 Poster: A snowHead
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Looking to get a week in over New Year with the family, including 2 kids (6 and 10) who have skied for 2-3 weeks. (Parents decades of snowboarding)
Thinking Andorra might be worth a look, but haven't ever been that way before.
Any tips?
Good family destination?
Ski schools?
Where to stay? Ideally self catering.
thanks all
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I put a few posts in the Trip Reports forum for Andorra for when we stayed in El Tarter 2-3 times, and others have as well. Try searching there. I haven’t been since Covid so am a bit out of date. But I always warn, careful of mobile data, it is outside EU and bill shock is common.
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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?
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I went a couple of years ago at Feb HT with two teenage kids, flew to BCN, hired a car, stayed in a village called Arans and commuted up to Arcalis, down to Arinsal-Pals and across to Encamp for the Grandvalira, so skied every area in Andorra. Had a great time! 
Arcalis was small but perfectly formed and pretty deserted.
Arinsal was jammed with Brit kids learning and very linear. Pals across the valley was similarly busy, but had a good selection of tree-lined runs where you could lose the crowds.
Grandvalira area was fairly busy too, but was so large the crowds dispersed until lunchtime which was a bit of a scramble.
I would say El Tarter or Soldeu are the best spots to base yourselves if you didn't want to commute. Pas de la Casa has the reputation of Ibiza on snow, so probably best avoided.
I reckon it will be as busy as it gets at New Year, very hard to avoid that time of year anywhere.
Can't say much about ski schools as we didn't use them, but apparently there employ a lot of English instructors.
The Caldea Spa in Andorra la Vella is worth visiting one evening, interesting to browse the shops down there too.
A visit to Barcelona at the end is worth it too, if you're DIY and fly that way. Though other airports like Toulouse or Lleida are slightly closer.
I wouldn't say it was that cheap anymore, except for the duty free cigs and alcohol, but I'm comparing to Italy where I often ski, not top French resorts.
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Only been to Grandvalira, twice. Once about 20 years ago, then again about three years back. I don't know the other areas but I suspect they will be too small for you.
GV is great, and Andorra is good value for money. However, like many resorts, it has not had the greatest snow record past few years. NY is still relatively early in the season. It is all very much 'finger in air' and you never really know. But I would personally either leave till last min to book, or be looking at one of the higher alpine resorts.
Tagging in @hammerite (hope you don't mind mate!  )as he lives out there. He might be able to help.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I’d recommend Soldeu or Arinsal.
Arinsal area is pretty small but will be fine for the kids. However, if the adults are experienced you might get a little bored even with the ability to get to Pal.
Soldeu is part of Grandvalira so will probably be a better option. It’s a big area so plenty to go at for all levels.
The ski schools in both are excellent.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@Adam123, I suppose that you are doing full costing on various resorts. I haven't been to Andorra for quite a while but I was suprised how expensive it was. The lift pass at Soldeu was more expensive than that at Les Arcs for example, self catering accommodation was hard to find and about the same price as the Tarrentaise. Transfers were tricky and expensive. The big savings were in drink and I expect smoking.
To me the big question is "will it be less crowded at New Year?" And that question I'm afraid I cannot answer.
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@johnE, about €300 for 6 days usually but they do dynamic pricing.
Hotel costs are roughly the same as anywhere else. Flights can be reasonably priced for BCN or TLS. Transfers are relatively cheap €30 each way per person. It’s pretty reasonable to eat and drink out.
As for it being busy at New Year, yes, it can be but no worse than anywhere really.
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We did Andorra as a family about 3 years back. Got a really cheap package for Easter that included ski passes, transfers and even ski hire. It was SC and the place was nice enough.
We were in Pas, I had no idea that it was supposed to be a party place. TBH, we barely noticed, but there was a load of uni ski clubs there building ramps and jumping them in inflatable dinosaur costumes. It was V funny and the kids liked the whole atmosphere. We weren't above a bar and it was pretty quit where we were, a 5 min walk from the Piste.
Skiing is OK, we took another family that was just learning and it was fine for them. We'd been used to leas arc or the dolomites so GV felt a bit limited but if the kids are learning it's probably fine. I'm glad we were on the GV as the other resort would have been even smaller. My Bro IL is a boarder and he didn't like the lack of off-piste in GV but maybe a guide would have found him some, he just explored on his own. We drank a lot of hot chocolate and brandy and enjoyed the views. Next year we went to Les Men in the 3V and the other family said it was way too steep for them as beginners.
Instructors all spoke english and were super nice. Drinks were cheaper than france or italy, we ate in the apartment and the supermarket was reasonable. All in, we had fun for the week.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We also went to Pas about 3 years ago and there was excrement on the slopes, they sold knives and CS Gas in the local Spar and the bars and hotels seemed full of morons.
Whilst walking past a local shop someone grabbed a load of CS gas and ran out, setting off various alarms and panicked staff.
It is cheaper than most other European Ski Resorts.
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@B., yes, Pas is a party place but it’s pretty quiet come Easter. My lad is early 20s and works in Pas during the season. He prefers it to elsewhere in Andorra as he feels that it’s boring elsewhere in comparison.
@russ_e, weirdly, I’ve skied 50 days a season over the past few years and have never seen excrement on the slopes. However, I have seen plenty of people walking dogs on the slopes before the lifts open - most will pick up after their dogs but not all. Dogs have to be registered with the govern and they hold DNA records that can be used to determine the origins of poo although I’ve never heard of it happening to anyone!
The shops love stocking BB guns, knives and CS gas. It’s pretty much a tourist thing for the French visitors. Thankfully, Andorra is the safest place in Europe to live but locals who live elsewhere in Andorra refer to Pas as Mordor!
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