Sorry MadridMan,

It's not exactly about Spain, but I have had a deep desire to visit Andorra since High School when I used to hang out after school and read the atlases.

I am fascinated by these little nations and wish to visit as many as possible.

So far, I've been to San Marino, Vatican City, Monaco, and Alabama (just kidding about the last one --since Mom was brought up on "Shine" charges, we chillun' aren't allowed back).

I would really appreciate anyone's insights into Andorra. I plan to be there next week (via Barcelona).

Viva San Fermin!

Hi Chip! I did a quick search of this forum and found a few earlier threads regarding Andorra so you may want to check those out.

Also, visit http://www.andorra.com/uk/default_uk.asp (English version here) for more information or try the trusty search engine of www.Google.com for more possibilities.

Anyone else out there ever been to Andorra? I too would like to visit someday and know next to nothing about it! :o

I have a great story about Andorra, but I'm running out the door and the Friday Night Club beckons. Is it that time of the week already?? I will post it next week, when I return from the great capital...too late for you Chip, but you'll see it on your return.

By the way, be very specific if getting on buses near Andorra..........

Thanks for the pointers Guys!

Thanks again everyone.

I double checked the other threads but I found little abut personal experience in Andorra (I DID find potential lodging through your suggested link Madridman. Thanks!). I guess its up to me to post some notes once I get there (hopefully this weekend). Thanks again for your pointers and, Madridman, thanks for your great website.

What's the name of that great sherry bar across from the Hotel Inglaterra in Madrid?

Gora San Fermin!!

Hi!

As you may know Andorra is a tiny country between Spain and France. It is really a principality, the executive power of Andorra is nominally in the hands of the french Republic's President and of an spanish Archbishop which are the coprinces of Andorra.

In fact, they have their own parlament and are totally independent of both countries, though they depend economicly from them (the legal currency are both the french franc and the spanish peseta).

I've been there twice. It is a very beautiful mountaneous region, with 5-6 modern ski stations (of them, the better are Pas de la Casa and Soldeu-El Tarter). Great shopping in Andorra la Vella, and you may visit Caldea, an "acuatic park" which is more like a balnearium (thermal waters and so on).

Fernando

We visited Andorra fifteen years ago, shortly after we'd arrived in Spain. We had bought a rail pass giving unlimited travel throughout Spain and although we'd not expected to go so far north, we found ourselves on a train heading up to the border with France to a place called Puigcerda. We asked at the station what time the train went to Andorra, which wasn't too far away and the stationmaster told us that there was no train, but a bus left from the square outside the railway station at 5.30 later that afternoon. We had a few hours to kill and we found out that the local train we had just got off went into France and turned round there, one kilometre further on, in French territory, so we though it would be a good idea to catch the next one and get our passports stamped to say we had been to France on what was a short six day trip.

We caught the next train, got off a few minutes later, had a quick coffee and went to get on again as it was about to leave 20 minutes later. They had a customs post and the customs officer asked us how long we had been in France? Oh, about ten minutes or so, I said. That was it - they went through all our bags...EVERYTHING...looking for evidence that we had either sold or bought drugs. Why else they said, would we just go over the border, unless it was to meet someone illicitly?

Anyway, we managed to get back to this one horse border town, which seemed to be teeming with dodgy characters and waited twenty minutes or so, until the bus arrived at 5.30. As I was about to get on I asked the driver "Do you go to Andorra?" - "No!" came the gruff reply, so we stepped aside and let a few locals get on, the door closed and it drove off and we waited for the right bus to come along. Nothing happened and after an hour or so the stationmaster told us that the next one, if the 5.30 hadn't turned up, wasn't until 7.30 the next morning, so we had to look for some accomodation. It was really cold (February in the mountains) and nowhere looked tempting, but we found a small hostal and got a room for the night, with no hot water. We made sure we were at the bus stop the next morning, shivering and freezing to death at 7am, just in case it came early.

7.30 on the dot, the same bus as the evening before came along and all the locals piled on. As I was boarding I saw it was the same driver. The exchanges went like this..."Do you go to Andorra?" - "No!" - "Okay, how do we get to Andorra, then?" - "You get this bus and change at La Seu d'Urgell" - "So why didn't you tell us this last night?" - "You didn't ask!"

I paid for the tickets and it took about five minutes before I could actually speak when I opened my mouth. I must have looked like a goldfish! So we went into Andorra, had coffee and cakes in a French style cafe, whilst looking out the window at snow falling. I couldn't help wondering if my wife's feet were cold in her open-toed sandals she had on when we left temperatures of 70º on the Costa del Sol a few days earlier! Did a bit of tax free shopping too, as it is a bit of a haven for that and left after spending just 4 hours in the principality and about 18 hours to get into it from a few kilometres away!

Back home via Barcelona, Valencia and Cordoba. Six days of hard work! It was worth it though for the memories and the it gave us, once we were back home.

I feel your bus story pain, Anchovy Front. Sounds like RENFE at Sants in Barcelona (or Atocha or Chamartin in Madrid for that matter -- sorry, Madridman).

I am, as I write, in The Principat d Andorra. I flew into Barcelona, arriving at 11:45 AM. I walked out of Customs, turned left for the Tourist Office (where they were very helpful, with personal advice about places to stay in Andorra), walked outside to the right toward Concourse B, noting the 1:00 PM bus I would take (Novatel) and walked into Pans&Company for a Tortilla de Patata and some bottled water to take on the bus ride, walked back out to the bus, bought my ticket and got on the (air conditioned) bus to wait for departure.

Noting your warning AF, I was careful about where the bus would go. The driver was as well. He kept repeating <Andorra mismo, Andorra mismo>. Apparently they call Andorra la Vella (my destination) Andorra, so he wanted to make sure I was going to the right place.

I took Novatel (4000 pesetas) rather than Eurolines(2975 pesetas) because it was the soonest. I´m still not sure why it costs so much more for Novatel. It was a small bus (think car rental bus at the airport) with no bathroom or other amenities. Eurolines has a bathroom, movie, headphones and a sort of <flight attendant>. That said, my trip was just fine. The driver was a great host and we did make a stop about two thirds of the way through the trip for a bathroom and refreshment break. It was comfortable enough, but I´m still perplexed about the price difference. A note: we did not go through the Cadi tunnel. This is an apparent sales point because it is supposed to be a faster route (and more expensive for the operators), but we still got here in about four hours.

More to follow.

BTW, I visited the Parliament building today. A great guided tour and it´s free.