The Skiers' Guide to Pal Arinsal

I had always been put off visiting Andorra with 'its for beginners' and 'its not that good' comments. We visited, as a family, and found out we'd missed out and the nay-sayers were wrong.
Pal-arinsal is a massive area. Runs are nice and open and generally quiet. We went at end of March for spring weather and it was perfect. Snow stayed good even when the sun was out due to how high everything is. People are freindly. Everything seems reasonably priced compared to SE of England.
2 things to note - there's not a massive amount of places to eat out in the evening so be aware of that. Ski buses were an issue, they turn up when they're ready then if the driver fancies a rest and a tik-tok doom scroll you just have to sit on the bus and wait. Worth considering which hotel you choose if youre gonna use the ski bus.
However, the paid bus service is superb - take an afternoon off and go in to the city.
We're going back again soon.

We went in March 2025, and for a few weeks before we arrived the snow had been sparse. So, we were really pleased when we arrived to see plenty of good coverage over the entire mountain range. Apart from one cloudy/misty day, our whole week was bluebird skiing, and the slopes were well groomed.

However, particularly towards the bottom lift it could be very crowded, especially on the weekend and when the childrens ski schools were running.

We went with Crystal ski and they were really great at looking after us, especially when my son was injured and needed hospital attention.

The second time in my life I had been skiing. This time I went with my girlfriend and it was an incredible trip. We had a great time at Pal Arinsal.

Went as part of a school trip. Stayed at Sant Gothard Hotel. Short walk up the hill to the main gondola to the pistes. The Arinsal slopes are well contained in a single valley but the Pal slopes are easy to reach via a gondola from the top of the mountain. Good mix of grades, but mainly aimed at beginner and intermediate skiers in my opinion.
Returning with our school for the third time in Feb 2027.

Had the best time, our ski instructors were amazing and asking us what we wanted to do every day instead of doing their own thing and re doing all the basics. Chairlifts were very efficient and plenty of snow around the whole time. Great experience would highly recommend

A lovey place to go for beginners/intermediates. Slopes were empty, beers were cheap. Great value for money.

I was lucky enough to skiing at Pal-Arinsal after several days of snow storms in Andorra. This allowed me to enjoy the off-piste areas of glade skiing. with amazing powder. Although it is less and less common to have this snow conditions at Pal-Arinsal, rather the oposite, this year it is being exceptionally good for skiing in Pal-Arinsal, Andorra.

Great resort for a first time skier with a lovely ski school and some nice food options. Some issues with closed restaurants despite being on the lunch deal and limited vegetarian options, but it was otherwise very nice, well staffed, and easy to access and use.

Class resort, good for beginners and families. Good slopes but not too much variety but overall very good. Good nightlife and good options for food. I had a great week in Arinsal and I would go back as the value for money is very good.

This is my second ski trip being a beginner skier but went with an advanced skier. To start Andorra is such a beautiful country just off of Spain and about a 2.5hour transport from Barcelona airport. As a beginner this resort is perfect it has many blue runs perfect for beginners but also some that are challenging enough to prepare you for reds. The pistes were well-maintained with snow cannons etc. A very enjoyable time and highly families friendly. The advanced skier I went with would go on their own to do the black runs and off-piste said they were amazing too, and very challenging. The only downside is the gondola from La Massana ran from 9am-5pm. Which is quite early to shit I think. Other than that it’s an amazing resort with beautiful views and great runs for beginners and advanced skiers.

I went as a complete beginner, arinsal is amazing for beginners with plenty of blue and green runs and very good for children too as the resort is relatively small and most runs meet together at the bar. Pal is better for people wanting more experience as there are more red runs over there however I didn’t go over so can’t say much about it.

Amazing experience! Great views, spa and bars. The skiing was awesome and the apres ski even better!

I visited Pal Arinsal with my wife and two kids, we had a great week, the snow conditions were great and all the runs were good and really well kept. The kids loved the ski school, which gave me time to go off and explore the mountains. It was busy but there was never a big queue for any of the lifts. The night life in Andorra is brilliant, we’ve been back three times now and are looking to go again.

We stayed in La massana, at hotel magic ski. It was a very short walk to the gondola station, the food was good but the bar was tiny and only sold Heineken on draught. We stayed over New year and the hotel was decorated with balloons. The party celebrations were fantastic.
Pal is great for your group and we managed to ski for 6 days which was excellent, some of the slopes were icy half way through trip, due to lack of snow and temp being to warm for snow cannons.
When the snow cannons were deployed, large tumps of snow were left ungroomed for a day, all ski lifts were in operation and very few slopes closed during week
The ski instructor spoke broken English but we could understand him.
Overall very good value for money but apres ski limited in La massana

Second annual family trip, excellent resort, perfect for us, 3 careful daughters and one extremely brave grandson.
What a week we had, no queues at the many excellent ski lifts and gondola, perfect snow, no need for the snow cannon, but it was there, ready.
Stunning scenery, every ski lift attendant were helpful and friendly, the runs were perfection, no ice just a squeaky soft base that lasted all day.
Not enough skiers to make a mogul field, but there was one, way up the peak amongst the black runs.
I'll be bringing the family back next year, it was such a great resort, with shops, bars and really good restaurants.
Catering on the hill was perfect, nothing skimped, good gooey hot chocolate, and amazingly cheesy pizza, we did sample the Rustica Restaurant fine dining, which was superb, and affordable.
What a treat, we made some fine memories.

So good runs, was there with the family something for every level.

Wife and kids did ski school i ended up skiing on my own at times great atmosphere and great conditions was there for the new year and the hotel had a free bar!!

Excellent ski coaching! Great for beginners. Lots of runs. Lovely city centre lots of restaurants. Lots of snow.

Unreal skiing, so many nice forest runs and jumps littered everywhere. Food was doable, beers only half pints I think. Other than small spenny beer, genuinely unreal place

Great Irish bar for apres ski, live music most nights, runs are great and the the area is hugh with a great mixture of runs

The ski school is brilliant. After 3 hours each day I made a great amount of progress and improved a lot! There are many blue runs to choose from with various levels of difficulty and mogul fields. Great value for money and a very beginner and family friendly resort. I stayed at a hostel right next to the gondola and got my equipment next door which saved me a lot of time too. Apres ski is lacking at this resort, has some more bar areas for apres but not very lively. But it’s a great place for skiing and was busy but not too busy in December. Would definitely come here again!