# [AND] roads in Andorra



## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Andorra:









*CG-2*:
1. Coming out of the tunnel from France. (toll, but avoids the busy Pas de la Casa)









2. The whole route from France to Spain through Andorra is generally one big descent.









3. Curvy road, but in good conditions. A bit unsafe downhill because you easily go too fast.









4. Andorra consists mostly out of hotels and insufficient parking space.









5. Town of Soldeu.









6. Weird median, I didn't know what to do with it...









7. Distances are short, and with decimals. 









8. Overhead sign.









9. Capital Andorra-la-Vella









10. Electronic signs and tidal wave lanes.









11. Center lane can be used in either direction, depending on traffic flow.









12. We're on the CG-1 now.









13. Bidirectional lane.









14. Repsol gas station. Gasoline was € 1,05 in summer 2008, while they were at € 1,65 in NL at the time.









15. 4-lane undivided highway.









16. A lot of gas stations here considering the amount of population. Gas in Spain is also fairly cheap though. France has more expensive gas.









17. Shopping center.









18. Approaching the Spanish border.


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## Rusonaldo (Dec 21, 2007)

Very nice country, and good road


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Is it true that Andorra only has one main road through the whole Country? Nice photos btw


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

Nice pics, Chris  What currency was used in Andorra before they started using the Euro? They are also not an official member of the Euro zone, right?


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## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

Yeah, those pics are nice (though I've seen them before  ) and roads in Andorra are great!


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Timon91 said:


> What currency was used in Andorra before they started using the Euro? They are also not an official member of the Euro zone, right?


The used to use the French Franc and the Spanish Peseta. They don't have an own currency.



Nexis said:


> Is it true that Andorra only has one main road through the whole Country?


Yes, the CG-1/CG-2 axis is the only main road, though there are some other roads with numbers, I thought up to CG-5, but those are secondary and dead-end roads.


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## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

What does CG mean?


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Carretera General I think...


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

RipleyLV said:


> Yeah, those pics are nice *(though I've seen them before  )*


Hear hear!  And I agree, the main axis looks great. I like the red color on the signs, and everything looks so clean. Where's Radi to comment?


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

It's probably not that difficult to drive every single road in Andorra


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

According to CIA World Factbook Andorra has 270 km of roads. You can do that in a few hours.


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## Fuzzy Llama (Jan 24, 2009)

Nice signage. The red background under the most important destinations (France, Spain, the capital) is brilliant  I definitely want to visit this country.


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## Majestic (Jan 22, 2007)

So how many kilometers of motorways do they have? I guess even Poland has more :lol:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

There are no motorways nor expressways in Andorra. Not really necessary too. The country has a population of only 72,000 of which only 23,000 live in the capital.


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

Majestic said:


> So how many kilometers of motorways do they have? I guess even Poland has more :lol:


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## TheCat (Apr 21, 2006)

Very beautiful country, I love the mountains that rise up almost vertically from all directions


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## xlchris (Jun 23, 2006)

I always think of a country in Africa when I hear the name 'Andorra'. :nuts:


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

Maybe b/c of Angola? :lol:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Andorra

dor means dry in Dutch


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

> *Five killed after bridge collapses in Andorra*
> By m.p. - Nov 8, 2009 - 11:22 AM
> *Another six workers were injured when the structure under construction gave way*
> 
> ...


Video


Bad accident for such a small country.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

off-topic.....

it is an official Andorran government document and...it is signed by Seu d'Urgel bishop and by French republic president.


why?... Andorran history...


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## Corvinus (Dec 8, 2010)

Yes, they have two heads-of-state, which is somewhat unique in the world.

What is funny, they have a town named _Anyòs_, which (save for the accent, which should be an "aigu") means _mother-in-law_ in Hungarian ... :-D


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## Coccodrillo (Sep 30, 2005)

^^ Switzerland (and a few other countries in the past) has more than one head of state.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

Corvinus said:


> Yes, they have two heads-of-state, which is somewhat unique in the world.
> 
> What is funny, they have a town named _Anyòs_, which (save for the accent, which should be an "aigu") means _mother-in-law_ in Hungarian ... :-D



It is because a church related to Sant Cristofol d'Anyos (Saint Christopher).

"NY" should be pronounced like "GN" in French or Italian





Coccodrillo said:


> ^^ Switzerland (and a few other countries in the past) has more than one head of state.



Yeah... but they have two different head of state... being one of them the bishop of the area and the other one the president of the republic. They make that since a long time ago and assures them to be in peace with both countries.

On the other hand, Spanish and French police and army can enter in the country depending of situation. Andorra has not own army.
That happened in the early 20th century several times and I do not know anytime later.

