I’m looking to go riding in Andorra this summer, well first week in Sept.

Anyone been riding in Andorra recently, if yes how did you get there, drive or fly (or other)

Any comments, recommendations etc?

has no one been there?

I went for the World Cup last year but didn’t ride as you couldn’t race weekend. Amazing place and the riding looks to be good. We drove through France it was ace. Long old way though so give yourself a few days to get down.

going myself in sept. flying easyjet from liverpool.

Long old way though so give yourself a few days to get down.

A few days? You should be able to drive Calais to Andorra in under 12 hours easily.

We flew to Barcelona from Liverpool on Easyjet.

Singletracck safari picked us up and carted us off to Andorra. It was a three hour drive but I did think we got lost…

A few days? You should be able to drive Calais to Andorra in under 12 hours easily.

Yeah you can but it’s not much fun. If you have time I’d say it’s better to make more of a trip of it. Depends if it’s just about biking or not..

Fly to Toulouse and drive, should take 2-3 hours.

Don’t worry – we didn’t get lost – Vic, right? :-)! At Singletrack Safari we drive this route about 20 times per season, so we know it super well…

It is theoretically exactly the same driving time from either Toulouse or Barcelona….HOWEVER from the French side the roads are twisting, winding, congested, narrow and slow. Often – esepcially around French Holiday times there can be a huge queue to enter from the French border. I have sat there for 45 minutes waiting to get through – which suddenly makes for a transfer time of nearly 4 hours sometimes.

That’s why we transfer everyone from Barcelona – it is consistently a 3 hour drive, on good roads, with great scenery. There’s actually two ways of doing it – with or without tolls. Following the toll roads can save you 20 minutes, but you will pay about £20 in tolls….and there’s never a queue at the border. Last year we only got stuck once following a nasty fatal road accident just outside Andorra, other than that it’s always a clear run.

Alternatively, if you want to get there with no hassle there’s a great airport transfer service. Our Andorra holidays are now getting so popular (we are the Official Holiday Partner to Vallnord and Soldeu Bike Parks, and run guided holidays too) that we are going to start using these for all of our guests – they run several times per day. Drop us a line if you want us to simplify things and organie it all for you!

In terms of driving from the UK, we don’t advise it – 12 hours is a pretty hopeful estimate – it is more like 14 (from Calais) for most people once you factor in some stops. It is much further than you think…it’s pretty hardcore. If you are going to do this then make sure you time your drive around Paris carefully (you can save an hour by avoiding peak times). If you want to make your life easier try stopping off partway in a cheap hotel, like a Formula1 or an Ibis Budget – both of which are usually only about £25 for a room between 2 people. The easiest trip from teh UK I had was by getting a later crossing from the UK, driving for a bit (to near Le Mans) and staying the night…that got me to Andorra by mid afternoon the next day…

I’d recommend singletrack safari I had a great week in Andorra with Martin

I’ve been and we drove. Took a few days over it – was great.

Drove out Summer before last. Bit of a mission of a drive but not that different to driving to Morzine.
Transferring from Barcelona would be nice although personally I’d rather have the car to get to the other bikeparks a bit and general sightseeing.
La Molina Bikepark in Spain is fairly easily driveable and a great ride too.

Careful where you stop on the way down. We crashed out after getting sick of driving, in pop up tents in a busy service area(Silly decision in retrospect) and one of us had wallet and phone etc stolen from right by his snoring head in his tent!
I wouldn’t risk that again with the bikes in the car etc..

I used to work winters in Andorra and would agree with Martin above, it’s a bit further from Barcelona than Toulouse but the roads from Barcelona are much better/faster. You used to be able to get cheap flights into Carcassone too but the journey was much the same, or perhaps bit longer, than Toulouse.

Where are you going? If you’re going to Soldeu for example, it’s a bit further from the Spanish border than the French but probably still a lot faster from Barca.