Barcelona to Nice, via Andorra any advice?

I am doing some touring and we have booked flights, we have a start Barcelona and an end point Nice, we have 10 days to cycle between in July. I would like to go through Andorra, unless it is on busy roads and insane climbs.

Anyone cycled through the Pyrenees south to north, through Andorra?

Or would people on here recommend that we go via Girona and skip out the tall parts of the Pyrenees. We have vague plan that if we get to Nice early then we can pop over to Italy and see Sanremo.

Any advice on this sort of route would be appreciated, thanks

The road to Andorra is busy,
I would avoid it even driving a car.
Unless you want to stock up on cheap ciggies & boose, and fill the tank.
The pass is 2000 m high.
The city is ugly.
You can cross at Puicerda 1200m ,
and aim for Carcassonne if you still want to tackle the big ones.
Then follow Canal du Midi to the sea.
The coast each side of the border makes for a very hilly but scenic ride.
Busy this time of the year.
I would avoid cycling the Riviera this time of the year.

Thanks very much for the info Midi!

We shall skip out Andorra and pass along east of it and go through some lower slopes of the Pyrenees, which will me much nicer on our fully loaded bikes.

What is wrong with the Riviera in July?

Sound advice from Midi, as the roads into Andorra, from both the north and the south, are significantly busier than other roads in the area. (I was riding over the Puymorens in 1996 and literally sprinted across the junction with the road into Andorra as there was a brief respite from the endless procession of large lorries and cars). Some of the passes between there and the coast are very scenic, and the road from Sant Feliu de Guixols to Lloret de Mar is superb. I should add, that Lloret itself is worth riding straight through!

The French coast gets very busy at that time of the year, but usually if you head inland a couple of kilometres you get away from the traffic.

edscoble once said the climb to andorra was a very enjoyable one. though he came from the north it still means he probably passed the same roads.

Olly I'm incredibly jealous of this.
I don't know if this thread will help answer any of your questions? It's a pretty good read either way

edscoble once said the climb to andorra was a very enjoyable one. though he came from the north it still means he probably passed the same roads.

Andorra is amazingly ugly, a real insult to its surrounding I'm sad to say.
It's tax free and they can't even have decent bike shops or discount internet retailers, that should be sufficient proof of bike unfriendlyness.
The road going north from it is very busy ,following the Ariège valley all the way up to Toulouse.
What I suggest is : choose the next pass and valley eastward.
The pass is lower, the Aude valley a magestic ride to Carcassonne, again choose B roads for the Limoux to Carcassonne ride, who is a death trap.
You don't have to ride on the Canal du Midi paths to reach the seaside,
lots of quiet roads next to it.
As for the Riviera riding, I wouldn't get anywhere that area even with a car.
Use the backcountry, the southern Alps if you want a challenge.
It's very hilly and hot, enjoy peaceful rivers and lakes, make it to the Riviera and catch the train to Nice.

I feel you... I'm riding from Eindhoven to Malaga this summer passing through the Pyrenees yet I plan to visit Andorra just to have been there. Taking on the French Alpes aswell, I'll be coming from the east after the last climb in that region of Mont Ventoux. Then I'll head to Montpellier, Narbonne and from there through villages to Andorra. After which I'll head west to take on some major climbs before going south through Zaragoza and Madrid. As Andorra isnt that big and it's only a single climb to get there I guess I'm willing to take the risk.

Any suggestions for other rides/climbs in the Pyrenees?

The climbing to Andorra isn't the worry ,
it's the traffic I would try to avoid ,
and the scenery I would chase.
On both accounts I would choose any other pass to cross to Spain.

thanks for the help dudes, this is our vague new plan: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-iLUPxYVOo1QTRyVTNHYVctMzQ/edit?usp=sharing

We will try going through the French parks and skip out the coast but want to see Monaco. Then hopefully we get more time to play on the South Italian Alps before riding back to Nice to fly out

Sorry Joe I didnt know you where up for touring I would have invited you

Seems like a great ride though I'd try to avoid the Spanish Costa Brava as much as possible as there is immensly much trafic going on there. 24/7 Dutch and German tourists are on the road with cars, campers, caravans etc. Same goes for the piece of coast marked in your picture as French Riviera, but if you insist on visiting Monaco, which is a must-see but very busy trafic aswell, I guess you cant avoid going there.
Good luck and enjoy your journey!