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Soldeu & El Tarter Reviews
18 reviews of Soldeu & El Tarter in Andorra.
Voted 1st out of 3 reviewed ski resorts in Andorra
- Superb(9)
- Good(8)
- O.K.(1)
- Poor(0)
- Awful(0)
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A different resort, but we'd ski here again
Reviewed 8 Jun 2016
On the one hand the resort is a bit dated, were we left the ski boots in a communal locker room was strange at first as we usually take them back to the hotel. There are a lot of Irish bars which made the atmosphere really friendly. The skiing was fantastic and we had really good weather so we were lucky! The mountains are different to what we’re used to in Canada, Austria and Italy – considering it was half term it was quiet, and the lifts were pretty outdated from the 70’s or 80’s (like something from a James Bond film!). Overall we would consider returning here.
Great for our family
Reviewed 8 Jun 2016
Soldeu was great for us, my husband is an expert skier and I’m more interested in pootling about, while our daughter had never skied before. I would highly recommend the resort and ski school if your children haven’t skied before, the instructors were amazing. We all ended up having lessons for our different levels. They have built up the ski pass over the last few years, but if you’re an expert skier who wants to ski loads of black runs it’s probably not the right resort for you. Likewise if you want a massive nightlife it wouldn’t be great… But for us as a small family it is excellent. The weather was a mix of hot temperatures and snow, but it didn’t rain and we got out every day.
Christmas week in El Tarter
Reviewed 2 Jun 2016
Would definitely go back to El Tarter, it’s one of those resorts that’s good but not that well publicized. The range and width of the ski runs is pretty nice. There had been a massive dump at the end of November which kept things going over Christmas. The resort had a torchlight descent to celebrate but we didn’t really get involved.
Feb 2016 incredible skiing
Reviewed 31 May 2016
Wicked skiing, we skied all the way to Pas de la Casa one day. My wife’s a beginner and she coped well despite it being a little icy halfway through (we had sunshine until the last day when there was some of the heaviest snowfall!). As a high intermediate I found it incredible. We didn’t eat anywhere else apart from our hotel, but we went out drinking and there were some good places – one night club / bar had a band playing which was good.
Family Holiday 2016
Reviewed 18 May 2016
El Tarter had everything for everyone in my party. There isn’t much to do apart from ski – you couldn’t spend a day shopping for example – but that was fine for us. Going late in the season we thought we could be having grass instead of snow, but actually the weather was incredibly jammy with good snow conditions.
Certainly as an intermediate skier the area was very good, the downside for beginners would be that you have to catch the lifts up to the beginner slopes. When you’re learning it’s quite nice to be somewhere you can just go out of your hotel and be there.
Soldeu 2016
Reviewed 12 May 2016
A fantastic resort, this year a couple of the days were pants with low visibility (visited late Feb), but we still had a good time. I would say that the ski area is better for intermediates, there’s plenty to ski. We’d definitely go back!
Better than skiing USA!
Reviewed 14 Apr 2016
Soldeu is a lovely resort and we’d come back. My oldest has just come back from America and said that Andorra is better! The great thing is the openness of the runs for the kids. There are lots of English there, and the instructors were English speaking. After having a bad experience in France, the kids weren’t looking forward to ski school at first, but ended up enjoying it which was good! Would recommend to other families.
A good week in Soldeu
Reviewed 27 Apr 2015
The skiing and snowboarding were good, we were a group of different abilities but the area caters to all levels and has a good variety of runs. There isn’t an awful lot happening in the area, apart from the 3 pubs we went to – but then we didn’t come for that sort of thing anyway.
Brilliant
Reviewed 10 Apr 2015
We had a brilliant week.
