Vallnord Pal-Arinsal

Vallnord Pal-Arinsal is one of Andorra’s most popular resorts, with ultra modern lifts located in one of the country’s most beautiful mountain valleys offering some of the principality’s more challenging skiing. High value is key here, as is often the case in Andorra and lift queues are a rarity.

Before 2019, the Pal-Arinsal area was also linked on one lift pass to the ski village of Arcalis. Now, the ski areas have separated, with Pal-Arinsal itself offering 63km of piste for skiers to explore. However if you do want to try out somewhere different for a day, the new “Ski The North” lift pass product includes a non-consecutive lift pass for each area for those who want to head further afield.

The area is famed for its great ski schools as well as its reputation as a leading specialist in Adaptive Snowsports, with a highly qualified group of specially trained instructors ready to help share the joy of the slopes.

For the fitter mountain-lovers out there, a new ski touring pass with marked ski-mo tracks is available now, serviced by the mountain security team to ensure touring skiers can enjoy longer days. Training is also available for those that might want it.

The Pal-Arinsal area has long been rightly famous for its fun and friendly environment, excellent English speaking ski schools and high value après-ski. However the past decade has also seen a distinct move up market with ever higher quality evident on and off the slopes. Some prices have risen as a result of this, but Vallnord remains markedly more affordable than the other Andorran ski areas.

Arinsal was established in the early 1970s when the Western end of the La Massana Valley was developed. It is an attractive but rather spread out Catalan village, to the north of Andorra la Vella, the capital. The village itself is typical of quaint Pyreneen villages, attractively built in the typical local style slate and stone. The village is only nine kilometres (six miles) from the Spanish border and is famous for its young atmosphere. It is very lively and rapidly expanding (expect building work!). Indeed, since the 1990s Andorra has made massive financial investment into its ski facilities and Pal-Arinsal, as well as the country’s other resorts, has seen rapid development.

Andorra, is, of course, a country well known for its extraordinary duty free shopping, Arinsal is a year round holiday destination but especially popular during the skiing season when seasonal workers outnumber locals six to one.