Ansalonga, home of the Sant Miquel altarpiece

Ansalonga is one of the smallest villages in Ordino and one that most drivers never slow down for. It sits just off the CG-3 in the quiet stretch between Sornàs and La Cortinada, and to see it properly you need to park up or, better still, arrive on foot.

A quarter with its own chapel

Small as it is, Ansalonga gives its name to one of the five quarters into which the council divides Ordino, each with its own local representatives. Its landmark is the chapel of Sant Miquel, a modest building with a bell gable.

The reason to stop is inside. According to the council’s tourism website, Sant Miquel keeps a late Gothic painted wooden altarpiece to the archangel and a naïve altar frontal with plant motifs, similar to those in many other Andorran chapels. A Gothic altarpiece is unusual in a village chapel, and for me that alone justifies the detour. The chapel is one of nine buildings on the church trail the council has mapped through the valley between Ordino and El Serrat. For the country’s great Romanesque churches, see Romanesque churches in Andorra.

On the royal road, under the trees

The royal road from the chapel of Santa Bàrbara in Ordino crosses the main road at Sornàs and, as the tourist board puts it, climbs gently to Ansalonga in the shade of the trees along the edge of the woods. It then continues on a cobbled stretch towards El Vilar and La Cortinada. It’s almost flat, with wooden footbridges, and I’d walk it in summer for that shade alone. Carry on to La Cortinada and you reach the village with most to see in the valley.

Ordino’s only campsite

Ansalonga has a practical role few people know about. The government’s map of tourist sites records seven campsites across Andorra, and the only one in Ordino parish is Borda d’Ansalonga. The council’s accommodation list also shows an aparthotel in the village. If you’re touring with a tent or a campervan and want the Ordino valley as a base, this is the obvious choice. In winter, the Ordino Arcalís ski area also sets aside overnight parking for campervans at l’Hortell, with 50 spaces, and at Planells, with 10, further up the valley. For hotels, see hotels in Ordino.

Fitting it into a walking day

Ansalonga won’t fill a day, but it slots neatly into one. I’d set off mid-morning from Santa Bàrbara on the royal road, stop at Sant Miquel, carry on to La Cortinada for Cal Pal and Sant Martí, and finish in Llorts at the iron mine if you’ve booked it. Come back on the parish bus or on L6 from La Cortinada. That way the village stops being a sign by the road and becomes a sensible stage on a good walk.