A Weekend Away
Over the last few months we have put this site together as a resource for those living in, working in and visiting Arinsal. We have tried to provide everything you need to know to plan a trip here, so I thought it would be a good idea to put this to the test, purely in the interests of research, by taking a long weekend trip to Arinsal from the UK using only the resources on these pages.
So, not a holiday but a research exercise. I started with the Flight Planner and found a return flight from Liverpool to Barcelona. Here I made the first change to my itinerary in order to save money as low cost flights are significantly lower cost in the week. So my weekend is now Tuesday to Friday. So far so smooth - I found the flights I wanted and was taken to the Easyjet site to book them, then moved to the Fly Drive page. I decided renting a car would be more flexible than taking the bus, and for a short trip the cost difference is small, even travelling alone. I decided to book with Holiday Autos with pick up and return at the airport. No problems so far. I would have gone to the Accomodation page next, but have to admit I cheated here and stayed with friends. There is plenty of accomodation available, especially in the summer season, so finding something would have been easy enough though.
I printed out the directions from Google maps (following the link from the Fly Drive page), packed my bag and passport and turned up at Liverpool John Lennon Airport ('Above us only sky') at an uncivilised hour in the morning (well to make the most of a short break does mean an early start and late finish). Everything went smoothly and I was picking up the rental car in Barcelona before midday. A Fiat Punto, pretty much brand new, brimming with gadgets (bluetooth, usb) and left hand drive. This took a little getting used to, but fortunately getting out of the airport and onto the motorways is straightforward. All was going well until an hour or so into the journey when I convinced myself I was on the wrong road (I wasn't) and got lost trying to get back to where I thought I should be. The moral is: either pay extra for sat-nav, or buy a Spanish road atlas in advance. The drive is about three hours, and is not too complicated, but having a map as well as printed directions is a must (as common sense should have told me).
The rest of the weekend was a relaxed two days in the mountains. The evening I arrived we went up to a barbecue spot at the top of the valley. The following day we spent in La Seu in Spain, worth having the car for the chance to explore further afield. There was a lot of eating out, wine, and catching up with friends. I also got a lot of pictures for the Gallery (see Andorra in Summer ).
The journey home was pleasantly uneventful, but remember to allow a bit of extra time for congestion on the way into Barcelona if you are heading back in the evening. It is not as bad as England, but the traffic does get heavy on the motorways near the city at rush hour. All in all it was an enjoyable, relaxed, hassle free and pretty cheap way to get away for a few days. Highly recomended. And I have mentioned the need for a road atlas on the Fly Drive page now, so everyone can learn from my schoolboy error.
Ian
15th August 2007
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