Andorra

Two nights high in the Pyrenees, driving up from Barcelona. The Tibetan bridge in Canillo, long lunches in stone barns, and a restaurant owner who sings the menu.

Andorra is small enough that you can't really get lost, but the drive in from Barcelona makes you feel like you've crossed a real border into somewhere high and quiet. We came up the C-16 and then the CG-2 with the Vuelta bike race closing roads behind us, so we took our time, had a long lunch in Spain, and didn't reach the Blackpine Hotel until evening. The hotel is all pale pine, with a valet who took the car and a 7:30 breakfast we were glad to have. A two-minute walk away, Mood served us a matured beef that was cooked exactly to the temperature we asked for, and we fell asleep early in a room that smelled faintly of wood.

The big day was the Pont Tibetà in Canillo. You park at the Palau de Gel, take a shuttle up the valley, and then walk the last stretch uphill to a suspension bridge that hangs 158 metres above the river. It is 603 metres long, and the deck moves a little under your feet, enough to make Jessica grip my arm and then laugh at herself. There is no signal up there, so download your QR tickets in town before you board. The shuttle also drops you at the Roc del Quer, a cantilevered viewpoint over the valley. Standing at the edge of it, you understand why people drive all the way to Andorra for a single morning.

Lunch was at Borda del Tremat in Encamp, a converted stone barn with an open grill in the corner. We ordered big shareable starters and then the meat from the fire, and the room was full of local families who clearly came here every Sunday. In Andorra la Vella we found the Salvador Dalí bronze clock, which is a melting clock sculpture called La Noblesa del Temps, and then a flat white at Kofi, the only roaster in the country, which took the afternoon heat out of our legs.

Dinner at el Crostó is the one I'll remember longest. It's a tiny family restaurant where the owner sings the daily menu to the room, and reviewers single out the duck and the buñuelos. We had both. The room was loud and warm and nobody was in a hurry, which is the most Andorran thing I can think of.

Reflection: Andorra is a country where the best things happen in the middle of the day, when the light is high and the valleys are open. It's worth the drive, and it's worth staying two nights so you aren't driving the mountain roads in the dark.