Welcome to our skiing blog, with updates and news for winter holidaymakers and snowsports lovers!
Check out our amazing prices to stay in Arinsal this coming winter at TripAdvisor’s best rated hotel in the village, from only €299 per person for seven nights half board! Best of all, when you book seven nights for two people by the end of July we’ll give you free airport transfers, plus you can still benefit from the early booking rate for your lift passes.
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Winter 2022-23 sees new options for transfers to Andorra, making it even easier to book flexible ski trips to Andorra via Barcelona, including new shared transfers between Barcelona city and the ski resorts, which is perfect if you fancy tagging on a couple of nights exploring Barcelona at the start or end of your ski trip.
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Booking your ski holiday can be stressful, but Andorra Resorts make booking your ski extras and transfers simple. If you are looking for a flexible ski holiday then booking independently has its benefits. Package holidays offer little to no flexibility in terms of dates and flight times, but choosing your own duration and flights means you can stay for as long as you like.
Half term holidays are nearly here! Half term is traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the season with hundreds of families choosing to spend their well-earnt break on the snowy slopes of Grandvalira and Vallnord. There’s no need to stress, we’re here to tell you everything you need to know so that your holiday is memorable for all the right reasons. (more…)
Shared transfers are the most cost-effective way from getting from the airport to your resort, and with regular services running from Barcelona (2023: eight times daily) and Toulouse (three times daily) it’s a great solution to get to the slopes when on an independent holiday. Matching your transfer to your flight time is important, so we have compiled some of our most commonly answered questions. (more…)
Booking an independent ski holiday has many advantages over picking a pre-packaged deal, you get to pick and choose all the elements you want to build your perfect stay but it can sometimes it can be a little daunting it you haven’t done it before.
We’ve compiled everything you’ll need to know about getting from the airport to resort, or we have another guide explaining how to get to Andorra. (more…)
This winter sees a change to the pick-up point for airport transfers from Barcelona to Andorra if you’re flying in to terminal two. Pretty much all flights at T2 arrive into T2B, so once you arrive come outside at terminal 2B, turn right, and head to the bus stop just beyond the “Technical Block” and the “PR2” meeting point. (more…)
*Please note. The following information is out of date, for the most recent update please click here.
The pick-up point for Novatel shared transfers has changed at Barcelona airport for arrivals to terminal two. For those of you familiar with the old bus stop it is basically on the opposite side of the road, ie. on the terminal side of the road, but a tiny bit further up in the large pull-in area for buses.
If you’re unfamiliar with Barcelona airport then terminal two is split into three sections: A, B & C, with all terminal two arrivals coming into the B section, which is where Novatel picks up from.
There’s a Novatel noticeboard on the wall by where the bus stops, although no signpost, so we’ve taken a few photos to make sure you know where to be!
**Updated 05th March 2017**
If you’ve been researching how to get to Andorra you may have realised by now that Andorra doesn’t have it’s own airport, and therefore relies on holidaymakers flying in to either France or Spain. This actually means that you’ll probably have a great selection of flights to choose from because you have a variety of airports all within fairly easy reach of the slopes.
The most popular airports for holidaymakers are Barcelona and Toulouse, but you can also fly in to Girona, Reus, Carcassonne, Montpellier, and more recently Lleida. When searching for flights though, you should always bear in mind how you are going to travel from the airport to Andorra because you might find some bargain flights but then be stuck with a long wait at the airport. (more…)
When it comes to booking a holiday you have a few ways to go about it – first of all you have the traditional package holiday where you pick your package from a brochure or online and it includes everything from the flights and transfers to your accommodation and ski extras, or the alternative is to put your own holiday together and come independently.
Booking all or part of your holiday independently means you have much more flexibility to meet your own requirements, whether that means you want to arrive on a particular day of the week, have a short/extended break or want to have a day off from skiing in the middle of the week. Our guide below will show you the various parts of the holiday that you will need to book.
Flights
Andorra doesn’t have it’s own airport however there are several airports available to choose from fairly close by. The most popular airport for independent holidaymakers is Barcelona as there are five daily shared transfers plus an extra service at weekends during the winter, however there are also shared transfers available from Toulouse and Girona. Other airports used less frequently are Reus and Carcassonne. Lleida is the closest airport with international flights although they are very limited.
Transfers or Car Hire
You need to decide how you’ll get from the airport to your resort, and this depends on a couple of factors – do you mind driving overseas? and how much do you want to spend?
It’s easy enough to rent a car, however if you go for this option before you book make sure that you can drive the car across the border into Andorra and also find out if you will be charged extra for this. We’ve previously used Europcar as they allow cross-border travel and don’t charge extra, but always check before you book.
For airport transfers if you’re flying to Barcelona, Girona or Toulouse you can have shared or private transfers, or from other airports it’s just private transfers. To book airport transfers a good website to try is www.andorraairporttransfers.com. Obviously a taxi transfer or private minibus is going to be more expensive than the shared option, but it means that you leave the airport as soon as your group have arrived.
Choose Your Resort
Andorra has two main ski areas, Grandvalira and Vallnord. Grandvalira is the largest skiable domain in the Pyrenees, not just Andorra, boasting 205km of linked pistes which means you have a huge range of slopes to keep you occupied throughout your holiday. The main resorts here are Pas de la Casa and Soldeu, and both offer completely different atmospheres albeit access to the same slopes. Pas de la Casa (or just Pas to locals) attracts quite a young crowd and is renowned for partying as much as it is for skiing and snowboarding, however Soldeu is much more family friendly although still has a few great bars for après ski. The other accesses to Grandvalira are Grau Roig, El Tarter, Canillo and Encamp but these aren’t as popular with tourists.
Vallnord is a smaller ski area with 93km of pistes but in my opinion this includes probably the best skiing in Andorra! The main tourist resort is Arinsal which is also linked by cable car to the Pal ski area, and it’s arguably the most picturesque of the Andorran ski resorts. The bars and restaurants are all family friendly but there are also a couple of nightclubs to keep younger ones entertained. Arinsal has a fantastic school for beginners, but Arcalis is the hidden gem of a ski area, and with no hotels it is usually much quieter than other areas, so it’s worth taking the free ski bus across to give it a go.
Ski Extras
Whether you’ve arranged the whole of your holiday yourself or if you’ve booked a package for the main components, the most popular part of a skiing holiday to book independently is the ski extras: lift passes, lessons and ski hire. The main benefit of doing this “DIY” is that you can choose the standard of equipment you want, you can see which shop you’ll be collecting from beforehand, and you can also take advantage of special products such as the non-consecutive lift pass which allows either one or two days off from skiing or snowboarding.
The Next Step…
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions or need help organising your holiday, or for links to all the relevant pages to plan and book your trip, visit our Andorra holidays page >>
