Canillo village
Value and familiesThe valley floor: the gondola, the ice palace, supermarkets and cheaper beds than the resorts above.
Canillo city guide
Things To Do In Canillo
The eastern valley and the way into Grandvalira, the biggest ski area in the Pyrenees, with Soldeu above it and the country's best Romanesque church below.
210km
Of piste in Grandvalira
€50
A day pass
12th c.
Sant Joan de Caselles
The gateway to the biggest ski area in the Pyrenees
Canillo sits on the eastern side of Andorra, on the road up towards the French border, and it is the lowest access point to Grandvalira — 210 kilometres of linked piste that make it the largest ski area in the Pyrenees.
A gondola runs from the village up to the slopes, which means you can stay on the valley floor at lower prices and be skiing in fifteen minutes rather than paying Soldeu rates.
The village keeps more of itself than the purpose-built resorts above it: Sant Joan de Caselles, a twelfth-century Romanesque church with an intact bell tower, is on the edge of town, and the Palau de Gel ice rink and pool complex is the wet-weather answer.
Two or three days in season. In summer it is very quiet and the walking is excellent.
Where to stay
Valley floor for price, up the mountain for ski-in.
Soldeu
Ski-in and aprèsUp the road at 1,800 metres: lifts from the door, the best après-ski on this side and higher prices.
El Tarter
Between the twoA smaller resort village between Canillo and Soldeu, with lift access and a quieter evening.
Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Canillo
Ski Grandvalira. Two hundred and ten kilometres of linked piste across six sectors, a day pass at €50 to €60, and a season that usually runs December to April. The Canillo gondola puts you into it from the valley floor.
Sant Joan de Caselles is the best Romanesque church in Andorra: twelfth century, a free-standing bell tower, and a Christ figure discovered behind the altar wall in the 1960s. It is free and takes twenty minutes.
The Palau de Gel is an Olympic ice rink, pool and climbing wall in the village, which matters more than it sounds when the weather closes in.
In summer, the Camí dels Matxos and the routes up to the Cortals valley are excellent walking, and the via ferrata above the village is one of the best in the Pyrenees.
Free things
Free things to do in Canillo
Sant Joan de Caselles is free and is the finest Romanesque building in the country.
The walking from the village is free and extensive, with waymarked routes up both sides of the valley and the Cortals plateau above.
The Camí dels Matxos, an old mule track linking the eastern parishes, runs through here and is free to walk in sections.
In winter, watching the World Cup racing at Soldeu when it comes round costs nothing from the finish area.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Canillo
Mountain food, and the village eats better value than the resorts above it. A menú del dia is €14 to €18 and dinner €22 to €35.
Bordes — stone barns converted into restaurants with wood fires — do the regional cooking properly: trinxat, grilled lamb, wild boar in season.
On the mountain, restaurant prices are what you would expect from a major ski area, and a supermarket lunch from the village is €15 to €20 cheaper a day.
Andorran wine exists, in tiny quantities from high-altitude vineyards, and is worth trying once even though the Spanish list will be better.
Nightlife
Going out in Canillo
Canillo village is quiet. Soldeu, fifteen minutes up the road, has the après-ski on this side of the country — bars at the bottom of the runs that fill from four in the afternoon and run to two.
El Tarter is between the two in both geography and volume.
A beer is €3 to €5, and the crowd is French, Spanish and British in roughly that order.
Outside the ski season there is very little, and the village goes back to being a village.
Getting around
Getting around Canillo
National buses run along the valley every half hour: the capital is 25 minutes and about €2.50, and Soldeu and El Tarter are a few minutes up the road.
The Canillo gondola goes from the village centre into the Grandvalira system, which is the reason to stay down here rather than up at resort prices.
Ski buses shuttle between the villages and lift bases through the season, usually free with a lift pass.
The French border at Pas de la Casa is 30 minutes further east, and buses continue to L'Hospitalet station for trains into France.
Costs
What Canillo costs
The valley floor is the cheaper option in an expensive country. Beds are €22 to €55 against Soldeu's higher rates, a lunch menu is €14 to €18, and a beer is €3 to €5.
