Day Trips to Montserrat from Barcelona

To the northwest of Barcelona, shortly after leaving the city behind, you can see the Montserrat massif. Hidden among the gigantic rocks and its abrupt relief is one of the most important places of worship in the region, the Monastery of Montserrat.

An ideal choice

Montserrat Monastery Day Trip from Barcelona

Enjoy a 4 and a half hour excursion to Montserrat

This excursion includes the return transfer, the rack railway ticket and access to the Monastery of Montserrat, all accompanied by a professional guide. All accompanied by a professional guide. Are you up for it?

From CAD 88 at Hellotickets

With this excursion to the Monastery of Montserrat, which lasts about 4 and a half hours, you can go comfortably from Barcelona with a professional guide who will tell you all the details of the visit. You will also have access to the interior of the Monastery, taste the liqueurs made by the monks and see the wood carving of Our Lady of Montserrat.

Recommended if... You are going to spend several days in Barcelona and want to discover one of the most famous pilgrimage sites in Spain.

The most complete option

Montserrat Monastery Day Trip from Barcelona with Wine Tour

Visit the Monastery of Montserrat on this day trip and taste the local wines.

This excursion to the Monastery of Montserrat from Barcelona includes return transfers by air-conditioned bus, as well as the accompaniment of a professional guide and a visit to a wine cellar located in a 10th century castle.

From CAD 121 at Hellotickets

With this excursion to the Monastery of Montserrat with a visit to a winery you can enjoy a different plan on your trip to Barcelona and discover the beautiful Monastery of Montserrat on an excursion lasting approximately 7 hours. Included is the round trip transfer by air-conditioned bus, the visit to the Monastery and also the visit to a winery located in a 10th century castle where you will taste a really authentic wine and try some snacks.

A tour guide will accompany you during the tour and will explain you the inside of the Monastery. But you'll also have free time to wander around the village, an ideal plan for your trip to Barcelona!

Recommended if... You are looking for the most complete experience possible.

A trip to Montserrat from Barcelona is a perfect way to leave the tourist bustle of the city and I assure you that the monastery has a setting that is well worth visiting.

• Excursion to the Monastery of Montserrat from Barcelona - from CAD 88
• Excursion to Montserrat Monastery from Barcelona with a visit to a winery - from CAD 121.

For a more complete visit to Montserrat, I recommend taking the guided excursion to Montserrat from Barcelona. On this experience you travel by air-conditioned bus to the foot of the mountain, where you take the rack railway to the top of the mountain, with spectacular views along the way. On arrival, your expert guide tells you about the history of Montserrat and you see how erosion has created the unique rock formations, while you enjoy the views of Barcelona from the top.

Afterwards, you're taken to discover the Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat, next to the monastery, where you'll find the famous Moreneta, a wooden carving of the Virgin of Montserrat. You will be able to explore the area at your leisure and you will be offered local liqueurs to taste.

• Duration: 4 hours 30 minutes
• Recommended: If you want to enjoy the full Montserrat experience with a guide who will tell you the history of everything you see on the tour.

If in addition to visiting the Monastery of Montserrat for a little more money you want to spend the whole day getting to know part of the winemaking tradition of the area, you have this other option of the guided excursion to Montserrat from Barcelona with a visit to a winery.

On a tour of the interior of the Monastery with historical explanations by a specialised guide, this route takes you around the beautiful village in which this enclave is located. You will also enjoy a guided visit to an authentic winery.

During this excursion you will have the opportunity to taste three of the wines from the vintage of this winery located in a castle dating back to the 10th century. The tasting will be accompanied by a tasting of typical tapas and snacks.

• Duration: 7 hours
• Recommended: If you don't want to miss out on the typical wines of the area and at the same time get to know the beautiful village that is home to the Monastery of Montserrat.

If you like to organise your own tour and explore at your own pace, you can choose a transfer to Montserrat from Barcelona, which will leave early in the morning and pick you up approximately five hours later.

This is the most basic option for visiting Montserrat, but you can add a museum ticket or join a small group tour if you wish. Either way, it's a good way to visit Montserrat without having to worry about organising transport, which can be difficult without a hire car if you're visiting Barcelona on holiday.

• Duration: 5 hours
• Recommended: If you prefer to organise the excursion to Montserrat on your own and don't want to be part of a group tour.

This experience is more focused on walking through a part of the natural park of Montserrat, which extends beyond the monastery and the mountain. You start the day by visiting the Abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat to see the Moreneta, and then take the funicular of Sant Joan up to the route where the hiking begins in the company of an expert guide as you discover the fauna and flora of the area.

I recommend you do this excursion if you are interested in a combination of sightseeing and a day in the mountains. Although the route will not be enough for you if you are a regular visitor to the mountain, it is a good way to explore Montserrat away from the more touristy area.

• Duration: 5 hours 30 minutes
• Recommended: If you can't resist a walk in the mountains or if you want to do an excursion to Montserrat in a small group.

This complete excursion to Montserrat with Barcelona and Montjuïc tour has it all included: a tour of Barcelona's main sights, a cable car excursion to Montjuïc, Barcelona's mountain, and a complete excursion to Montserrat with a visit to the Moreneta.

