Andorra: The Tiny European Country You Might Not Have Heard Of
During the summer of 2021, I spent half my time living in Barcelona while I traveled around Europe to Ireland, Croatia, the Netherlands and the smallest country in Europe, Andorra.
I had plans to doing a winter skiing trip to Andorra with Stoke Travel in the winter of 2020 but it got cancelled when the pandemic broke out. Most people who know of Andorra, know it as a winter destination. However, I had seen just how beautiful the country was in summer. So I was excited to escape the Barcelona heat and head into the Pyrenees mountains during August!
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There is no airport in the country, so the only way to get there is by road trip. So Tessa and I rented a car in Barcelona and off we went!
Skipping the tolls, it was just under 3 hours of drive time. We stopped to explore a little Spanish town along the way where we also picked up coffee and breakfast.
A few hours later, we had arrived!
Andorra
Pictures don’t do this tiny, beautiful country justice so check out my Tiktok on Andorra for lots of sweeping mountain views!
Must See Summer Locations
- Aubinyà : small mountain village
- Sant Esteve Church: located in the capital city
- Mirador Roc Del Quer: boardwalk with sweeping views
- Caldea: thermal spa & entertainment
- Andorra la Vella: capital city famous for being a tax haven & luxury shopping
- Estanys de Tristaina: 2.3 mile famous hiking route through high-mountain lakes
AubinyÃ
Aubinyà was one of our favorite stops in Andorra. This tiny, quiet mountain town was so picturesque we could hardly believe it!
When we typed it into Google Maps, we struggled to find it and wound up looping around the mountainside for a bit. But once we did, we had the whole place to ourselves.
This small village is no bigger than one city block but it’s so beautiful, you’ll feel transported back in time.
Sant Esteve Church
Sant Esteve Church is a Romanesque and partially Gothic church, located in the old quarter of the capital city, Andorra la Vella. You can also go inside the historic church. But the view from the outside with the mountains in the background and the blooming flowers in summertime is my favorite.
Mirador Roc Del Quer
Mirador Roc Del Quer is one of the best view points in all of Andorra. It truly gives you the feeling of flying when you walk out on the boardwalk.
I recommend coming here at golden hour and staying through sunset so you can see the twinkling lights in the mountain towns below. Just be prepared to drive back down the mountain in the dark!
Overall, we fell in love with this tiny country! I would love to come back and see it during winter like I originally planned as well. Although many things went wrong during our road trip, (we blew a tire on the rental car and couldn’t get it fixed til morning!) it was perfectly imperfect. And I wouldn’t have changed anything about our road trip.
From sipping wine on the mountaintops overlooking the cities below to wandering the shops of the capital city, we had a fantastic 2 day here.
Shop my Andorra favorites!
This…is….STUNNING!!!!! 😍😍😍 such a perfect little place!!
It really is such a gorgeous country!