Winter is coming, and if you are living in Barcelona, this blog post is perfect for you.
In December, you will have a long weekend and the Christmas period, so you may as well get the chance to explore our neighbour country: Andorra.
It’s a perfect weekend trip to the mountains, with many indoors and outdoors activities for you to enjoy the cold weather. Want to know more? Here’s our recommendation!
Our main advice is to go by car. Getting there by bus is possible from Barcelona, but once you get there, the possibilities for moving around with public transport are quite limited. This is why we recommend going by car (or renting one) so you have total mobility. But please, bear in mind that you should have winter tires and snow chains with you since you might be driving through snow.
(Warning: If you decide to rent a car, in Spain there are low chances that the car will come with winter tires, so make sure to ask for the snow chains!)
Once you get there, you can do either (or multiple) of the three S-activities:
Skiing: Situated in the top of the Pyrenees, it is not a surprise that the main winter activity is skiing (or snowboarding, or sledging… that’s on you!). The two ski stations in the country are GrandValira and Vallnord Pal-Arinsal, both are spectacular and their one-day ticket price is around 40€-50€.
If you want to visit Andorra in another season of the year, here you have some alternatives to skiing (as the ski slopes are only open from November to March): Naturlandia, Roc del Quer viewpoint, do trekking around the Tristaina lakes or just sightseeing some cute small towns like Ordino or Meritxell.
Shopping: In Andorra, the VAT tax is much lower than Spain so, everything you buy there is cheaper. The discount is not massive as it might only be a couple of euros if you buy in an Inditex shop (like Zara) but if you are willing to buy more expensive brands or a lot of things, your wallet will notice the difference! So, walk up and down Avinguda Carlemany and Avinguda Meritxell to look at all the shop windows. If it’s too cold for you, you can also go to the biggest shopping malls Illa Carlemany or Pyréneés.
Spa: Once you are exhausted from all that exercise, it’s time for you to relax. Caldea is one of the main attractions in the country. This thermal spa centre is not only breath-taking from the outside but also worth to experience from the inside. Saunas, cascades, jacuzzis, steam baths, boiling and frozen pools, outdoor-but-hot-pool… basically everything you can imagine in a spa. The entrance price might vary as sometimes it’s included in your hotel booking or ski forfeit, but it has an original price of 37€.
Now you are ready to go up there and enjoy your long weekend or holidays. We hope you spent an amazing time up there and we are always open to getting to know your experience!
Maragda Falip
Marketing Specialist