I’d skied in France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland but never Andorra – I was really surprised by how good it was and would go back again. The ski area was very good for us, with some really lovely wide runs and a lot for intermediates. We were a group of 20 altogether, including all stages of skiing ability and loads of kids from 6-13 - everyone had a brilliant time. Advanced skiers wouldn’t have much to do, but I was quite happy tootling down the mountains and watching the world go by. The ski schools were very good, all with English speaking instructors (and obviously other languages like Spanish and Portuguese). Ski lifts were very good.
All restaurants on the mountain were very good with lots of choice and overall everything was two thirds of the price we paid on a recent holiday in La Plagne, so it’s very good value for money.
The only downside to staying in El Tarter was that there’s not much by way of après ski facilities, in hindsight we should have stayed in Soldeu.
I would recommend picking up and dropping off your equipment before everyone else as it’s absolute chaos when everyone’s there at the same time. The only problem we had was nearly missing our flight home because it snowed and they don’t snowplough in Andorra like the French do. Fortunately the tour operator held the flight back (for 6 hours) so we didn’t miss the plane, but our friends who booked independently missed theirs so we were glad to have gone with the operator.
Family Christmas in Soldeu
Reviewed 19 Mar 2015
We’ve been here twice now and would go back. It’s very different to France and Switzerland; people are very courteous at the gondola and cost-wise, you don’t have the eye-watering prices.
Anybody who skis for the après might not like how quiet it is, but there are some nice pubs with nice space which was perfect for our family.
The skiing is really good and the ski school was fantastic, with great English speaking instructors who were brilliant with my sons.
We ski here at Christmas and it’s worth knowing that in Andorra they celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day – Christmas day is usually quite flat. If you aren’t staying in a half board hotel it’s good to book meals well in advance.
Plenty to ski, cheap lessons!
Reviewed 18 Mar 2015
First time skiing Andorra and we had a brilliant time. It’s not the most well-connected area but we had plenty to do for a week. The instruction is really cheap, I’d definitely recommend getting lessons. We had a really good British instructor, €40 for 2 hours… so cheap it would be rude not to book some!
The week we stayed was the beginning of season and it was pretty quiet. The weather was a mix: Monday and Tuesday great, Wednesday amazing because the sun came out, Thursday it rained which was rubbish and made Friday a bit icy but then Saturday the sun came out again and it was absolutely perfect!
Even though there were only a few restaurants open, the food in resort was really good. Not much by way of après ski, but we enjoyed the Irish Bar. You can buy wine in the local shops for about €2-3 but it cost a lot more in our hotel, so I would also recommend stocking up...
Great off-piste, laid back resort
Reviewed 18 Jun 2014
I go here every other year, I’ve been about 6 or 7 times. It’s a fantastic ski area. I keep coming back because of the length and the number of runs, there's always something new to do. There are runs to suit all levels, it’s probably more towards intermediate / advanced but there are some very good beginner slopes. Some of the blue runs back down into resort can be tricky.
I’ve always had good snow here, only one year the snow wasn’t so good. I went over Christmas this time and it wasn’t that busy. Sometimes the middle station at Grandvalira can have queues of 10-15 minutes, but otherwise there aren’t many queues. Grandvalira is the place to be, inbetween Soldeu and Pas.
Soldeu is laid back, it’s a smallish village and it’s not as wild as Pas de la Casa. Typically I’ve always gone half-board when I’ve been here, so I’ve not gone out that much. Most of the places are much the same; most of the snack bars are very good. The social aspect is very good, the bars are very good. The prices in resort are very reasonable.
There’s some excellent off-piste. When the snow is good you can normally ski next to the piste. There are plenty of runs where you can get off the chair lift and ski off-piste all the way back down to the bottom of the lift, without ever losing sight of the run, which is great. You don’t have to go out into the wilderness. There are a few good tree runs as well.
I will keep coming back here.
I’m not going anywhere else now!
Reviewed 21 May 2014
I keep coming back to Andorra year after year, I’m not going anywhere else now! We had such a good holiday here last time. The ski area is massive and it’s linked up to all the other resorts so you can ski over to them too. You can go out all day and ski and ski and not get bored.
