Montserrat is a stunning mountain range just about an hour outside of Barcelona and is a great destination for outdoorsy people. If you have the time while you are in Barcelona, I highly recommend taking a day to visit Montserrat. There are plenty of things to do for people who are not outdoorsy, but I did not do any of those myself.
Getting to Montserrat
Public Transportation
There is not one method of public transportation that takes you from Barcelona all the way to Montserrat, but you can get there using a combination of different methods:
- Catch the R5 Train from Plaça Espanya station.
- Take the train to either Aeri de Montserrat or Monistrol de Montserrat.
- If you get off at Aeri de Montserrat, you will arrive in the town below the monastery. Take the Cable Car up to the monastery.
- If you get off at Monistrol de Montserrat, you will take the Rack Railway (Cremallera) to the monastery.
Organized Tour
The other option is to take an organized tour that leaves from Barcelona. This is what we chose to do – we did the Montserrat Guided Tour through GetYourGuide. We decided to go with the organized tour for two reasons: the opportunity to have a knowledgeable guide to take a tour through the area, and the pre-organized bus transportation that (most likely) won’t leave without you.
I recommend doing the organized tour for first timers to Montserrat. But, make sure that the tour gives you at least 3 hours of free time so you can do some activities on your own as well. Our tour guide was very helpful in explaining all of the options of things we could do in our free time and we actually ended up doing something a little different than what we had initially planned.
Outdoorsy Things To Do
The main outdoorsy thing to do in Montserrat is hiking. There are several options of varying difficulties, so there is something for everyone!
- Length: 6.4 miles / 10.3 kilometers
- Time: 4-5 hours
- Difficulty: Challenging
Sant Jeroni is the most famous hike in Montserrat, but it is not for everyone. This is the highest point in Montserrat, and the hike offers panoramic views of the surrounding area.
—–
- Length: 0.9 miles / 1.4 kilometers
- Time: 1 hour
- Difficulty: Easy
This is a peaceful walk that leads to the Santa Cova Chapel, where the statue of the Black Madonna was reportedly found.
—–
- Length: 3.7 miles / 6 kilometers
- Time: 3 hours
- Difficulty: Hard
Camí de les Ermites passes by several ancient hermitages, giving hikers a mix of nature and history and explores the spiritual side of Montserrat.
—–
Montserrat Monastery to Sant Miquel’s Cross
- Length: 1.4 miles / 2.3 kilometers
- Time: 1 hour
- Difficulty: Easy
This is an easy and scenic walk to Sant Miquel’s Cross, where there are great views of the monastery and the surrounding landscape.
—–
Sant Joan Funicular Hike
This is the hike we did!
- Length: 1.8 miles / 2.9 kilometers
- Time: varies
- Difficulty: Moderate
There are a few different variations to the Sant Joan Funicular Hike. The first thing to decide is if you want to take the funicular up and hike down, or if you want to hike up and take the funicular down. We chose the latter. The next decision to make is whether you want to hike the trail or go straight up the stairs and hike across. We decided to take the stairs to ensure we made it back to the bus on time.
You can find the stairs past the monastery, past the funicular, past the restaurant at the edge of the woods. There are zero trail markers, so thankfully our guide gave us good directions. It was pretty easy, walk straight on the trail until it ends, walk about 100ft and then turn left.
The stairs were no joke, it was like 30 minutes of straight up stairs. The rest of the hike was fairly easy, except for the 20 yard incline where there was no clear path. I was on all fours climbing up this stretch to get back to the path. I’m not sure if we missed a turn or what, but we had a good laugh at me trying to get up that part.
The views from the funicular station were INCREDIBLE and totally worth the hike!
Indoorsy Things To Do
Visit Montserrat Monastery
The Montserrat Monastery is a stunning abbey, famous for the Black Madonna (La Moreneta), a sacred statue of the Virgin Mary. The monastery also has one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe, and their daily performances are a real treat.
Visit the Montserrat Museum
The Montserrat Museum, located at the monastery, is a hidden gem with over 1,300 pieces of art and artifacts. You’ll find works by big names like Caravaggio, Picasso, Monet, and Dalí, along with ancient artifacts from Egypt and Rome. It also highlights Catalan art from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ride the Funiculars
There are two funiculars in Montserrat, the Sant Joan Funicular and the Santa Cava Funicular.
Sant Joan Funicular
The Sant Joan Funicular takes you higher up the mountain where you will get breathtaking views of the monastery and mountains.
Santa Cova Funicular
The Santa Cova Funicular takes you lower to the sacred cave where the Black Madonna was supposedly found.
How Much Time To Spend
The amount of time you should spend in Montserrat depends on what all you want to do while you were there. The monastery and museum weren’t of much interest to me, so a day trip with ~3 hours of free time was the perfect amount of time for me. If you want to do any of the longer hikes, or hike and visit the monastery and/or museum, you may consider either going yourself without a tour or even spending a night in Montserrat.
