Three Countries in One Day: France, Andorra and Spain from Barcelona
Overview
- Visit three countries in one day: France, Andorra and Spain
- Tour the medieval Spanish village of Baga
- Wander the Medieval streets of Ax Les Thermes
- Experience the healing waters from one of the many spas
- Take in the magnificent views from a high mountain pass
- Enjoy a short walk in a typical Andorran valley
- Small-group tour with a maximum of 20 people provides an intimate experience with your guide
From USD149.21
Lowest Price GuaranteeAs this sleepy villages comes to life, you can get a fresh pastry or sandwich in the local bakery and a coffee in one of the many typical cafes, before rejoining your guide who will give you a short walking tour of the village before leaving you some free time to explore alone.
From Baga, head deeper into the countryside as you ride toward the French border. Your next stop is the charming and beautiful ancient spa town of Ax Les Thermes. Your guide will recommend some of the best natural fountains to visit and those best suitable for soaking your feet in. You'll then have free to enjoy the healing waters and browse the local artisan shops where you can buy local cheeses and cured meats.
After an hour of wandering around this typical French village, its time to choose from one of the many local restaurants for a traditional French lunch. After a memorable French experience, you will meet back at the bus to head toward Andorra.
Your route takes you through the beautiful Pyrenees Alps to Andorra la Vella, the capital of the small but stunning country of Andorra.
On your way, cross the Pas de la Casa, an amazing high-mountain pass with some stunning photo opportunities. As you descend into Andorra you will stop off at a typical mountain valley where you will get a glimpse of how Andorra used to be. Tiny stone huts dot the mountainside, a Roman church stands guard as it has done for centuries. There will be a chance for you to enjoy a brief hike to get away from it all.
From here, head down the valleys into Andorra de la Vella. This will be your last stop of the day, but you'll have enough time to do a little bit of duty-free shopping.
At about 4pm, you will return to the bus and head back to Barcelona via a different route. This drive takes you though dramatic gorges, past verdant farmland, and alongside lakes and rivers.
You will stop en route for a chance to stretch your legs and quench your thirst before arriving back in town at about 7.30pm.
Reviews
Viator Traveller's Reviews
My family and i went on this trip last December 23. We all agree on one thing: it was a waste of money! Yes, Andorra was filled with scenic spots, esp with the snow-capped mountains, that was a surprise and it was beautiful! But we were only given 1 1/2 hour there! Most of it spent queueing in the restaurant and eating! Andorra is supposed to be a shopping paradise, but then we only had about 15 minutes left to shop after eating! Impossible! The tour guide should have informed us in the morning how much time will be spent in each country. Like in Baga, we went there basically for coffee and to use the toilet, stood in front of a statue while the tour guide explained historical stuff, and went back to the bus! My daughter says she timed it and we were only there for half an hour! afterwards we proceeded to Ax-les-Thermes and stayed for about 40 minutes from what I remember. Dipped our feet in the thermal bath, and went back to the bus to travel to Andorra, where we made several 5-minute stops for photo ops, and also for the bus to gas up.My family and I felt cheated. We should have been advised to grab something to eat in Ax-les-Thermes so we would have enough time for shopping in Andorra, because really, people go there to shop and not to eat! Time in each country is definitely not enough! Should have been 2 Countries in 1 Day or maybe add 2 more hours to make the fee and long travel more worthwhile.
We left Barcelona promptly at 7am and headed to a tiny town which was basically closed when we arrived, though open enough for us to have a coffee and pastry. There wasn't much to see, but our tour guide Cam did a great job highlighting the history of the town. We left and headed into Ax Les Thermes where we wandered around the small shops and put our feet in a thermal pool right downtown (bring a towel!) and were there for about an hour. We then drove from France to Andorra and made two stops to take in the scenic views before getting to the capital city where we had lunch and explored the small amount of historic sites, though other guests opted for shopping. We exited Andorra through Spain, so ended up driving through nearly the entire country, which was interesting. We stopped halfway on the three hour drive back for a glass of Cava and made it back to Barcelona just about 7pm. The drive was beautiful and our guide had a wealth of knowledge about everything we saw. He and the driver were courteous and constantly checking with us to make sure we were comfortable. We would highly recommend this if you're interested in visiting Andorra and have a spare day while in Barcelona.
I was really on the fence about booking this tour before my trip. I didn't know how I would feel about sitting on a bus all day. I'm thrilled I decided to take the chance. Our guide was the sweetest, most knowledgeable man. The landscape is just gorgeous. It is a long time on the bus, but the sights are stunning. Absolutely a tour not to miss!
Meeting instructions were clear. The guide was informative and the tour was as expected. Baga, Ax Les Thermes, and Andorra are different from each other. Seeing it in November; going, I saw fall colors and some snow capped mountains. Baga has a medieval town. Ax Les Thermes has a warm spring and Andorra had a lot of snow. So, three different places all in one day.
Under the "What to Expect" section of this trip it says many things that are not true;The description says, "Your guide will recommend some of the best natural fountains to visit and those best suitable for soaking your feet in." When in reality, there is only one spa... you can take it or leave it.The description says, "As you descend into Andorra you will stop off at a typical mountain valley where you will get a glimpse of how Andorra used to be." We did nothing like this... We stopped to take pictures next to a ski resort for 5 minutes.The description says, "There will be a chance for you to enjoy a brief hike to get away from it all." I was actually looking forward to this part the most and we did no such thing. There was no hike and certainly no nature walks to get away from it all.This trip was over all a very nice way to spend a day but this is definitely a BUS TOUR. If that's what you are in to then this is a great trip; but if I could turn back time I would not have spent that much money on it. There is not much time to explore these towns. Maybe one hour in all three towns and the rest of the 12 hour trip is driving. Very disappointing.