Resort information for Soldeu

Soldeu, the least unattractive village in Andorra, is an ever-growing ribbon of modern buildings with traditional stone cladding – on a steep hillside, lining the busy road that runs through Andorra from France to Spain. The steep hillside leads down to the river, and the slopes are on the opposite side. A gondola or a new six-pack take you to the heart of the slopes at Espiolets, and a wide bridge across the river forms the end of the piste home, with elevators to take you up to the gondola. El Tarter, a few miles by road down the valley, and Canillo, a few miles further, offer alternative lifts into the slopes.

The ski area offers an extensive 193km/120 miles of pistes – a comparable area to big-name Alpine resorts such as Kitzbühel and Les Deux-Alpes. Soldeu’s main slopes are on open mountainsides above the woods, though there are runs in the woods back to all of the lift bases. The slopes are pleasantly varied but crowded. Despite its name (Soldeu means Sun God) the slopes enjoy reliable snow. Most slopes are north-facing, with a good natural snow record and there’s snowmaking on 40 per cent of the pistes. Most of the resort’s key lifts are high-speed chairs or gondolas, though there are a lot of slow lifts too - but the system seems to be able to cope with queues. There are crowds on the blue slopes, but the reds and blacks are much quieter.

The mountain restaurants are crowded and the food generally dull, but in Soldeu itself there are some atmospheric places to eat out. Apres-ski is lively ‘but not loutish’ – mainly bars and rep-organised events (such as pub crawls with maybe 100 participants) – expect noise from late night revellers.