Andorra

Hi,

I'm taking a trip to europe for a month in Sept, arriving in Bilbao and then riding the pyrenees for about a week before heading up into france etc. I had intended to visit Andorra for a couple of days.

I spoke to a guy the other day at Squires cafe who had done a similar trip & he said Andorra was crap - dirty - took ages to get in & out etc etc.

Has anyone else been there & if so what were your experiences. Is it worth a visit or should I give it a miss?

Any advice would be most helpful.

cheers
ChrisB

I suppose if you don’t try it you’ll never know what people are so disappointed with. We stayed in Soldeu Northern Andorra at the Hotel Bruxelles, a decent hotel with good food. The road in and out at the top of Andorra over the mountains is fun.
Andorra la Vella the main town is a bit of a dump, quite a few bike shops and the Givi luggage was cheap in some, anything you buy the Spanish will do their best to take of you at their customs post.
Overall, having been once I would bother again.

We stayed once and wouldn't bother again. The traffic was horrendous, it was hot, noisy, dusty, etc. That said, don't let me put you off but I certainly wouldn't consider staying 2 days - 1 is enough. The next time we went through Andorra we just kept going! That said, I agree with Ebbo - the road over the top is great but be prepared to come across long queues when approaching the customs posts at either end. Booze is very cheap but you're limited in what you can take out (not much on a bike anyway) and it's worth filling up with fuel there.

I pretty much concur with what has already been said. Crossing the Pyrenees through Andorra is fun but Andorra Le Vel can be a pain. We stopped there for a couple of hours to buy some bits and pieces for our digi camera but wouldn't contemplate an overnight. There was roadworks on the main road out of the city and it took us an age to get out to the border crossing and it was hot and uncomfortable.

Get in, do some cheap shopping, get out!

I go down to the Andorra area one a year trail riding...There are some great tracks around there but as for riding the road through andorra itself i would give it a miss ...They have been putting lots of speedhumps down in the last couple of years built the hell out of the place and ruined the place ...If you fancy a bit of (not that cheap ) shopping maybe worth a half day there ...Will be down there last 2 weeks of setember myself trail riding mainly in Spain ...As for taking ages to get in and out never had a problem there YOU ON A BIKE

The best part of Andorra is riding above 2000m on a hot day, it cools you down quite nicely, otherwise it has very little going for it. Some of the backroads can be great fun. Watch out for some of the hills, at one point the wife got off and walked 50m down a perfect bit of black road that was at least 1:1 it is the steepest thing I have ever ridden down. God knows how they surfaced it in the first place.

I past through this May, and agree that the capital was very crowded. no problems getting in and out though, and the scenery was stunning.
It dropped below freezing in the night but was very hot in the daytime, I would recommend it just for the experience.

Thanks for all the info'guys I give it some thought.
cheers
Chris

ChrisB

I intend to go through Andorra in October. If possible, could you please post how you got on, where you stayed etc. It's the same ish time of year, so you should be able to give me some up to date info'

Thank you......

YOO

Was there last week (with the misses and by car ) and I could recommend it as a place to sleep when riding in the Pyrenees. Fuel, hotels, food, stuf in La Vella, everything is cheaper than you would have thought, so it's a cheap way of chekking out the East Pyrenees.

Trafficproblems , even by car I had no problem getting in or out the country, my biggest problem were those mobilhomes, and guys with caravans , only in La Vella itself you can have a bit of a trafficproblem, but that's because the loads of Spanisch and French people comming there to do some chopping, and so they cross the street every five seconds, so traffic is being slowed down, otherwise, I had no troubles at all.

Mind you, every time we left Andorra, we had to open the trunk and the inside of the car was checked to see of we weren't smoggling sigarettes or alcohol, or even other stuf (clothes, motorcyclinggear, whatever,...)

A smal tip, when in Andorra, try to do the Col d'Ordinno, much more fun than the main road from France to La Vella, and stop where you see the three wooden pillars in the ground, walk about five minutes orso, and enjoy the view over the valley.

Anyway, it's not that special, but I've been there, and I'll shurely come back again

Grtz, Philip!