
Visited June 2024.
As this is one of my first reviews, I will aim to limit myself just to the important information reviewers before me have not covered. The situation seems to have changed somewhat since the signage situation was most recently reviewed, which is principally what I will cover here.
As with all my trips, I challenged myself to do this without my own vehicle or any private vehicle.
I'm hardly a strong hiker and always conscious of doing stuff like this by myself. Like many other reviewers, I opted for the route to the Fontverd Plateau and found it -- if not nothing -- completely accessible and felt safe the whole time.
Andorra La Vella is more giant mall than European capital, so I opted to see this site en route from Toulouse to Barcelona, making use of the Andbus service leaving at 9:45 from Toulouse and arriving in Barcelona around 23:00. It would also be doable as a daytrip from Barcelona, but not from Toulouse as it leaves too little time in Andorra itself.
I took the bus through the parish of Encamp (not to be confused with the town of Encamp which is quite far from where you'll want to be). From here it is a short walk to the starting point of the 'Lakes Circle'. All the 'information points' I saw listed in Google Maps in this area appeared to have been closed for some time. Perhaps this is -- as other reviewers have mentioned -- because the maps they provide(d) are hardly necessary.
The walk is divided into three stages:
- The hike up to Col Jovell, where the World Heritage Site begins. This is marked with a red and white lines. This is a very well paved path through a pine forest with views over Les Esclades. It is mainly uphill and I made use of the many benches en route to catch my breath. At the clearing near Col Jovell, there is a sign marking when you have entered the World Heritage Site. There is also a small metal engraved box explaining why the valley is a World Heritage Site. This section took me about 45 minutes (including rests).
- The northern route to the Fontverd Plateau, also marked by red and white lines. This path takes you down into the valley before a rapid re-ascent as you approach the plateau. It is very well marked and -- if rocky -- the path is wide and very obvious. Many people seemed to be running the full length of it. It provides the best views of the pastoral system that is supposed to be occurring within the valley. You can even make a short detour to the stone walls and some of the donkeys they were intended for. There are several shepherds' huts along the route, now marked by signs saying they are private property by virtue of their UNESCO status (!!?!?!?!?!?!?!), but at least there's some recognition now. This is by far the toughest stretch of the walk, even though it looks enticingly easy from Col Jovell due to its descent. It took me 90 minutes, virtually half of the time I spent on the whole hike.
- The Fontverd Plateau itself is a really gorgeous spot. There is another metal engraved sign here now explaining how the plateau was used by and integral to the pastoral system.
- The southern route back to Col Jovell, marked by yellow dots. This path maintains a near-constant altitude along the side of the mountain and is thus easier, but a) doesn't allow you to see anything that makes this a WHS and b) it's a far more 'rough and ready' path, sometimes over boulders on the face of the mountain. I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing this route if it were windy or had recently rained, put it that way. This section took me about 30 minutes.
In hindsight, I likely would have preferred doing the southern route first, followed by the northern route.
All in all, a lovely walk but average-to-below-average WHS, like others have said. At least there have been some attempts to 'sell' the WH status, owing to the fact that this is clearly the most popular route and probably the most "bang for your buck" in terms of the % of the site you can appreciate for your time invested.
I arrived in Barcelona later in the evening, very satisfied with the amount I got to see without having to overnight in Andorra!!
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