Aixovall, where the climbing starts

Aixovall is a village in Sant Julià de Lòria strung along the main road and the Gran Valira, and I’ll be honest, it has no listed monuments of its own. What it does have may interest you more, three starting points within a few hundred metres. An easy via ferrata, one of Andorra’s hardest road climbs and the footpath up to the parish’s patron saint.

The Tossal Gran via ferrata

This is the clearest reason to stop. The Tossal Gran d’Aixovall via ferrata is short and close to town, starting at the foot of the Gran Valira and climbing the walls of the Tossal Gran to a summit at 990 m. It covers 150 m with 40 m of height gain, faces east and is free to use. Andorra Turisme allows 5 minutes for the approach, 1 h 25 on the route and 25 minutes to get back.

It’s graded easy, but there’s a harder variant with what they call an athletic overhang. To my mind it’s the ideal way to find out whether via ferrata is for you before committing to the long routes further north. The rest are in via ferrata Andorra.

The Gallina by bike

Andorra Turisme’s cycle route 17 starts on the CG-1 in Aixovall itself, at 928 m, and climbs the CS-600 to the Coll de la Gallina at 1,910 m. That’s 11.9 km and 982 m of ascent at an average of 8.3%, with sections of 9.5%, graded very hard. It hosted the finish of stage eight of the 2012 Vuelta. At the top is a monument to Joaquim «Purito» Rodríguez, and that’s the photo everyone rides up for.

On foot to Canòlich

The Aixovall road, the CG-6, heads up towards Bixessarri. At kilometre 0.7, beside a big water tank some 930 m above sea level, the footpath to the Canòlich Sanctuary begins, waymarked with three yellow dots. The route covers 3.7 km and climbs 645 m, rated hard, through shady Scots pine woods, so I’d do it in summer and set off early. If you’d rather drive, the same road takes you to Bixessarri, and from there the CS-600 climbs to the sanctuary.

What to expect on the Canòlich path

If you fancy the walk up, it helps to know what’s coming. After a little bridge over the Os river you enter Scots pine woods and reach the Font dels Meners spring at 1,115 m. The gradient then bites up to the Collet Purgat, eases off to the Collet Martí hut, which has a water supply, and the last stretch climbs across the sunny slope to the sanctuary. Andorra Turisme allows three to six hours and suggests either leaving a car at the top or coming back the same way. I’d carry more water than you think for that final section, the only part without shade, and I’d avoid starting it in the heat of a July afternoon.