Two days is the right length. Spend the first in town: Casa de la Vall, the Romanesque apse at Sant Esteve, the Dalí clock on Plaça de la Rotonda, then the shopping run along Avinguda Meritxell, with Caldea in the evening. Give the second day to the mountains, either the Madriu valley on foot or Grandvalira on skis.
Andorra la Vella sits at 1,023 metres, which makes it the highest capital in Europe, and it is built around two things: a valley floor of low-tax shops and the mountains directly above them. Give the old town a morning, the thermal spa an afternoon, and the trails everything that is left.
The glass pyramid a ten-minute walk from the centre is the largest thermal complex in southern Europe, fed by the hot springs Escaldes is named for. Three hours buys the lagoon, the Roman baths and the outdoor pools. Inúu next door is the adults-only half, and much quieter.
Andorra’s general indirect tax runs at 4.5%, against 21% in Spain and 20% in France, and this is where the gap gets spent: electronics, perfume, ski kit, spirits. The run is pedestrian for most of its length and carries on into Escaldes as Avinguda Carlemany.
Andorra’s only World Heritage site, inscribed in 2004: 4,247 hectares of glacial valley, about 9% of the country, with no road into any of it. Shepherds’ paths, stone huts and the remains of iron forges. Doing it properly takes a full day and about 1,300 metres of climb.
A manor house of 1580 that served as Andorra’s parliament from 1702 until 2011, when the General Council moved next door. Half-hour guided tours in Catalan, Spanish or English take in the old courtroom and the council chamber. Admission is by reservation only.
The largest ski area in the Pyrenees, and reachable from the capital without a car: the Funicamp gondola out of Encamp goes straight up into it. The Andorra Pass covers 308 km of piste across Grandvalira, Pal Arinsal and Ordino Arcalís, which is the whole country on one ticket.
The twelfth-century murals lifted from Santa Coloma church are shown here, with the paintings from Sant Esteve alongside them. The church itself stands a few metres away, round bell tower and all, and a video projection puts the frescoes back where they were painted.
An irrigation canal dug in 1880 to water the orchards on the sunny side of the valley, now four near-level kilometres of path above the rooftops. It is the best free hour in town, and the only place the capital reads as a mountain village again.
The parish church of the old town, eleventh to twelfth century, keeping the largest Romanesque apse in the principality. The murals that once lined it now hang at Espai Columba in Santa Coloma. Twenty minutes, and it is the oldest thing on the square.
Dalí’s melting clock, cast in bronze in 1984 and set on the square in 2010. Five metres of crowned, drooping dial propped on a tree trunk. It takes two minutes on the way to the shops, and it is the photograph most people leave with.
The largest medieval bridge left in Andorra: one arch 33 metres long, standing 9.2 metres above the Valira, on the old road south towards La Seu d’Urgell. Fifteen minutes on foot from Santa Coloma, and best paired with the Rec del Solà.
The department store on Meritxell: three floors, a food hall and its own car park.
The World Heritage valley itself. A full day and 1,300 m of ascent from Escaldes.
Flower-covered floats through the centre, sweets thrown, brass bands behind.
Communal bowls of escudella handed out. A designated festival of cultural interest.
The saxophone festival’s thirteenth edition: concerts, competitions and masterclasses.
Free music on six stages through the historic centre, with a record 17 Andorran acts.
The solstice fire run, on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list since 2015.
A show written for the country and staged nowhere else.
A mass-participation ride over the country’s mountain passes.
The capital’s own four days, and a designated festival of cultural interest.
The usual way in. Andbus and Andorra Direct Bus both run from Terminal 2 to the national bus station in about three hours, several times a day.
Just over the Spanish border, with scheduled flights to Madrid and Mallorca. A shuttle meets them and runs up to the national bus station.
Every intercity coach and every national parish line leaves from the same building in the centre, so one stop covers both borders and all seven valleys.
The capital is walkable end to end in half an hour. National bus lines reach every parish and both ski areas for a few euros, so a car is optional.
Cabbage and potato mashed together and fried with pork belly until crisp.
The national stew: meatball, sausage, chickpeas and cabbage in one bowl.
Snails roasted in a tin, eaten with aioli or a paprika vinaigrette.
Wild boar braised slowly in red wine. A winter fixture on borda menus.
A mushroom omelette with tarragon and grated cheese, folded soft.
Lamb over wood embers, the festive plate before it was an everyday one.
Flat sweet bread with custard, candied fruit and almonds on top.
Farmhouse rounds from the high pastures, served before the coca.
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