Travel Diaries: Three Countries in One Day: France, Andorra and Spain from Barcelona

While we were in Barcelona, we went on two day trips with Explore Catalunya, which we booked through Viator. The first day trip we went on was a full day of medieval village exploration, and the next day we went on the Three Countries in One Day: France, Andorra and Spain from Barcelona tour. I mean, how freaking exciting does 3 countries in one day sound?!

This tour started early, at 7:00 a.m at the Explore Catalunya headquarters, which was easy to find, and close to a metro station. We boarded the tour bus, which had comfy seats, AC, and more than enough room for everyone on the tour. Our first stop was Bagà, Spain, a charming Spanish municipality in Catalonia. We arrived in Bagà before most of the locals were awake, so it was like we had the city all to ourselves! Our tour guide gave us a quick walk through of Bagà, and then we had about a half hour to explore Bagà on our own. Bagà is extremely picturesque, charming, and very easy to fall in love with. Dylan and I could have easily spent more time in Bagà, but before we knew it we were on to our next destination!

Our second country was France, where we visited Mont-Louis, which is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed town. We also had a light breakfast in Mont-Louis of a croissant (when in France...) and a glass of pineapple juice (included in the tour fees). We had a little bit of time to explore Mont-Louis and to take some photos. It was nice to be in a country where Dylan and I could understand some of the language (French), although I still couldn't find the word for "garbage" when trying to clean up after our breakfast. 

 Our final country was Andorra, a small country in between Spain and France. I was really excited to see Andorra on this tour, because I knew that we probably wouldn't have ventured to Andorra on our own, outside of a guided tour. Our tour guide gave us some history on the country before we arrived - she was super knowledgeable! We had about 3 hours of free time in the capital of Andorra, Andorra la Vella. Andorra la Vella is mainly a shopping city, but on either side of the shopping strip are stunning mountain views! There was a nice mix of high end stores, restaurants, souvenir shops, etc. After a few hours of browsing, we drove up to a viewpoint, where you could see the entire city. We were also given a tour of a small old church, which was a welcomed history lesson.

Overall, this day trip was an incredible once in a lifetime experience! The full 12 hour day was tiring, but you could definitely catch a few Z's on the tour bus in between destinations. At $190 CAD per person, this was a pricey day trip, but I would say that it was 100% worth it. My favourite of the three destinations was probably Bagà - it's just so charming! But the views from Andorra and Mont-Louis were stunning as well. If you're trying to see as many countries as possible (30 by 30, anyone?), then this tour is a great way to see Andorra, which is a place that I don't think a lot of people even know about. If you live in Barcelona, or if you're planning a trip to Barcelona, I think that you should definitely check out this wonderful day trip if you have time in your itinerary!