The great advantage of this experience is that you will see almost everything that Barcelona and its surroundings have to offer in a single day, for a price that will definitely be worth it if you were planning to do each visit separately. These types of tours are often ideal for when you've just arrived in the city as they give you a complete overview of everything you can visit, and you can explore on your own the places you liked the most at another point in your trip.

• Duration: 10 hours 45 minutes
• Recommended: If you are only going to be in Barcelona for a short time or if you were planning to do each of the visits included in the experience separately.

Take note of everything there is to see in Montserrat, as its historical and religious importance is more than just a mountain and is worth exploring in depth.

• Monastery of Montserrat: The Benedictine Abbey at the top of Montserrat was built in the 11th century on the site of an ancient hermitage. Dedicated to the cult of the Virgin of Montserrat from its earliest days, the Monastery of Montserrat is today one of the few churches in Spain where the choir choir, one of the oldest children's choirs in Europe, performs. If you are lucky, you will be able to hear the choir singing and witness a spectacle that gives a unique aura to the monastery and the mountain.
• Museu de Montserrat:: This is the museum of the Monastery of Montserrat, which houses works of art by Caravaggio, El Greco, Brueghel the Elder, and Pedro Berruguete, as well as a collection of 19th and 20th century art with paintings by Dalí, Picasso, Olga Sacharoff, Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol, and Fortuny. I recommend that you don't miss the museum as its collection is quite interesting and will certainly enrich your trip.
• La Moreneta: The Virgin of Montserrat is popularly known as La Moreneta, and is a carving made in the 12th century in dark-coloured wood (hence its name). According to legend, the Virgin appeared to some shepherds in the year 880 and as a result the cult of the Virgin of Montserrat began in the hermitage before the monastery was built.
• Cross of Sant Miquel: The Cross of Sant Miquel is located on a viewpoint at the end of a path that starts near the Monastery of Montserrat. From there, there are beautiful views of the Pyrenees, the Llobregat delta and, in my opinion, the most impressive thing is to see all the religious buildings of Montserrat in its surroundings.

Here are some tips to make the most of your trip to Montserrat:

One day or several days?

It is possible to visit everything worth seeing on Montserrat in one day, in fact, most excursions to the mountain last half a day, around 4 or 5 hours. If you don't do any hiking and only visit the Monastery, I would even say that 2 or 3 hours would be enough.

Montserrat rack railway

All excursions to Montserrat include tickets for the rack railway up to the top of Montserrat (unless it is specifically stated that they are not included). The train takes 15 minutes to travel up the mountainside and as you know the views along the way are spectacular, making the experience highly recommended.

The rack railway timetable varies according to the time of year. The first trains leave at around 8:30am, and the last trains down are between 6:15pm and 8:45pm. If you're visiting Montserrat on your own, check the timetables on the official website to make sure.

Timetables of La Moreneta

The Monastery of Montserrat is open every day from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm, and you can visit La Moreneta from 8:00 am to 10:30 am and from 12:00 pm to 6:15 pm. Bear this in mind so that you can organise your visit to the Monastery early in the morning or from 12 noon onwards.

The Monastery of Montserrat is open every day of the week, so the only thing that might make you want to visit the mountain on one day and not another is the fact that the children of the Escolania de Montserrat sing from Monday to Friday at 13:00. Also, from Monday to Thursday they sing the Salve Montserratina at 18:45.

For this reason, and to avoid crowds at weekends, I recommend that you go up to Montserrat from Monday to Friday.

From January to December, the weather in Montserrat is pleasant and there is less rainfall. It is usually about 8 or 9 degrees Celsius on Montserrat, and if you are lucky enough to go up on a sunny day you will have spectacular views and a very pleasant mild climate, between the coolness of the mountain and the warmth of the sun.

None of the excursions to Montserrat usually include food (if anything, a sandwich), so if you want to eat in Montserrat your options are to carry food in your backpack or book at one of the two restaurants near the monastery. Both Restaurante Abat Cisneros and Restaurante Montserrat have spectacular views from the top of the mountain, and the food, especially at Hostal Abat Cisneros, is great, although the menus aren't exactly cheap (around 30€ per person).

In any case, bear in mind that most excursions finish before lunchtime, so you can be back in Barcelona by lunchtime.

I would say that the only thing you really need is sun cream, as there are few shady spots at the top of the mountain and you'll be grateful not to burn your face for the rest of your trip to Barcelona. I'd also take a camera (especially if you're visiting the Mirador de la Cruz de Sant Miquel) and comfortable walking shoes.

If you are considering a trip from Barcelona, in addition to this excursion to Montserrat there are a number of other places worth visiting from Barcelona. Here is a guide to Day Trips from Barcelona

I also recommend that you find out about the excursion to the Dalí Museum from Barcelona, as Figueras is one of the places that is really worth visiting as it is so close by. Especially if you visit the city with children or if you are passionate about the art of the Catalan genius, this experience will be something you will remember. Here you have all the information: Barcelona Salvador Dalí Museum Tickets and Visits.