SOLDEU-EL TARTER  (GRANDVALIRA)

Resort Overview
Offering high-quality accommodation, superb facilities, lively après ski and excellent value for money, Soldeu reigns as Andorra’s best all-round resort choice.

Introduction
Soldeu-El Tarter (SET) has long been Andorra’s most extensive ski area, and the resort of Soldeu has a high profile on the international snowsports scene. Many people associate it immediately with the principality, but also with the idea that it’s tailored to those on a budget and/or those looking for a resort that focuses more on après ski than on snowsports. This certainly was the case in the 1970s and ’80s, but things have now changed enormously.

Grandvalira
In the winter of 2004/05, SET agreed a joint lift pass with the neighbouring ski stations of Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig; eventually merging with them to form a single linked ski domain, christened Grandvalira. This huge ski area now ranks in the world’s top twenty for uplift capacity, modernity of installations and extent of pistes; with Soldeu firmly establishing itself as the most upmarket resort in Andorra and boasting a ski school rated as one of the best in the world.

Resort Villages
Soldeu and El Tarter share an interconnected ski area that also has a gondola connection with the nearby parish capital Canillo:

Soldeu  The main resort focus in this region, dominated by tour operators from the British Isles who helped establish the area’s international renown,
albeit originally aimed at a cheap-and-cheerful, young-and-lively demographic.
The village’s roots as a youth destination still run deep, with a good selection of lively bars and a focus on nightlife, but it now also boasts a 5-star hotel with a plush wellness/beauty spa, plus a further five 4-star hotels, and thus now attracts a much more cosmopolitan and increasingly sophisticated clientele.

El Tarter  A cluster of accommodation and services, 3 km (2 miles) west of Soldeu. A couple of hotels are situated at the base of the lifts and home-run pistes, but most are in a residential zone on the opposite side of the main through-road. This residential area has a sprinkling of bars and shops, but most visitors use the local bus or take a taxi to the more substantial resort at Soldeu, a 5-minute drive away. There’s also a further satellite accommodation zone at Vall d’Incles, midway between El Tarter and Soldeu; guests staying there also tend to make the journey to Soldeu for evening entertainment and need to take a ski bus to reach the lifts.

Canillo  5 km (3 miles) further down from El Tarter, on the through-route towards Andorra la Vella and Spain. It’s an attractive small village, quiet and not touristy, yet it boasts a large modern sports centre housing the country’s only Olympic-standard ice rink, as well as a substantial base-station building with a gondola link to Grandvalira’s compact, family-orientated, El Forn ski area.