Andorra

Andorra la Vella (at 1,023m, the highest capital city in the European Union — although Andorra is not an EU member, it is surrounded by EU territory) — the Casa de la Vall (the historic seat of the Consell General, the parliament of Andorra, a 16th-century stone house with one room for each of the seven parishes), the Barri Antic (the historic old quarter, pedestrianised) and the duty-free shops on Avinguda Meritxell.

Andorra is a co-principality — its heads of state are simultaneously the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell (Spain), a medieval feudal arrangement that has continued since 1278 without interruption. The two Co-Princes have never jointly visited Andorra. The arrangement has survived the French Revolution, Napoleon, two World Wars and the Spanish Civil War entirely intact.

Grandvalira (210km of pistes, 67 runs, 55 ski lifts, spanning from 1,710m to 2,640m) is the largest ski area in the Pyrenees — bigger than any resort in Spain or the French Pyrenees, with reliably good snow from December to April. The Pas de la Casa sector (facing France) for beginners; the Grau Roig sector for advanced.

Andorra has no airport, no rail connection, and only two road connections (to Spain and France). It has also never paid income tax to either country — Andorran residents pay zero income tax (though a modest 10% personal income tax was introduced in 2014). The combination of tax advantages and ski access has made it popular with Spanish and French residents.

A second day on the slopes — the Ordino-Arcalís sector (the quietest and most scenic, with views into both Spain and France from the 2,637m summit) for intermediate skiers. The Col d’Ordino (1,985m, accessible by telecabine, with 360-degree views of the Pyrenean range from Catalonia to the Basque country) for non-skiers.

Ordino-Arcalís was the training base for Andorra’s Olympic ski team — Andorra has sent athletes to every Winter Olympics since 1976, despite being a country of 77,000 people. The most celebrated Andorran skier was Joan Villamó (World Cup podium 2019). The sector’s quietness is due to its distance from the main road access.

The Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley (UNESCO World Heritage Site — 9,959 hectares, 17% of the entire area of Andorra, a glacially carved valley with Bronze Age settlements, ancient irrigation channels and granite peaks above 2,800m) — the Madriu Valley floor trail (10km from Escaldes to the Fontverd refugi, through traditional herder settlements in use since 5,000 BCE).

The Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley was inscribed as a UNESCO Cultural Landscape (not a natural site) because of 4,000+ years of continuous pastoral use — the valley shows the entire history of Pyrenean transhumance, from pre-Bronze Age hut circles and irrigation channels to 19th-century charcoal burning grounds. The landscape has changed very little in 1,000 years.

The Caldea thermal spa (1994, a striking glass-and-steel tower by French architect Jean-Michel Ruols, rising from the urban centre of Escaldes — the geothermal spring water from the Valira del Nord river feeds pools at 36°C, indoor and outdoor, with Pyrenean mountain views from the rooftop) is the largest thermal spa complex in Southern Europe.

The geothermal springs at Escaldes (the Spanish root is “escaldes” — “scalded”, referring to the hot water) reach 60°C at the source — used for centuries for washing and bathing. The Caldea complex processes 600,000 litres of natural hot water per day. Entry costs €38–55 for 3 hours.

Andorra has the finest concentration of Romanesque churches per square kilometre in the world — the Sant Joan de Caselles church (11th century, with a unique Romanesque bell tower and surviving fresco of the Apocalypse of St. John), the Sant Climent de Pal (12th century), the Sant Martí de la Cortinada (11th century — all with original frescoes in situ).

Andorra’s Romanesque churches (11th–12th century) were built when the principality was at the crossroads of the Camino de Santiago routes through the Pyrenees. Each parish church has its own slate-roofed bell tower, frescoed interior and medieval stone font. The concentration of 38 Romanesque sites in 468km² is unmatched anywhere in Europe.

Ordino — the most traditional and least commercialised of Andorra’s seven parishes, with a 17th-century stone church, the Armari del Senyor del Rossell (a painted wooden cupboard from 1619, the finest piece of Andorran decorative art) and the Museu d’Areny-Plandolit (a 17th-century noble family mansion, a complete time capsule of pre-modern Andorran domestic life). Drive to Barcelona (3h) or Toulouse (3h) for departure.

Andorra produces its own cattle breed (the Alberes cow — a small, dark, hardy variety from the eastern Pyrenees), grows tobacco (the only country in Western Europe to still grow tobacco commercially, producing 300 tonnes/year primarily for duty-free cigarette sales) and distils its own herbal liqueur (Aromes Natu-Roh, based on 18 Pyrenean herbs).