Pal Arinsal: the back story

About Pal Arinsal: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Ski Resorts Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Pal Arinsal is the family mountain of Andorra: two sectors in the parish of La Massana, joined by a cable car in 2001, with forest runs at Pal, steeper ground at Arinsal, a gondola from the village centre and prices that keep a week on skis within reach.

Arinsal, 1973

Skiing came to the parish of La Massana in 1973, when the first lift was installed above the village of Arinsal. Almost ten years later the Pal ski area opened on the next ridge, a gentler, forested mountain that soon became a favourite with families and groups of friends.

One domain

In 2001 a cable car with room for more than 50 people linked the two sectors at Coll de la Botella, creating the Pal Arinsal ski domain. In 2004 a gondola opened in the heart of La Massana, 2,250 metres long with a rise of 675 metres, so that you can leave the village centre, six kilometres from Andorra la Vella, and be on the Pal slopes without touching the car. A second gondola, Els Orriols, rises from the centre of Arinsal.

Two villages, one cable car and a mountain that families come back to.

The mountain today

The resort counts 63 km of slopes for every level, 32 lifts carrying up to 38,480 skiers an hour and 22 places to eat, from fondue at Pla de la Cot to burgers at El Niu. Pistes run through pine forest on the Pal side, and Arinsal hosts Comapedrosa Andorra, a stage of the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup. From June to October the slopes become one of the Pyrenees’ leading bike parks, with more than 60 km of downhill and cross-country trails.

Every budget

The resort calls itself the most family-oriented in the Pyrenees, and its prices back that up. Under-5s and over-75s ski at no charge with proof of age, seniors 65–69 pay €29.50 a day, a beginner pass covers the learning lifts, and the nurseries in Pal and Arinsal cost from €61 a day. Passes of two days or more also open Ordino Arcalís, and from four days include a day at Grandvalira. Hotels range from small family houses in Arinsal to four-star spa hotels in La Massana, and Andorra la Vella’s five-star hotels, shops and Caldea are six kilometres away.

Our advice: stay in La Massana for restaurants and the gondola, or in Arinsal to ski from the village; book the nursery and lessons early for school holidays, and buy passes online in advance to save up to 15%.

Pal Arinsal in brief

From palarinsal.com (October 2026).

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Pal Arinsal: the back story before you go.