Located in Andorra ski area Grandvalira - one of the largest in Europe. The zone was established in 2003, after the merger of the company managing the Pas de la Casa and Grau-Roach resorts, with the company managing the Soldeu-El Tarter.
It includes 210 kilometers of tracks of varying complexity, areas for snowboarding of cross-country skiing and cross-country skiing, three freestyle sections, half pipe, tractor routes, and everything that ensures the normal functioning of the zone: lifts (to date there are 67), points rental, ski schools employing more than four hundred qualified instructors, a ski school for toddlers (it trains children from the age of 3 years), more than 1100 snow cannons, medical centers and centers, sports stadiums and much more. The length of the longest route is 9.6 km, and the difference in altitude is 850 meters. In the lower level of the skiing area are forest routes, very comfortable due to full protection from the winds.
Resorts of Grandvalira zone
The Grandvalira zone includes the resorts of Soldeu , El Tarter , Pas de la Casa , Grau Roig, Canillo and Encamp . On all routes of this resort there is a general ski pass.
- Pas de la Casa is the highest point of Andorra ; this is quite a lively resort with a variety of routes (including nightly ones).
- The resort of Soldeu - El Tarter includes, besides the towns that gave it the name, also Canillo. These small towns are very close to each other (no more than 3 km), and connected by a cable car. This is perhaps the most picturesque of the resorts.
- Encamp is quite a large city (by the standards of Andorra): more than 7,000 people live in it (by comparison, there are just over 22,000 in the capital). After the appearance in 1999 of "telekabiny" - funikulya Funikip , - the popularity of this resort has increased dramatically. The length of the cable car is 6 km, it is "serviced" by 32 cabins, accommodating up to 24 people each.
Other entertainments and attractions
In the Grandvalira area there are 4 snow parks, one of which operates until 21-00. Also lovers of extreme entertainment can spend the night in an icy hotel-needle at a height of almost 2.5 kilometers, ride a dog sled or snow motorcycles, take part in adventure races or ride a tubing.
In Canillo, you should visit the Palau de Gel, an ice sports complex in which you can skate or watch competitions. Music is playing on the rink, it is lit; its dimensions are 60x30 m.
In Encamp there is a car museum , in the exposition of which there are more than a hundred cars produced from the end of the XIX century to the middle of the XX century, and rare motorcycles and bicycles. Not far from the town, in the village of Le Bons, is the historic complex of Sant Roma de les Bons, in which you can see the Romanesque church of Caesarea. It was built in the 12th century in the Romano-Lombard style. The interior of the church is designed in Gothic and Romanesque styles; decorate the church paintings of the XII and XVI centuries. In addition to the church, the complex includes the remains of a fortress built in the 13th century, a water tower and a watchtower, an irrigation canal. You can visit the complex in July and August.
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Restaurants and hotels
The ski resort of Grandvalira has a well-developed infrastructure; in each of the villages that are part of the ski area, there are hotels that are rated by the lodgers only "very good" and "excellent."
Restaurants and bars are also located in each of the towns and even on the slopes (there are about 40 restaurants and bars here). They offer Andorran dishes (El Raco del Park restaurant near Funicamp, L'Abarset in El Tarter), French, Spanish (Cala Bassa beach Club, Italian (La Trattoria in El Tarter, Tres Estanys in Grau Roach) and other national you should try the local "mountain" cuisine, traditional dishes of which are stew of venison, cheese fondue and various desserts.