Being one of the head of state a bishop makes that it is the second most catholic country all over Europe after Vatican city (you can read some of their laws and they are, at least, curious).


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

Túnel de les Dos Valires finally opened today after 7 years of works. It is a 2910-m, twin-tube tunnel that will relieve Andorra La Vella from traffic going from Encamp to La Massana.

Press release from the Andorran government:

http://www.govern.ad/index.php?opti...naugura-el-túnel-de-les-dos-valires&Itemid=32

There is a plate in that elevated roundabout that remembers the 7 workers that died during the construction of the tunnel.


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

I visited this microstate earlier this summer and made some videos of the country's crowded, nicely-engineered main roads.

First one is CG-1 between the Spanish border and Andorra la Vella:






Video features the new Sant Julià de Lòria bypass, which is part of a massive project that is currently halted due to financial difficulties. Another remarkable feature is the entrance to Andorra la Vella, which features flexible (bus/all traffic, and reversible) lanes for a good deal of its length. Despite looking pretty urban, the stretch North from the dog-bone roundabout is actually a bypass.

More coming soon


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## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

^^

Loved the video, thank you so much!


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## VITORIA MAN (Jan 31, 2013)

Andorra: Landscape by lutzmeyer, on Flickr
CS type road ( secondary road )


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

Current Andorran map is this one:

http://visitandorra.com/es/content/download/148750/4009584/file/mapa_general_andorra.pdf

CG Means general road.

Nowadays there are six ones. All of them have the km. 0 in the government building and they can share the first kilometres.

CG-1 go to the border with Spain (after Sant Julia de Loria)
CG-2 go to the border with France (in Pas de la Casa)
CG-3 and CG-4 make and Y in the north-west valleys approaching those areas. CG-3 ends in the same border with Spain but there is no more road, only a off-road path
CG-5 is a little branch of CG-3
and CG-6 is a road to go to the Spanish exclave of Os de Civis


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

Entering in Andorra... (all borders)

CG-1 from Spain
https://www.google.es/maps/@42.4353...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sCJVEA3fveI1wKAjyyYPe0A!2e0

CG-2 from France crossing Pas de la Casa (all buildings are in Andorra and left building is absolutely boundary)

https://www.google.es/maps/@42.5435...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sMRmSkSI7pbkRk5iSTC0bHA!2e0

CG-2 from France crossing the Envalira tunnel (just some metres before. There is no Andorra signal but the little river is the border. Ahead, the tolled tunnel)
https://www.google.es/maps/@42.5487...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sTyld78RZOjXrQermDsrQow!2e0

CG-3 from nowhere in Spain (just turn 180º... the only Andorran signal is the name of the road)

https://www.google.es/maps/@42.5463...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1syswp3Jugx4jkaLYZu_b2vw!2e0


and CG-6 coming from the Spanish exclave of Os de Civis (it is so small this village that they do not pay for goods bought in Andorra and consumed in the town. But... for any other goods moving within Spain they must enter in Andorra and cross the general customs Andorra-Spain where they have to declare)

https://www.google.es/maps/@42.4954...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1szYZoDz9_K2ewvyw4H2yLBQ!2e0

Here... only the road name ahead and a signal about a natural park (with a Catalan environment logo) in the back are the "signs" to know you are crossing and out-EU and non-Schengen border

(no booths ahead!)


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

^^ It's not CG-3 (which runs to Arcalís ski station) but CG-4 the road which connects with a Spanish dirt road.

By the way, CG-6 was formerly a secondary road, I believe it was CS-110. Same goes to CG-5 in Arinsal (CS-410)


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

CG-5 was a secondary one at first. 

First time I was in Andorra there were only four CGs


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

alserrod said:


> CG-3 from nowhere in Spain (just turn 180º... the only Andorran signal is the name of the road)
> 
> https://www.google.es/maps/@42.5463...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1syswp3Jugx4jkaLYZu_b2vw!2e0


It's not nowhere but a dirt road that goes to Tor, a small village where rivalry between families due to the property of a mountain resulted in three murdered out of thirteen houses (article is in Catalan). This road was very popular among smugglers when Spain was an isolated country, between 1940 and the 1950s.


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

A video of CG-2. This is the road linking Andorra with France. Most relevant new feature since I was last there (2011) is twin-tube Túnel de Ràdio Andorra, which bypasses the corner with the same name. Also, new alignments are popping out here and there. There are also several four-lane stretches, with and without a median.


