The GR11 through Andorra, and the other long-distance trails that cross it

For plenty of walkers, Andorra is simply a stretch of the GR11. The trail that crosses the Pyrenees from sea to sea passes through the country in more than a day of hard walking and leaves it with far more descent than ascent behind it. But the GR11 isn’t alone here, and if you’re not doing the whole Pyrenean Way there are four other long-distance trails to choose from.

What the GR11 is

It’s the Senda Pirenaica, the long-distance trail along the southern side of the Pyrenees, from the Atlantic at Cabo Higuer to the Mediterranean at Cap de Creus. It’s split into 47 stages and waymarked with the red and white stripes used on every GR. Andorra Turisme gives it its own route sheet and counts it among the country’s five long-distance trails.

On its Andorran section, that sheet says the GR11 starts at 2,545 m near the Port de Vallcivera and measures 28 km, with 1,734 m of ascent and 3,187 m of descent, graded hard and taking more than a day. It’s a figure worth reading slowly, because almost twice as much downhill as uphill punishes your knees more than your lungs.

Where does the GR11 run in Andorra?

The official sheet doesn’t describe the line step by step, but the country’s other route sheets keep mentioning it. The Comapedrosa climb from Arinsal uses the Prats Sobirans track and the GR11, and the staffed Comapedrosa hut sits on its path. In Ordino, the waymarked Iron Route section between Llorts and La Cortinada carries its stripes, and the snowshoe route to the Coll d’Ordino climbs it from the village.

Further east, the route from Encamp up to Engolasters lake joins the GR11, and the cobbled path through the Madriu valley shares stretches with both the GR7 and the GR11. If you only want a taste without a heavy pack, that Madriu section from Escaldes is the one I’d walk, since it pairs the GR with the country’s only World Heritage Site.

Andorra’s other GR trails

The GR7 is part of the European E4 path, which runs from Greece to Gibraltar. In Andorra it’s about 40 km long, entering from France at the Portella Blanca, 2,521 m, and crossing the country from east to south to the Farga de Moles on the Catalan border, at 850 m. On the Pessons cirque, for instance, the lakes route follows its stripes.

The GRP is Andorra’s own trail, a circular loop of about 110 km in seven stages linking the huts. It has so much to it that it gets a page to itself, the GRP round Andorra.

The two cross-border trails are the most original. The GRT 1, the Route of the 3 Nations, links Andorra, the Ariège and the Pallars in three to five stages, starting from El Serrat, Llorts or La Massana and crossing the Comapedrosa park, the Alt Pirineu park and the Ariège regional park. The GRT 2, La Volta als Estanys, is nearly 14 hours of walking in three stages from L’Hospitalet-près-l’Andorre, over the Port d’Incles and past the Juclar hut. The Pyrenean Haute Route completes the list with its own route sheet.

Huts and the hut passport

The whole system relies on about thirty mountain huts, most of them unstaffed and open all year, and four staffed ones. The free mountain hut passport from tourist offices is stamped at huts along the GR11, GR7 and GRP, and when you hand it in completed at the Andorra la Vella office you get a certificate and a small gift. I’ve set out the huts themselves in mountain huts in Andorra.

When and how I’d walk it

The Andorran GR11 runs mostly above 2,000 m, so its season is the high-mountain one, which Andorra Turisme puts at July, August and September plus the tail end of June, with May and October only if the weather allows. In June, snow can linger on the highest cols.

For British walkers, one detail matters on a trek. The GHIC doesn’t work in Andorra, so sort out travel insurance with mountain rescue before you book the flight. And if you’re not walking the GR11 end to end, I’d give Andorra two or three days of the GRT 2 or the GRP, which were designed to show the country rather than just cross it.