Estanys de Tristaina – 3 Mountain Lakes Day Hike in Andorra

Home » Andorra » Estanys de Tristaina: 3 Mountain Lakes Day Hike

Andorra is a tiny country sandwiched between Spain and France. It is covered in beautiful mountains and pretty stone villages. Due to the scenery, it is a great place to go hiking and enjoy nature. We visited Andorra from Barcelona for a weekend and decided to do the Estanys de Tristaina hike.

What to Expect on the Tristaina Lake Trail

Estanys de Tristaina is a beautiful hike that takes you through fields with horses and cows. You will pass waterfalls and visit the three Estanys (meaning lakes in Catalan): Estany Primer, Estany Mig, and Estany de Més Amunt.

We think that the Tristaina Lake Trail has to be one of the best day hikes in Andorra and highly recommend it especially if you are backpacking Andorra. In this blog post, I will tell you how to get there and what to expect at Estanys de Tristiana.

How to get to Estanys de Tristaina

To get to the start of the Estanys de Tristaina hike the easiest way will be to rent a car. We drove from Barcelona which was about a 3.5-hour drive.

However, if you start from Andorra la Vella it will take about 45 minutes to drive there. No matter where you start driving from you will have beautiful views of mountains and pretty villages most of the way.

View over a valley with the city of Andorra La Vella the capital city of Andorra
View from above Andorra la Vella the capital city of Andorra

To find parking near the hike the best way is to find Restaurant Hortell on google maps. There is a lot of parking around the restaurant so you should have no trouble finding a parking spot even on a busy day.

📍Pin the starting point on your map

Map of showing the starting point of the  Estanys de Tristiana hike one of the best Andorra hikes
Map of Estanys de Tristaina hike starting point

To find the start of the Estanys de Tristaina hike you will need to head briefly downhill from the restaurant. Then on the left-hand side of the road, you will find a path that goes up the side of the hill.

It is an out-and-back hike so you will finish the hike at the starting point and it should take around 4 hours in total.

Path to Estany Primer – the First Lake of Estanys de Tristaina

The path to the first lake called Estany Primer is quite steep from the very start so it will be a bit of a workout. There is quite a bit of loose dirt and stones so you will need some decent shoes for the hike.

Two woman hiking to Estanys de Tristiana
Hiking up the path to the first lake

The path is marked by yellow spots which are painted on rocks along the trail. As you come up the hill you will pass some small dams. After you pass the dams you will arrive at a beautiful valley with a waterfall and some cows grazing on the grass.

Valley of Estanys de Tristaina
A beautiful valley at the start of the hike
A cow eating some grass on a hike in Andorra
A cow grazing in the valley

Once you have passed through the valley there will be a fairly steep path up to the first lake. This was personally my favorite lake out of the three we visited.

It was a good place to stop for a picnic and if it is summer it is a good place to go for a swim. As we did the hike in the middle of summer it was quite a hot day and there is not much shade along the route.

However, if you do the hike in the middle of winter, the conditions will be much different. So if you are wanting to hike in winter I would advise checking with locals if it is possible as the paths could be quite dangerous if they are icy.

Katharina standing next to a lake with some pink flowers in the foreground on the Estanys de Tristiana hike
Beautiful flowers by Estany Primer in August
Katharina walking over the top of some small waterfalls on a hike to the Estanys de Tristiana
Katharina walking over some small falls

Path to Estany Del Mig – the Second Lake of Estanys de Tristaina

The walk to the next lake takes about 25 minutes. You can walk around either side of the lake to get to Estany del Mig. We decided to go on the right-hand side of the lake and it was a nice path to take.

It is once again quite steep while going up to Estany del Mig but there are some nice views over Estany Primer along the way.

Two woman walking up a grassy hill on a hike in Andorra
The path up to Estany del Mig. On the top of the mountain, the circular object is the Tristaina Solar Viewpoint. We didn’t go up there but it looks like there would be amazing views from up there
Katharina and Allan standing with their arms around each other with a lake behind them on the Estanys de Tristaina hike
View of Estany Primer along the way to Estany del Mig

At Estany del Mig we saw some horses hanging out so if you are an animal lover you will be happy. The water was much deeper here so it is another good place for a swim on a hot day.

A group of people walking near a lake in the mountains of Andorra
Arriving at Estany del Mig
A green lake called Estany del Mig in Andorra
Estany del Mig: To reach the final lake you can walk on paths on either side of this lake

Path to Estany de Més Amunt – the Third Lake of Estanys de Tristaina

To reach the final lake you can take one of the paths on either side of Estany Del Mig. It will take about 15 minutes to reach the last and final lake. For me, this lake was the least pretty one but it is still definitely worth the walk up there.

Return to the Car Park

Once you have visited Estany de Més Amunt you can simply follow the path you took on the way up back to the car park. We spent about 5 hours on the hike which included quite a long lunch break and a swim at the first lake.

So if you do it with few breaks then you could get in down in about 4 hours.

Now you know how to hike Estanys de Tristaina

I hope you found this guide and route description helpful. Andorra is a small but spectacular country that you will love visiting. If you end up visiting Estanys de Tristiana or are thinking of going it would be great to hear from you in the comments below.

READ ALSO

Hey there! Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions help us to generate income and keep creating content for you. So we greatly appreciate your support! Thanks!

Travel, health and fitness fanatic from New Zealand. Co-founder of Happy Healthy Nomads and always on a hunt for good food.

Helpful? Share it!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top