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Andorra, Grandvalira queries

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Can someone give me some tips about skiing in Grandvalira in Andorra? I've only ever skied in Austria but looking to try somewhere new, plus my wife is Spanish and I speak the language too so we're going to give Andorra a go.

We're a family of 4, 2 young boys, one 6 and can ski but the other will just be 3 so probably too young to start learning. Looking for a town in Grandvalira but which one? We want somewhere with an apartment and some good places for the kids too (restaurants, ski school, other activities etc.). Some Spanish friends of ours have recommended Canillo but looking at the piste map, it seams to be right out on a limb and not very well connected. We're unlikely to have a car so being central would be useful. The only town i've heard of in the resort is Soldeu.

I'm a fairly good intermediate skiier but my 6 year old is pretty timid so want some terrain that will keep him happy and where we can ski together.

Any ideas or suggestions would be great.

Cheers
Kersh
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Kersh, with particular regard to the desire to ski with your 6 year old, plus open up options for maybe meeting on the mountain as a family for lunch etc, it might be worth having a look at Arinsal. The slopes would, in my opinion, suit your 6 year old.

To be perfectly honest, I don't think, from experience, that there will be enough for you but, if the link to Pal is open (telecabin), then that will open up more terrain perhaps more suited to your level.

Arinsal as a town is pleasant enough (or was 6/7 years ago), has some charm and plenty of accommodation options plus restaurants catering to most tastes/needs.

The main telecabin out of the town and up to the first stage on the mountain is central and may provide you/your family with the meeting up options. There are a range of restaurants in and around this area.

Ski schools have a high level of native English-speaking instructors, if that is important.

Appreciate this isn't Grandvalira, but perhaps Arinsal might meet some of your other criteria.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Hi Kersh, Been to Grandvalira, great intermediate area, and we have always stayed in El Tarter. Just thought I'd state that up front.

For access to Grandvalira, for me El Tarter works the best. To get to anywhere else on the map you can go direct from there, the nursery slopes are bigger and more varied, and the village is quieter, another benefit with kids. Lookup Euro Esqui - Crystal or Inghams, swimming pool etc.. good value.

Canillo is nice and quiet too, but there is only one route in and out which can get very icy.

Soldeu is more a party town, much livelier, a bit higher than El Tarter, but you have to get out of Soldeu to get anywhere.

I'd recommend Grandvalira, good ski school in Soldeu and El Tarter with a lot of Brits.

Rgds
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Grandvalira is a great place to ski - lots of intermediate runs, and the whole area is vast (over 200kms?). I'd recommend Soldeu, it's perfectly placed in the middle of the ski area and while there are a few lively bars it's not that much of a party town (Pas is much more so) and unless you're in those bars you won't think it's particularly lively. Plus the ski school is excellent!
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Grrrr... double post!
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I second the suggestions already made.

Soldeu is little more than a single purpose-built street rather than a town, but it's lively enough with a few bars and restaurants (some in the huge hotels) - enough for a family with small children. There can be some noisy apres-ski in certain bars, but you'll always be able to find something quieter that suits you. The late night partying is tucked away so shouldn't be an issue.

El Tarter has little in the way of bars and restaurants; it's another purpose-built village principally made up of holiday-home apartments (rather tastefully done, by Andorran standards!) And I agree with bruisedskier that it's well located, allowing you to access everything that Soldeu does since the upper lift in both sectors ends up in more or less the same place. Note that to return from the top of El Tarter or Soldeu to the El Tarter mid-station (the top of the gondola), the easiest blue is Gall de Bosc, which passes through the Soldeu sector. And I also agree that the bunny slopes are better and more varied in El Tarter.

The advantage of both those sectors is their position in the resort, really: there's the whole host of mountain services, and you just have to cross one valley to get to the "Funicamp" valley which is a great place to build your kid's confidence, with its flat-but-fun blues. The next level up will be the valley you have to cross, which has more cruisy blues. Each of these valleys has more advanced stuff which comes straight down the valley sides instead of running along its base. Make a point of doing all the reds which run across the peaks, parallel to the valley floors: these are some of the best pistes in the resort!