You have to use the local ski school while you are here, it would be madness not to. It’s supposed to be one of the best in the world, they’ve won all sorts of awards, and it’s the best I’ve ever seen. They take you out, get you to ski a few runs and then put you into groups depending on how good you are – so there’s no having to babysit other people who aren’t as good as you, you are together with other people that are the same level as you. The groups we were with last time were superb, it was a lot of fun and we were skiing down blacks together and skiing properly. If I think back to when I used to go out on my own I think what a waste! My daughter had never been skiing last time she went and I got her a private ski instructor for a few days. She progressed so quickly and the next time she skied she really got the most out of it and was able to join a more advanced group.
There are some really long runs in El Tarter. There are quite a few 8km ones. It’s about 10 euros for a pizza and a drink on the mountain (it’s always more expensive up to eat up on the mountain). The ski equipment we hired was alright, I think next time I’m going to buy my own boots though, the hire ones weren’t so great. There are bars and restaurants in resort, although I prefer to just eat at the hotel, have a few beers at the bar and then go to bed! The snow has been very good every time I’ve been to Andorra, this time we had plenty of it.
Recommended for beginner and intermediate skiers
Reviewed 16 May 2014
I had been once before, a long time ago, and I found the resort fine this time round. I would recommend it for beginner and intermediate skiers. I’m experienced, but I didn’t need anything particularly challenging so the ski area was fine for me. You could take the bus to Soldue which was easy, and there is a nice choice of bars and restaurants there. We went out for a meal to a restaurant called ‘Fat Alberts’ which was recommended to us by the chalet staff and it was good. We didn’t particularly want to go out in the evening, but the night life is there if you need it.
Both on the way there and the way back Lleida airport was shut due to fog – I’m not sure if this is unusual or if it was the weather at that particular time of year that caused this. We had to fly into a different airport which took a long time.
Brilliant skiing
Reviewed 6 May 2014
I’d never been to Soldeu before but ski wise it’s fantastic!
My wife’s a beginner and my sons and I are more advanced and we all loved the slopes.
The other good thing is that nothing is too expensive here, even the places on the mountain are very reasonably priced.
Brilliant, not as busy as Pas or Alps
Reviewed 4 Apr 2014
I’d been to Andorra before but not Soldeu – it’s brilliant. Andorra is value for money and you get a lot for what you pay for. The town is only small, probably only about a mile long but it’s fantastic because everything is within easy reach and the people are all friendly. It’s nowhere near as lively as the main French resorts or Pas de la Casa but there are a few bars.
We were here in February and had a large dump just before we got there and it snowed overnight and was sunny in the daytime all week which was perfect. It’s absolutely brilliant for beginner skiers but not really good for beginner snowboarders as there are quite a lot of flats where you have to take your board off and walk a bit so it would be tricky if you were boarding for the first time. If you’re intermediates or above it’s brilliant as the whole area is interlinked. There are two massive parks and the black runs and off piste are absolutely fantastic.
Best for Intermediates and beginners
Reviewed 3 Apr 2014
The snowboarding in Soldeu is really good – there are loads of slopes and you have good access all over the area. We had loads of snow when we got there, the resort is probably best for beginner and intermediate boarders and skiers, you’ve got more than enough blues for a week - there aren’t many boardparks for people who are more advanced but you get what you pay for in Andorra.
We went out of season at the end of January and the nightlife was pretty dead, it did have a good number of bars though so it would probably be livelier in February or March.
The transfer on the other side is 3 hours each way, which is quite long but didn’t bother us as we slept.
Not party capital, low noise levels at night – skiing area large, not demanding
Reviewed 6 Jan 2013
Soldeu is a fairly small resort, and it is not a party capital, so low noise levels at night. The skiing area is large but not too demanding, so good for intermediates. Instruction is very good for beginners with natural English speaking instructors. It is not super crowed, no big queques for lifts even in high season.
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