A day is €60 to €100 in ski season.
The pass at €50 to €60 and rental at €20 to €35 are the fixed costs. Staying in Canillo rather than Soldeu and riding the gondola up saves €15 to €30 a night for the same skiing.
Summer is far cheaper and very quiet.
Safety
Staying safe in Canillo
Crime is not a consideration. The mountain is.
Andorra is outside the EU, so EHIC and GHIC do not cover you and mountain rescue is charged for. Insurance with winter sports cover — including off-piste if you plan to ski it — is necessary.
Grandvalira tops out above 2,600 metres and the weather at the top can be entirely different from the village. Check the forecast and the avalanche bulletin daily in season.
The via ferrata above the village is a proper route requiring kit and experience, not a scramble. In summer, storms build fast in the afternoon on the high ground. Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Canillo
Everything in Andorra is within an hour, and France is thirty minutes east.
Pas de la Casa
The French border town: duty-free shops, the highest slopes in Grandvalira and a resort built for the traffic.
Andorra la Vella and Caldea
The capital, the old quarter and the thermal spa.
Ordino and Sorteny
The prettiest parish and its nature park, on the western side.
What's on
What is on while you are there
World Cup racing has come here, and the ski season is otherwise the calendar.
December to April
Ski season
Grandvalira
The biggest linked area in the Pyrenees, at 210km of piste.
Varies
Alpine World Cup racing
Soldeu
Andorra has hosted World Cup finals on these slopes, with free viewing at the finish area.
July
Canillo Festa Major
Village
The parish festival, with music, giants and a communal meal.
Summer
Vall d'Incles shuttle season
Vall d'Incles
When the car-free valley opens with a shuttle bus and the meadows are at their best.
Year-round
Ice Palace events
Palau de Gel
Skating, galas and the indoor answer to bad weather.
When to go
Ski season is the season. Summer is quiet, cheap and excellent for walking.
Jan
Peak. Cold, reliable snow and busy weekends
Feb
Best conditions of the year. Book ahead
Mar
Spring skiing, long days, lower prices
Apr
Season ends mid-month
May
Shut. Between seasons
Jun
Walking opens up. Vall d'Incles at its best
Jul
Warm, green and very quiet by ski-season standards
Aug
The busiest summer weeks, still calm
Sep
The best month for walking. Clear and empty
Oct
Autumn colour, and things closing
Nov
Shut. Waiting for snow
Dec
Season opens, and Christmas week is full
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs in the village at 1,530m. The top of Grandvalira sits above 2,600m and is far colder, with a season that usually holds from early December to mid-April.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros, in ski season.
The doing line assumes a Grandvalira pass and rental. Summer is roughly a fifth of that, and the walking is free.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Canillo travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Why stay in Canillo rather than Soldeu?
Price. Canillo is on the valley floor with a gondola into the same Grandvalira lift system, and beds run €15 to €30 a night less than the resort villages above. You trade ski-in convenience and après-ski for that.
How big is Grandvalira?
210 kilometres of linked piste across six sectors, which makes it the largest ski area in the Pyrenees. A day pass is €50 to €60, meaningfully less than comparable Alpine areas.
Is there anything here in summer?
Excellent walking, a via ferrata above the village, and the Vall d'Incles — a car-free side valley with a summer shuttle that has the best easy walking in the country. It is very quiet, which is the appeal.
Do I need a car?
No. National buses run the valley every half hour for a couple of euros, ski buses shuttle between the lift bases, and the gondola leaves from the village centre.
Does my EHIC work in Andorra?
No. Andorra is not in the EU, so EHIC and GHIC cards do not apply, and mountain rescue is charged for. Insurance with winter sports cover is necessary.
What is Sant Joan de Caselles?
A twelfth-century Romanesque church at the edge of the village with a free-standing bell tower and a Christ figure found behind the altar wall in the 1960s. Free, twenty minutes, and the best building in the country.
When does the season run?
Usually early December to mid-April, with February the most reliable snow. Christmas, New Year and February half-terms are the busiest and priciest weeks.
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