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

Video of Port d'Envalira. At 2,408 meters over sea level, this is the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees. It's bypassed by a toll tunnel that's also featured in the video:


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

My final Andorran video is Túnel de les Dos Valires, a three-kilometer, twin-tube tunnel that links the two valleys shaping Andorra. Both ends have funky elevated-roundabout interchanges. The construction of the whole thing took 8 years and 7 workers were killed during it.






Video also features Túnel del Pont Pla, a shorter tunnel linking Andorra La Vella with La Massana. It opened in 2006 and in 2008 it was the highest-scoring tunnel in that year's EuroTAP report.


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

My final Andorran video is Túnel de les Dos Valires, a three-kilometer, twin-tube tunnel that links the two valleys shaping Andorra. Both ends have funky elevated-roundabout interchanges. The construction of the whole thing took 8 years and 7 workers were killed during it.






Video also features Túnel del Pont Pla, a shorter tunnel linking Andorra La Vella with La Massana. It opened in 2006 and in 2008 it was the highest-scoring tunnel in that year's EuroTAP report.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

I will visit the country in next month but will try to answer old questions



Nexis said:


> Is it true that Andorra only has one main road through the whole Country? Nice photos btw



Well we could say two ones. The country is mainly an "Y" coming from Spain. After the capital (let's remember it is an independent country out of EU indeed. Spain and France have their embassies despite they are 10 and 20 km away from their country. Several other countries have a consulate, rest ones choose nearest consulate or embassy to be consulate for that country. Andorra has embassies in Spain, France, Portugal, Belgium and Austria according to al official page) you can go forward to French border or turn left to another valley.
At first, km. 0 of all roads would be the national parliament. Nowadays that area is a strong shopping and narrow street (and all traffic crossed there). They chose a secondary road that made a sort of Andorra bypass to rename as CG-1 and CG-2. The point where they "join" is in the cross with CG-3 at the same time. It belongs to Andorra municipality by about 100 metres only (there are seven municipalities in the country).

CG-3 enters in a valley that later will be another Y. Therefore, CG-4... and later CG-5.





ChrisZwolle said:


> The used to use the French Franc and the Spanish Peseta. They don't have an own currency.
> 
> 
> > Not to get crazy they used always peseta because they received more tourists from Spain and had more relations but French Franc was also official in the country. If a company wanted to have their accounts in Francs they could (I guess nobody but...) and everyone was entitled to ask price in Francs without extra exchange fees. In some shops they posted in both currencies but due to everyday exchange rates it was often to see in Pesetas. Anyway.. AFAIK, there was no exchange fee for peseta-franc.
> ...


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

alserrod said:


> Up to CG-6. From Sant Julia de Loria, the southern municipality, there is a road to Os de Civis, the Spanish periclave (and the only non-Schengen border without booths)


There is a Croatian road through Slovenia and an Estonian road through Russia without booths.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

Yes I know... but only for a little metres and doesn't allow to entry Russia, just to pass.

From Os de Civis (Spain) to the rest of Spain you may cross Andorran territory. It is a 100ish village with a little hotel. They pay taxes as Spains citizens and hotel must make invoices with VAT. But they can buy anything in Andorra duty free. This is... no bother if they buy anything and sell there. Quite more expensive if a small custom there.

Should they buy anything and wanna go to mainland they have to enter Andorra and later main customs

There is a treaty where Andorra will let all fire brigades and ambulances to go pass free until CG-1 and CG-6 to reach Os de Civis (despite it is usual they offer service because nearest) and never to police or army.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Why no police? Isn't the village too small to have its police station?


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

italystf said:


> Why no police? Isn't the village too small to have its police station?


120 inhabitants...


I read that once that police had to go for evidence for a judge they went in helicopter.


You could go in summer to the rest of the country providing you have a good off-road or wanna do a lot of trekking. But... should you have any good that should be declared, you could make smuggling.


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## italystf (Aug 2, 2011)

Why doesn't Andorra allow Spanish police to transit in case of need (without doing police actions in Andorran territory)?
Among EU members such deals are common, police is allowed to cross borders for several reasons.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

They do not let French police too but there is barely villages near France.

I should have to ask for but for a time it was "invaded" by Spanish and French police at the same time. They really did nothing and all local issues were dealed by local police. 

I do not know when but they aren't allowed.

Anyway, Andorra has a strongly down crime rate. They do not have army and only 240 officers (to deal with customs, borders, security and mainly.... traffic management!!!) for 80.000 people.

In any case, should anything happen in Os de Civis, both Spanish and Andorran police could close borders and go to have a glance



Another hint about forces... in case of catastrophe (last one in 1982), they can make a call to all citizens and "head of family" must collaborate in works. It is a deal coming from Middle Age and happened last time in 1982 but... remains.


