Getting to Andorra by train, even though the train doesn't

“Train to Andorra” comes with a catch, because no railway line reaches the country. What you can do is ride the rails to within a few kilometres and finish by coach, through France or through Spain. Here are both routes, when each makes sense and when it’s better to forget the train.

Why there’s no railway

Andorra is a high mountain country with no rail network. Its tourist board frames it simply, the train is a good option for people coming from a long way off, but you get off before the border and carry on by bus. The official guide boils it down to four stations with a direct coach to Andorra, Barcelona Sants, Lleida Pirineus, Toulouse Matabiau and L’Hospitalet-près-l’Andorre.

The only train running inside the country is a tourist one. From mid-June to early September the Incles valley is closed to cars and an electric train takes visitors up to its far end, which I cover in Incles valley.

Through France, to L’Hospitalet

The closest station to Andorra is in France. It’s L’Hospitalet-près-l’Andorre, eleven kilometres or so from the frontier, with trains from Toulouse and other cities in the south of France. Hife covers the last leg with a coach that starts in Ax-les-Thermes, calls at L’Hospitalet and then drops down through Pas de la Casa and Soldeu to Canillo, Encamp and the capital. It runs twice a day each way, fitted around the French train times.

It’s a lovely way in and the route I’d pick for the journey itself. The weak spot is frequency. With only two coaches each way a day, a late train can leave you waiting for hours at a small mountain station. I couldn’t read Hife’s timetable, so check it before you buy your rail ticket. For skiers it has a real plus, since it drops you at Pas de la Casa or Soldeu without going through the capital. The French side is covered in Toulouse to Andorra.

Through Spain, to Lleida Pirineus

High-speed services from Atocha in Madrid and from Sants in Barcelona call at Lleida Pirineus, and it’s the station Andorra Turisme suggests for visitors coming through Spain. Andorra by Bus picks up at the station itself, with a coach every other hour between mid-morning and ten at night that takes 2 hours 15 minutes, priced at €25 single and €43 return online. Hife and ALSA serve the same route according to the official guide, but their timetables weren’t available to me.

This is the more forgiving option, with seven coaches a day, so a late train costs you two hours at most. More on the Madrid side in Madrid to Andorra.

From Barcelona, though, I wouldn’t bother. The direct coach leaves from Sants bus station and takes about three hours, with no change.

Coming from further afield

The pattern is the same from anywhere with trains to Toulouse, Lleida or Barcelona. Ride the rails to one of those stations, then take the coach that serves it, Andorra by Bus from Matabiau or Lleida, Andorra Direct Bus from Sants, or Hife from L’Hospitalet. The part of the day that goes wrong is the wait between the two, so I’d plan backwards from the coach times, which are fixed, rather than from the train, which you can usually choose. If one leg is long, it’s worth building in a night in Toulouse or Barcelona instead of chasing a tight connection, especially in winter.

Skis, bikes and children

Train and coach combinations get harder the more you carry. Skis and bikes depend on space, and every change means loading and unloading. For a ski week with your own kit, I’d compare it honestly with a single direct coach from Barcelona or Toulouse, or a hire car. With small children, one vehicle is usually less tiring than two. And if you’re heading to the slopes via France, remember the Hife coach stops in Soldeu, right at the foot of Grandvalira.

Before you set off

The coach crosses a customs post in both directions, so keep your passport handy rather than packed. Because Andorra sits outside Schengen, the passport rules for British travellers are the Schengen ones. In winter the final climb is on snowy mountain roads that can close after a big fall, so leave slack in any connection. Every other way of getting there is compared in how to get to Andorra.