Incles valley, Canillo's glacial valley you explore car-free in summer

The Incles valley is my answer when someone wants proper mountains in Andorra without a tough hike. You turn off the main road between El Tarter and Soldeu, leave the traffic behind and almost at once you’re in a glacial valley of stone barns, meadows and a river running alongside.

A U-shaped valley next to Soldeu

Incles was shaped by a glacier, and you can read its U profile at a glance. It belongs to Canillo parish and its road leaves the CG-2 between El Tarter and Soldeu; the council’s leaflet puts it a kilometre from Soldeu. Incles is also one of the parish’s neighbourhoods, but it has no square or high street. The valley is the place, which is why it doesn’t get a page of its own.

The mouth of the valley is open subalpine country, turning properly alpine as you climb. Pasture, scattered barns and mountain pine forest keep you company to the top. Above it all is the Incles pass at 2,260 m, on the border with France.

How do you get up in summer?

In summer the valley is closed to cars to protect it. Andorra Turisme gives the period as mid-June to early September, and in 2025 the council set it at 14 June to 7 September. You park before the barrier and ride an electric train which, in 2025, ran every 20 minutes, with the last ride down at 17:30. Residents can still drive in.

You buy tickets at the little information hut next to the parking area. I couldn’t find the fare published on any official page, so I won’t guess. The 2026 dates weren’t published on what I read either, so my advice is to ask at Canillo tourist office.

The Obac path, the walk I’d do

If you don’t fancy the train, the Obac path follows the valley to its head in 2.6 easy kilometres. Andorra Turisme recommends it for children, and to my mind it’s how Incles is best seen, at your own speed, stopping wherever you fancy, since the valley reads better on foot than from a carriage. With the Busca’ls booklet, collected from the hut at the entrance or Canillo tourist office, children hunt for clues along the paths and earn a certificate.

In winter the same path becomes a snowshoe route. There’s no train then, and Andorra requires winter tyres or chains from November until mid-May, so check what your hire car comes with.

Incles with children

For families this is one of the easiest big landscapes in Andorra. The Obac path is graded easy and suits small legs, the train is a treat in itself, and the Busca’ls game keeps children busy looking for clues along the way. I’d bring a picnic, walk up on the Obac path, and ride the train back down if legs give out.

What to see, June to October

For Andorra Turisme, June, with the snow just gone, is the best moment. Summer brings the flowers at their peak, the poet’s narcissus that is the Principality’s national flower, lilies, gentians and alpenrose. In autumn the meadows and woods change colour, and I’d say that’s when the valley is at its loveliest and emptiest.

With patience you’ll see bearded vultures, golden eagles and griffon vultures on the heights, marmots around Siscaró, newts and common frogs by the lakes and streams, and squirrels and roe deer in the woods. At the Incles pass small birds such as chaffinches and greenfinches pass through on migration.

The high mountain routes that start here

Incles is the gateway to some of the best-known walks in the country. The most popular climbs to the Juclar lakes, with Andorra’s largest lake and a staffed hut in summer. Others lead to the lake and hut at Cabana Sorda, to Siscaró and to the Incles pass itself. These are mountain routes, not strolls, and Andorra Turisme’s advice is to keep anything higher than 1,700 m for the stretch from late June to late September.

For more lakes, I compare the main ones in lakes in Andorra. And if you’d like to sleep up high, the unstaffed huts at Cabana Sorda and Siscaró and the staffed one at Juclar are covered in mountain huts Andorra. For something more comfortable, Andorra Turisme lists the L’Ovella Negra borda, in the valley itself, among its more unusual places to stay, and the hotels of Soldeu and El Tarter are a few minutes from the entrance. And since the GHIC counts for nothing in Andorra, make sure your insurance covers hillwalking.