We’re leaving tomorrow for 5 days in Barcelona. We’ve got our hotel booked (near La Sagrada Familia), I’ve been working on translating my Spanish to Catalan, and I’m really excited to buy some caganers for friends and relatives.
We also booked a car so we can do a day trip up to Montserrat since it’s cheaper than doing a tour ($40 for the car vs $120 for the tour). That made me wonder about driving out a couple more hours to see the country of Andorra.
From what I’ve seen and heard, it’s pretty cool if you’re into skiing or cheap cigarettes, neither of which we’re into. So the big pull, I’ll admit, is that the collector side of me wants to go just to check it off the “countries I’ve visited” list, but that seems a bit like Clark Griswold nodding at the Grand Canyon and then leaving.
“Because it’s there” has always been a pretty good reason for me. I used to see the stamps in my passport as reminders of the places I’ve been but those seem to be going away. I have not been to Andorra myself but you might find find some cafe or bar that surprises you. If you do go, report back your findings.
I’ve been to Andorra “just to check it off” in 1980, and frankly I don’t really remember anything remarkable about it. At the time, the duty free zone actually meant something, and there were bunches of Spaniards buying booze and cigarettes. If you’ve got a day to spare, it’s not such a bad place to visit, but I’d rather spend an extra day in France or Spain. I had a Eurail pass and the train goes nearby (I thought it actually stopped in Andorra, but looking at their website, you have to take a bus from the train station), so it didn’t really cost me anything more, although I seem to recall the hostels being limited and expensive.
When I was planning my trip to Spain, I briefly considered adding a day in Andorra (because it’s there). I changed that to 2 days in Perpignan, France, and had a great time there.
If you’re just “dropping in”, Andorra tends to look like an overcrowded shopping mall. If you actually take the time to search behind Zara, there’s some interesting old architecture (mainly Romanic, as in the surrounding valleys), a couple of nice museums, skiing and many good hotel/spas.
Don’t believe maps about how long it will take to drive there, though: there is only one road from Seo d’Urgell and it often has lines that go through Seo.
Thanks everyone. I think we’re going to leave it up to the winds. If we’re up for the drive, we’ll hit it but if traffic/weather/mood doesn’t strike it doesn’t sound like a big loss for me.
