"Life is not what you have, but the experiences you have lived."
Unknown
On October 20, 2025, Melanie and myself fly across the big pond to the tiny European mountain country of...
Andorra
Officially called the Principality of Andorra, you'd be forgiven if you never heard of this landlocked sovereign microstate in Southwestern Europe, afterall; it's probably not on most people's bucket-list. With an area of 468 km², Andorra is located high in the Pyrenees mountains, between Spain and France. The official language is Catalan and while nine-million people worldwide speak it, Andorra is the only country where it is the national language.
The 87,000 residents enjoy a unique form of government - a parliamentary co-principality whose heads of state are the co-princes of Andorra; being the Spanish Bishop of Urgell and the President of France. Is it an odd form of government......yes, but alas it has worked since the year 1278 making it one of the oldest countries in world today.
The first time I ever heard of Andorra was when we were travelling in 2015 near Toulouse, in France, and our travelling bud at the time, Paul Delaney, who mentioned that Andorra was only 125kms away and we should do a side trip. That sidetrip never materialized, but ten years later we returned to the region to check out this tiny nation. We planned three nights in the capital......
Andorra la Vella
In Catalan, 'Andorra la Vella' means 'the city of Andorra', and it holds the distinction as the highest capital in Europe, being situated +1,000 m.a.s.l. As cities go, this be a very small one (only 22,000 residents), but in the world of shoppers - this be a very big one, with over 2,000 duty-free shops & stores, making it somewhat like a large open-air shopping mall (we did not come for the shopping - actually we never even set foot in a store....true story)!
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| The Pyrenee Mountains hem Andorra la Vella into a narrow valley on all sides with limited room for growth. |
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Andorra is not a European Union country even though they use the Euro. When you cross the land border (there is no airport) you get no 'passport stamp' proving you were there. What usually happens is a customs officer gets on the bus and checks your passport and then you're good to go! If you want proof that you were there, then this picture showing the 'Andorra la Vella' bridge is it!
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| There's a walking street that pretty much spans the entire city. It's lined with store after store after store. We went there once, which was enough for us. |
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| Smack-dab in the middle of town is Salvador Dali's, Nobility of Time - symbolizing the passage of time (I read that). As Dali himself stated regarding his art, "What matters is to sow confusion, not eliminate it."! OK, now I'm confused. |
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| Not to be outdone by Dali, is the Seven Poets, a piece by Jaume Plensa - the same artist who also created Four Yellow Guys Sitting on Sticks. |
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On the European continent, where a normal cup of coffee is measured by the tablespoon, seeing this Canadian icon where you can buy a double-double-extra-extra large cup of coffee, makes you wonder on its survival chances!
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| This very mountainous country has extremely limited farmland, but they still managed to put some of it aside for an equivalent Golden Arm RV Park! Same-same only different! |
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If you're in Andorra la Vella, your neighbourhood choices for staying are (1) New Town, where the draw is the duty-free-shop-til-you-drop scene, or (2) Old Town, the historic core where there's rich history, preserved medieval architecture, narrow cobblestone streets, ancient city walls, and historic squares. This creates a walkable experience that transports visitors back in time, often enhanced by local cafes, unique shops and a vibrant cultural atmosphere - we stayed in Old Town.
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| Andorra's Parliamentary Building in the historic Old Town has been the seat of government for over 300 years. True story! |
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| Enjoying a tall cool one at the neighbourhood taverna!! Like ya would! |
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| The 11th century, Saint Esteve Church in the old town. |
The country's rugged terrain and high-altitude provide an ideal setting for the nation's love of outdoor activities. The landscape fosters a strong hiking culture with several well-groomed trails lining the city parameter....
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| Municipal hiking trails here are more like pedestrian highways - motorized means of enjoying the outdoors is highly discouraged. |
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| These walking trails are all part of the cityscape with municipal workers maintaining them the same way they maintain the city streets - a proactive practice our municipal governments should consider. |
Our time in Andorra la Vella wasn't all spent sipping cold beer in the neighbourhood taverna's (we also sipped wine)!! However, to break things up, we grabbed a bus and headed to the tiny village of......
Ordino
This historic village (4,000 residents) was chosen in 2023 as one of 250 best tourist villages in the world by the United Nations - definitely a big deal!
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We actually planned on going to another village, but took the wrong bus or wrong advise or both. Regardless; we find ourselves here and we were not disappointed with our 'ooops moment'.
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| Exploring the ancient alleyways. |
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| A small family chapel originally built in the 1780's. I got to be honest it looks older than that...... |
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| .....The Church of Saint Cornelius & Saint Cyprian of Ordino (a double sainted church - how lucky for them)! Believe it or not, this church was first mentioned in 9th century church documents.....I got to be honest it looks a lot younger than that! |
Our raison d'etre for coming to this tiny country was actually to hike the .....
Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley
Andorra's only UNESCO World Heritage site, this glacial valley represents the interdependence of mountain life and human activity over a couple of millennia and that is good enough for us to want to hike it! Not everyone's cup of tea but different strokes for different folks!!
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| The trail climbs a whopping 805 metres over a 12 kilometre span! Doesn't sound too difficult for those that don't hike, but believe me when I tell you a 800+ metre elevation gain is a real huffer and puffer....and then you got to turn around and head back! |
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| The valley is uninhabited but it features man-made structures dating back to medieval times. |
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| One of the few hikers we passed along the way! |
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| Ramio, a small summertime village consisting of shepherds who bring their sheep and cattle here to graze on the high terraced fields. However, this time of year they are all gone back to lower pastures. |
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| Everywhere you look is evidence of a medieval construction boom! |
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| After 2004, when it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, any plans to make the valley more accessible to tourist was scrapped. The cobblestone road that runs through the middle of the valley is reserved for foot traffic only, as it was for hundreds of years. You want to see this beautiful place you got to put the effort into it! |
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| Fall colours. How many horses do you see? |
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| Even though it was late October, the temperature was a comfortable 18C, however, two days later it snowed up here! |
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| Glacier scrapped bedrock reminding us of home! |
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| After three hours of climbing up, this was our turn-around point, as the day was getting long-in-the-tooth and we still had a three hour hike back down. |
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| An ancient medieval home..... |
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| ....a modern ancient medieval home. |
And with the completion of our hike, our time in Andorra comes to an end. We leave the next day for a four week trip to Spain.
