map by Orange Smile)
The Capital
Andorra La Vella is a quaint walkable city with a surprising amount of things to do. There’s more than few days that can be spent walking through the city browsing the shops and finding great restaurants. One of the restaurants we dined at was even nice enough to make us hot chocolate (click link for story) when it wasn’t even on the menu.
The architecture is picturesque with some striking historic structures mixed in among the more contemporary buildings.
The city is tucked into the mountains. From almost everywhere, the mountains can be seen. It was surreal walking around in a city where almost every street you walked you could see the mountains around you.
Even from our hotel balcony you could see the mountains.
The Countryside
Outside of the capital, it’s all mountains, with an abundance of hiking and skiing opportunities. The hiking offers great challenges for all levels. We were there for a few days to experience hiking in the pyrenees along with the quaintness of the country. Andorra has its own website that provides a lot of information for hikers. There are small villages throughout the landscape.
Parts resemble a typical mountain skiing community. There are a lot of places to ski and lodges to accommodate skiers. In the winter it would be a great place to lose yourself and have a lot of fun with the challenges of the slopes that are available. Even though we were there in the fall, the ski slopes were still obvious.
Cleared spaces on the mountain are the ski slopes in the winter.
There’s even some historic sites to see and tour.
The Wrap Up
For such a small country, there’s a lot of fun things to do. We probably could’ve spent a few more days there hiking and enjoying the restaurants. In the winter, you could ski for weeks.