Les Escaldes - The Heart of Andorra

Micro-country packed with beauty and adventure

Andorra sits right smack between Spain and France in the Pyrenees mountain region. A short flight and 2 hour drive from Perpignan made for a nice quick getaway. Andorra offered gorgeous views paired with thermal springs. My main goal for Andorra was to take in the small villages along the main road and visit the Caldea Spa.

We used Les Escaldes as our base for the 2 days. This was perfect as it offered walking trails up through the mountains, as well as great views of the natural flowing thermal river. The Mola Park Hotel had parking and was within walking distance to all the sites that Les Escaldes had to offer.

The Caldea spa is one of the largest in Europe with over 6,000 square meters of pure thermal spa bliss. We chose the evening package for about 30 Euros, which included 3 hours at the spa, and to our surprise, an acrobatic routine in the main pool.

Andorra offered so much to see and do, in such a small package. We stopped over at some ruins in route back to the airport. The snow capped in the mountains, quiet streets, paired with an incredible pink sunrises made it one of Europe's hidden gems. 

Happy Traveling, 

 

Katrina

 

Mallorca, Spain - Sand, Sea and Sun in 48 hours

Sun, Sea and Sand in 48 hours

Everyone knows I am always up for a quick weekend trip. Usually seeking out city breaks and walking miles to get all the sites in within the short amount of time. We decided to check out uncharted territory and head to the beach for a birthday weekend away.

First off we stayed at the most incredibly stunning “Adult Only” resorts. When I say adults only I mean we were the only one not using the motorized scooter at reception. Kidding a little, but there was one thing for certain we were the life of the party at this place. We stayed just a 20-minute cab ride from the main airport in Mallorca on the bay of Santa Ponsa. The resort SENTIDO Punta del Mar had two pools, loungers on numerous floors, and a café overlooking the bay. You want to see an incredible sunset this is the place. People charter boats to this bay just to get a glimpse of the sunset in the region.

On arrival we headed straight to the hotel to have lunch and then have a look around. Walking from the hotel through the main road you will come across bars, grocery stores and numerous beachfront restaurants. The beach is less than a 20-minute walk and there are a lot of activities offered right on the beach. They had these cool water slide paddleboats, but as we went at the beginning of May it was not really summer yet and the winds did not allow us to try out these fun rides. The great thing about Spain is that the area never really sleeps. Santa Ponsa did not celebrate the daily siesta time, which we found surprising, but everything did stay open late, if not until the next morning. After an afternoon of checking out the beach and walking around barefoot in the sand it was time to head back to the hotel to freshen up. When I say freshen up, I mean cocktails on the sunbeds overlooking the ocean and a quick nap.

The area has a substantial amount of karaoke bars and clubs, which each one seemed to have a theme. The music was everything from Abba, Motown and 80’s. Since we were celebrating a friends 40th we decided to keep it classy with a quiet place right along the water. After a late night of dancing we headed to bed for a full day of activities.

On the Sunday we were collected by ZOEA Diving Center just across the bay. We rented Kayaks by the hour to tour some of the caves and inlets along the coast. It was around 12 Euros per hour for a single kayak. They had free lockers and a snack bar on site. They are a certified dive center as well and that morning we saw numerous boat dives headed out when we arrived. A relaxing day of kayaking was just what we needed, but the sun was more than we could handle coming from the UK. We finished up our session and headed to a place recommended by the staff for lunch before our afternoon flight home. I would highly recommend stopping in to Meson del Mar for some Paella and Sangria on your trip to Mallorca.

The hotel offered a spa and one of the most incredible breakfast buffets I have seen. The staff was friendly and truly made sure we were having an incredible time. Overall it was a successful, unrushed and peaceful sunny getaway.

Happy Traveling, 

 

Katrina