What to pack for Andorra, from passport to thermals

Packing for Andorra is simple once you keep two things in mind. It’s a mountain country, where the weather on the valley floor and on the high ground can be worlds apart. And it isn’t in the EU, which matters more for your paperwork, phone and health cover than for your clothes. So that’s the order I’d go in.

Paperwork before clothes

Andorra is outside the EU and Schengen, with customs on the way in and out. Bring your passport even if you’re arriving by coach, and check it against the Schengen rules on age and expiry that the Foreign Office sets out. Parents travelling alone with children should carry proof of custody or the other parent’s permission. The full rules are in Andorra entry requirements.

Then there’s health cover. The Foreign Office is clear that your GHIC, or an old EHIC, is no good in Andorra, and its advice is to take out full travel and medical insurance before you go. If you’re skiing or hiking, I’d check the policy includes mountain rescue. More in healthcare in Andorra.

Phone and money

Free EU-style roaming doesn’t extend to Andorra, and a UK plan that includes Spain or France may not include Andorra. Check with your network before crossing. The tourist board sells an Andorra eSIM from €4.95 that keeps your own number, and Wi-Fi costs nothing in the resorts, along the busiest streets and inside the shopping centres. Details are in Andorra roaming charges.

Money is easy. Andorra uses the euro, cards are accepted everywhere and there are cash machines from Andbank, Creand and MoraBanc. Foreign currencies, pounds included, aren’t usually accepted, so a card without foreign transaction fees is the thing to pack. Keep a little cash in euros for small purchases if it makes you feel easier, but you won’t need much, and there’s no point changing pounds before you arrive in the hope of using them locally.

Clothes for each season

Andorra Turisme describes the climate as “high mountain Mediterranean”, with short, warm summers and long, very cold winters. For a reliable figure, I use the 1991-2020 average temperature on the valley floor, at the FEDA station in Escaldes, worked out from the national weather service’s bulletins. It runs from about 3 °C in January to about 19 °C in July and August. The ski slopes are much colder, and Spain’s foreign ministry says high ground on winter nights can sit at ten to twenty degrees below freezing.

In winter that means a proper mountain coat, thermal layers, hat, gloves and boots that grip on snow, even if you aren’t skiing. In spring and autumn, layers, because mornings and evenings differ a lot. In summer, light clothes for the day, a jacket for the evening or a walk up to a lake, and a waterproof, since the tourist board names summer and autumn as the wettest seasons. It also boasts more than 300 sunny days a year, so sunglasses and sun cream belong in the bag all year round. Month by month, see Andorra weather.

Heading into the mountains

For walks, Spain’s foreign ministry gives advice I’d turn straight into packing. Tell someone your route, take a charged phone with location sharing and the emergency numbers saved, and go properly equipped. 112 is the emergency number, and the fire service on 118 handles mountain rescue. The UK government also warns about altitude sickness in some parts of the country, so go gently on your first high days.

If you’re driving

From 1 November to 15 May, snow chains, metal or textile, or winter tyres are compulsory. In a hire car, check what’s fitted before you leave the airport. I’d also keep water, snacks and a warm layer in the car in those months in case a road closes for a while.

What you don’t need to carry

There’s no need to pack everything, and a lighter case makes coach transfers and hotel stairs far easier to manage. Andorra la Vella and Escaldes have plenty of sports shops, so a missing fleece or pair of gloves is easily bought. Do leave some room for the trip home, but not too much, because customs allowances apply per person when you leave, as explained in Andorra duty free allowance. Travelling with a dog adds its own paperwork, covered in Andorra with a dog.