Canillo is a different thing really. It's my favourite sector; it might only have a bunny slope area and two pistes (one blue, one black), but they're three of the very best of their colour in the whole resort. It also has some of the most interesting off-piste possibilities. Thanks to a new draglift called Encampadana, there are also a couple of very short, straight, easy blues that form the connection to El Tarter, which are great for technique drills. That draglift (along with one of the same type which takes you up to the red and black pistes of Montmalús in the Grau Roig sector - a must-do) is the easiest I've ever encountered.

Local visitors with kids love the Canillo sector because everything ends up at one place, with a restaurant which fully overlooks the bunny slopes; and it's ridiculously quiet and yet is possibly the most beautiful sector. However, the blue is a big step up from the bunny slopes (definitely more challenging than a number of the flatties found in other sectors), which could be an issue on the return to home. There's no skiing back to the village, but again the families with young kids don't mind that; the gondola is comfortable. The village itself is a proper village, relatively pretty, with normal life that's not boisterous in any way.

Another option is to stay in Encamp town, but it's a bit of an eyesore (though nothing compared to the hideous Pas de la Casa) and IMO doesn't provide so much of the "mountain holiday" feeling. But it does have lots of real shops and services though, and its Funicamp gondola directly accesses that beginner-oriented valley I mentioned, which really is one of the best "next-step-up-from-bunny-slope" areas I've come across in a ski resort.

As for Andorra's other resort, Vallnord, Cacciatore's suggestion of Arinsal is also good (for beginners; the terrain bores me to tears!). Another option would be La Massana town which serves the Pal sector. The cable car between Pal and Arinsal is rarely closed. The two sectors are very different, with Pal being tree-lined with a strange mixture of beginner-oriented stuff and really rather step reds and the odd black (and, on a powder day, world-class tree runs down the same hillside!). Both villages have all you need. On the same ski pass you have the Arcalís sector, which is a slog away on a (free) bus but which is a must-do day trip during your stay.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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Before I start, I must say I'm a bit partial to the Grau Roig - Pas de La Casa area. It's where I've stayed on the two ocasions I went to Andorra.

IMO the Grau Roig sector would suit your needs: it has a big learning area, good and long red and blue runs, a snowpark (if you're into that sort of thing) and my absolute favourite piste on the resort - Montmalús. I don't know how are the hotels there I usually stay in Pas.

That said, I believe the Soldeu area is ideal for you as it has the most pistes, really good access to the rest of the resort, a lift connecting the village and the pistes and it is known for it's good family friendly environment. It also has a piste back to the village which is a very nice, calm blue piste. Soldeu is also a very funny place because it looks like a gigantic shopping center from the road, but is a purpose built village in the middle of the mountains.

I don't know the El Tarter and Canillo sectors very well as I've only been there once. One of my friends favourite off-piste is in Canillo so if you like off-pistes it should be a nice sector. I don't like it's pistes though. Last year I found them quite icy.

I reinforce what Pyremaniac said: you have to try Montmalús. Preferably on a powdery day.

Also if you're considering going on the last week of February, let me know. We could probably meet.



I apologize for any grammatical mistakes, English is not my main language.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I think anywhere in Grandvalira will suit you ok. I think Soldeu is a bit nicer but has a bit less in terms of facilities than Pas de la casa. The lift system and slope maintenance is on a par with all but the best of the alpine resorts in my view. If you have kids bear in mind the fact there is no smoking ban in Andorra so restaurants and pubs can be smoky.
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Soldeu is a great area to take kids skiing as there are plenty of long wide easy blues from the top of the mountains down to the base (about 8kms). I've taken my 2 kids to learn there for their first 2 ski trips. The ski school is excellent & they have a nursery for your youngest child too.
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monkey wrote:
If you have kids bear in mind the fact there is no smoking ban in Andorra so restaurants and pubs can be smoky.


But the upside is that it's Duty Free so the kids can get their fags cheap Very Happy















Sorry couldn't resist.
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Laughing
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Smoking ban has been in force in Andorra for a couple of years now... much improved snowHead
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Quote:
To be perfectly honest, I don't think, from experience, that there will be enough for you
I've skied at 150+ ski areas world-wide and loved Andorra when we went a few years back - we based ourselves in Soldeu and hired a car so that we could ski all of the different areas. We also skied at Porte de Puymorens, which is very close by in France, and La Molina/Masella, in Spain, on the way back to Barcelona Airport. An absolutely brilliant and very varied week - with excellent snow too Very Happy.
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