Andorra travel guide

Summer village festivals in the ruggedly mountainous country of Andorra can take three days to complete. The ski season lasts for up to six months. Travellers who stop in Andorra when they’re driving through the Pyrenees between France and Spain should be prepared for a small country that is long on interest for the visitor. Andorra covers only 181 square miles with a population of 74,000. The President of France and the Bishop of Urgell are the joint heads of state and Catalan is spoken as the official language. Tourism accounts for more than 80% of the Gross Domestic Product. Fed by natural thermal springs, Caldea is a large health spa - indoor and outdoor lagoons, Indo-Roman baths, and bubble beds are just some of the features. At the opposite end of the size scale, two of the best museums in Andorra are the Ordino Museum of Miniatures and the Engordany Model Museum. Many people visit Andorra to attend feasts such as that honouring Sant Jordi, the patron saint of Catalonia, when men give women roses and women give men a book —"a rose for love and a book forever." Shoppers should expect to pay around 25% less than in France or Spain for electronic goods, alcohol, and cosmetics at the large shopping malls in Andorra la Vella, Andorra’s capital. Heavy winter snow allows months of excellent skiing and snowboarding at ski centres such as Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig, Arcalis, and Arinsal. To see Andorran flora and fauna at its best, visitors should go to the Coma Pedrosa Natural Park in the west – this park surrounds Coma Pedrosa, the highest mountain at 2,942 metres. Andorran cuisine shows mainly Catalan influences with a hint of Italian thrown in. Local dishes include trinxat (bacon, cabbage, and potatoes) and escudella (a stew of chicken, sausage and meatballs).