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

OK, two pictures about Andorran roads... and I promise more info (and something about customs)



CG-2, from capital to French border.
In the middle of the picture Meritxell church, the symbol of the country (friday was national day)



CS-240 and partially CG-2 looking toward France. Ahead Envalira mountain pass and still snow in the mountains (despite all the winter)


They have been taken from the best aerial mountainscape point in the the country

Two years ago, Andorra payed for a cycling day in the Vuelta a España inside the country and... with six mountain passes (five ones and an arrival to a hill). This was one out of them and considered as first category (road in the picture was to go down, going up is so strong)


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

And about network...

Almost from anyside in the country they point three destinations and next town or village.
Those three destinations will be Andorra la Vella (capital), Spain and France. They will be in white over purple colour. Next town(s) or villages or whatever as usual. There are seven municipalities in the country (Escaldes and Andorra are joined, I went to Escaldes, parked in the nearest side I found and GPS said it was in Andorra)


Main network are six roads as said CG-1 to CG-6 PLUS "TDV" (as said... "tunel de les dos Valires") which it is 95% inside a tunnel.


Secondary roads consider first network (without CG-5 and 6). This is, providing which is CG-X to depart (km.0) they set CS-XYY.

And maybe this CS-240 is one out of those that joins two different CG roads. It is not usual because it means a mountain pass out of main network, but there are someones. In this case, up to hill, CS-240 (with km.0 in CG-2) and CS-340 after hill (going down to have km 0 in CG-3)

Looking to network it is a nighmare. Found no sense to a 2x2 tunnel (2,9 km lenght!!!!) . Drove twice, ok, one whilst night but second one in midday and barely traffic. I wonder why they just did a 1x1 and another tunnel in another side of country.

Congestions are crazy coming from Spain, not from France. Being in the upper side of the country, CG-2 seemed peaceful while CG-1 was congested. 

And, they will remain bigger problems because they did some bypasses and now building near them. At least you do not have to cross main avenues to go anywhere.

Coming from CG-3/4 to south they say that to Andorra or Escaldes (downtown), going through little tunnels and to Spain or France via Tunel de les dos Valires. A little detour but faster.

And.. found non-sense in CG-1 with a road 1x2 or 2x1 depending of areas. It could seem that for avoiding congestions but indeed lines are painting only in one direction. This is, they will change only in special cases (or never)

In border, only one booth opened. Spanish police were awared looking to all cars but never stopping, just looking plates and faces of drivers, and not asking for passports. Just drive through slowly but one booth opened instead of two or three.

Nowadays main congestion is in nearest town to Spain and solution should be a hard new road in the other side of the mountain or just a road below all roundabouts or so...


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

^^ There are plans to build a full bypass of Sant Julià de Lòria. Currently only a short section (which doesn't show in Google Maps despite being open to traffic since 2014) has been opened, but the procedures to complete it are still ongoing (news article).


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

Thx... can you point from/to the project will go?


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

End of CG-1 in Andorra (could be posted as border crossing). These are "all facilities" Andorra has in the border with Spain plus several passport booths.

They barely use them but I saw how they took one random car (not Spanish, Andorran or French car plate) to have a check... but they usually are fast.

Picture is taken here
https://www.google.es/maps/@42.4355...ZZEiUh_aU_rhstT1fMyQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=es

Back in the picture, passport booths (first ones Andorrans, second ones Spanish).
As can be seen, not enough infrastructure to call to be checked to all cars, just random





AFAIK, it is CG-1, km. 11.8 indeed


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## EMArg (Aug 2, 2013)

From the bus: traveling from *Catalonia* to *Andorra*. Timecodes of the towns and routes within the territory of Andorra:


11:36 - Andorra
11:56 - Andorra: Sant Julià de Lòria
13:20 - Andorra: La Margineda
14:26 - Andorra La Vella


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## Ale92MilanoSpA_ (Apr 25, 2015)

*Driving from Andorra la Vella to Canillo (Andorra) 15.09.2020 Timelapse x4*


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## Corvinus (Dec 8, 2010)

Does Andorra currently have any roads signposted as expressway (motor traffic way)?
Is 90 km/h the highest speed limit in the country?


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## alserrod (Dec 27, 2007)

I do not know, I thought it was 70 km/h, not by law but just curves, roads and mountains.

But... in the 2x2 tunnel it is 80









Google Maps


Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.




www.google.com


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## verreme (May 16, 2012)

Corvinus said:


> Does Andorra currently have any roads signposted as expressway (motor traffic way)?
> Is 90 km/h the highest speed limit in the country?


No and yes.

However, long tunnels have signage banning non-motor traffic.


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