Arinsal

Arinsal is lift-linked to Pal, forming the Vallnord ski domain. It's not a huge ski area, but it's a good value destination for beginners and less confident intermediates. And Arinsal is one of Andorra's more attractive ski resorts.


The Vallnord ski area linking Arinsal with Pal has 63km (39 miles) of pistes spread over 707 hectares (1747 acres) and 31 ski lifts, including a long one down to the nearby valley town of La Massana. That’s perfect for beginners and near novices, and probably enough also for relaxed intermediates who are happy pottering about on the slopes for an hour or two before settling down for a long lunch at duty-free prices. But experts who want to be tested, and keen piste-bashers who want to explore endless new runs, should stay in other Andorran resorts like Soldeu and Pas de la Casa, which are both part of the much larger Grandvalira ski area.

The skiing immediately above Arinsal is in a high east-facing bowl above the treeline on the Pic Negre mountain. A lift takes skiers from the village to the mid-mountain station at Comallempla at 1950m, where there is some ski-in, ski-out accommodation. There is only one run back to the valley floor which goes to the small hamlet at Cota. To return to Arinsal you either take the bus from Cota or come down in the lift from Comallempla. The top lift on Pic Negre reaches above 2500m so the area is reasonably snowsure. There are some isolated (and optional) challenges for better skiers, but most of the runs are oriented towards beginners and near novices, making Arinsal an excellent resort to learn to ski in.

Pic Negre is linked by lift to Pic de Cubil and Pla de la Cot, which are above Pal and the valley town of La Massana. This part of Vallnord is bigger than the Pic Negre sector above Arinsal but it’s also lower, with mostly tree-lined slopes. There is also some tougher skiing here, including unofficial off-piste routes through the trees for experts, although not enough to occupy them for a full week. Ordino-Arcalis, the freeride capital of Andorra with the best off-piste in the country, can also be reached by car or bus but it’s no longer included on the Vallnord pass.

Of the Vallnord bases, most people prefer to stay in Arinsal. It’s not chocolate-box pretty and it’s ongoing development has made it rather stretched-out but it has enough traces of the old Andorran mountain village to give it some charm and authenticity, and you can see why people like to come here in summer as well as winter. And whilst it’s more of a relaxed family-friendly type of place than a full-on party-resort like Pas de la Casa, it has enough apres-ski and nightlife for those who want to have fun in the evenings and take advantage of Andorra’s inexpensive food and drink.

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The closest airports to Arinsal, Pal and the Vallnord ski area are Toulouse in France, and Girona and Barcelona in Spain. Private transfers from the airport to the ski resort are easily arranged and take about 3 hours. There are...

There is an excellent choice of accommodation in and around Arinsal, including luxury 5-star and 4-star hotels, mid-range 3-star hotels, budget hotels and guesthouses, ApartHotels, self-catering apartments and whole chalets to rent. If you're used to staying in Alpine ski...

There are two local ski schools operating at Comallempla, accessible by cable car from Arinsal and at La Caubella 1950m above La Massana in the Pal sector, accessible by cable car from La Massana. There is also a ski school...

Arinsal Ski Area Part of the Vallnord complex, Arinsal’s immediate ski area is to be found up a steep slope above Arinsal in one of a number of glaciated hanging valleys that feed eventually into the Valira del Norte and...

Arinsal Ski Lifts & Passes The ski lift infrastructure is good and Vallnord is putting a lot of money into making it work with 28 lifts carrying up to 34,100 skiers per hour in Pal – Arinsal and over in...

Arinsal Advanced In the Pal et Arinsal sectors (immediately above Arinsal) there are 5 black runs, including La Comellada which descends rapidly from almost the top of Pic del Cubil (2,358m) to El Fontanals 350 feet below. The route takes...

Arinsal Intermediate In the Pal et Arinsal sectors (immediately above Arinsal) there are 17 blue runs and 16 red runs for intermediate skiers. This is very much intermediate country and if you're careful you can complete a circuit across the...

Arinsal Beginners In the Pal et Arinsal sectors (immediately above Arinsal) there are 5 green beginner runs and 2 jardines de neiges (snow parks). The area at the bottom of the Arinsal valley (turn left when you reach Comallempla) has...

Arinsal Boarding & Freestyle At the moment there is only one freestyle area in Vallnord – not a good state of affairs for boarders and freestyle skiers – which is to be found at the top of the Els Planells...

Arinsal Mountain Restaurants Above Arinsal there are a number of eateries owned by the ski station (Tel: +376 737 020) Xina Igloo which offers Chinese food, Mexicobelix (Mexican) Panoramix (British pies and chips). Over in the Pal sector of Arinsal...

Arinsal Village Arinsal is located at the top of a valley tributary of the Valira del Norte and still has the feel of a typical Andorran village. (If you want to see what less sympathetic development can look like go...

Arinsal Restaurants & Bars There's good tapas to be found in Arinsal at La Tasca (Tel: +376 839 630) and El Bsoc (Tel: +376 835 519) For Italian food not far from the main car park try Casa Bassi (Tel:...

Arinsal Other Activities There’s a 25 m indoor heated swimming pool, children's pool, fitness gym, aerobics hall, squash court and tanning booths at the Ordino Sports Centre (Tel +376 87 81 10) and a pitch and putt at El Torrent...

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