Andorra.

Andorra la Vella, the town that we are visiting in Andorra, is basically the most beautiful duty-free shop you’ve ever been to. The country itself is situated between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains, and is a tax haven, so shoppers rejoice.

The town is store-after-store of giant liquor bottles, perfume shops, and high-end clothing retailers, with a surprisingly low sprinkling of restaurants (mainly open after 8 pm), and way too many pharmacies. I wonder how so many pharmacies and perfume shops can all be open and stay in business? Anyway, for people who are into shopping, this would be heaven.

I’m not a shopper myself, but I do love to look at window displays, and the magic here, is that the cloud covered mountains are visible from the streets so you’re never without scenery.

Despite its plethora of shops, Andorra is also an outdoorsman’s dream, with over 300 kms of ski runs, fabulous hiking, white water rafting, and a variety of other outdoor sports. Actually, Tour de France will go through Andorra this year, too!

With an infant, we aren’t doing as much hiking as we typically would on a holiday as we have to time play time, nap time, and eat time just so. Baby is very particular about this order, and when he is willing to be in the carrier, so we never want to be far from somewhere to heat a bottle or lay him out to stretch. That said, we did sneak in a little hike this morning following the Rec Del Sola trail, which is a beautiful flat path with an irrigation canal running along side it. It was about 15 minutes to get part-way up the mountain, and then a flat, stone path with plenty of benches for resting. The views were phenomenal!

For us, not being skiers or shoppers, I think the longest we would want to stay is about a week, but I imagine if you lived in Europe it would make a lovely weekend-getaway, or family holiday in the winter to enjoy the sports.

I’m looking forward to going to Caldea tomorrow to relax in Europe’s largest spa, with over 6000 square metres of thermal waters. Tyler and Baby are likely going to go on another hike, so I’ll book myself into the adult section of the spa and enjoy some quiet time!

Until next time,

J xo