Montserrat is a mountain range just under an hour away from the city center of Barcelona. Since it’s relatively easy to reach, this place is often among those weekend gateways perfect for nature lovers. Who wouldn’t want to breathe some fresh air after spending most of the week in BCN?
Interestingly enough, not everybody come to Montserrat solely for hiking but also to visit the gorgeous Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey. The monastery is located halfway between the base and top of the mountain but it’s very well connected with the towns around the area. Over the years, what was just a religious center it now features a small town, several shops, museums and much much more for all tastes.
How to get to the Monastery
Nowadays, everyone can get to the Monastery with ease. Thanks to the cable car system in the area, the FGC trains serving and the road leading there, there are plenty of ways to visit.
The Santa Cova cable car station
By car, the easiest way is to drive until the small town of Monistrol de Montserrat. Once there, you’ll just have to drive on a well-maintained road on the side of the mountain until you reach the abbey. The drive takes just under an hour but on weekends it might take longer due to traffic in Barcelona.
By bus, there’s currently only one bus company (Autocares Julia) which operate this journey. At the moment, the service is on all year-round (excluding Christmas day and New Year’s Eve) but there’s just one daily bus. On the company’s website you can find the departure and arrival timings (only in spanish) for winter and summer season. Generally, the bus leaves at 9.15am, take 1h25min to get there and leaves once again at 5pm (6pm in summer) taking 1h15min. The bus station to get this bus is Barcelona Sants Bus Station (Estació Sants).
By train, there are many FGC trains of leaving from Plaça España in Barcelona and heading to the monastery on a daily basis. At the station, you’ll have to look out for the R5 train and make sure to get down at the station of Aeri de Montserrat or Monistrol de Montserrat (1h more or less and cost 10.50€ return). The train will only bring you at the bottom of the mountain, once there you’ll have to decide whether to take the Cable Car (11.50€ return) from Aeri or the Rack Railway (a.k.a. mountain train) from Monistrol (11-12€ return). Latest fares and timings for the Cable Car can be found here and for the Rack Railway here.
Combined Tickets
For those travellers who wish to have everything planned out, it is possible to buy special combined tickets, which include trains & transport to monastery, for a fixed price.
Trans Montserrat (31.60€) – The simplest, cheapest and most sold ticket for the lot. It includes a metro ticket, round trip FGC train ticket to Monistrol, round trip cable car ticket to Monastery, round trip ticket for Sant Joan funicular, round trip ticket for Santa Cova funicular (when on duty) and entrance ticket to the audiovisual space.
ToT Montserrat (50.95€) – Literally to be translated into “All Montserrat”, this ticket is pretty much a VIP version of the Trans Montserrat. On top of all being included in the previous ticket, the ToT Montserrat also include the entrance of the Montserrat’s Museum and a Menu at the Montserrat’s Buffet Restaurant.
Expres Montserrat (35.65€) – Similarly to the other ticket options, this ticket also include a round trip FGC train ticket from Barcelona to Monistrol and round trip cable car ticket to the Monastery. Nevertheless, in this ticket it’s also included a welcome pack with audioguides, a booklet and plenty of vouchers/discounts for the other cable cars.
*The Santa Cova cable car is currently being out of service for rehabilitation of some vehicles. Everything should go back to normal by the first quarter of 2020.
Views from the Monastery
Feel like having a hike?
Obviously, if you don’t fancy taking the cable car, nor the train and don’t have your own car: it’s also possible to go by foot. In fact, the monastery is more or less equally distant from both towns (Monistrol de Montserrat & Aeri de Montserrat) and well connected by a network of hiking trails.
In order to get to the towns you can simply take the FGC trains and hop off at your desired station, be it Aeri or Monistrol. Once there, you’ll always have to walk to the beginning of the path before starting your nature hike!
Aeri to Monastery (ascent) – This is the suggested starting point to ascend to the monastery. The path itself is pretty steep (but nothing like that time on the Volcano Santa Maria) and in some points you’ll find yourself nearly rock climbing but the views are breathtaking. The starting point of the path is located 5min right on the main road found after crossing the bridge from the station, see below.
Monastery to Monistrol (descent) – This is the suggested path for the descent. The path is pretty easy for most of the time but just remember to follow the right directions. As you’re hiking down you’ll see two signals for Monistrol with written (1) Per la drecera dels Tres Quarts and (2) Pel cami de les Aigües. The first variant will be the one to follow. If you start here, the beginning of the path is just off the main road of Monistrol, see below.
Independently of which path you take, it should always take you around 1h30min from the bottom to the top. From the top to the bottom, it takes a little less, 1h15min.
Amazing views from atop Sant Jeroni
Further up to the top
For those who enjoy hiking, it is possible to hike to the top of Montserrat (much further than the monastery). The actual peak of the mountain is called Sant Jeroni and its located around 2h uphill hiking from the monastery.
You can either take the new path by taking the cable car of Sant Joan and once there, walk along the path for Sant Jeroni. Otherwise, from the monastery just follow directions for the old path to Sant Jeroni. The starting point for the latter is easy to reach. Head over to the infopoint and follow that road till a small plaza with a snack-bar and some stairs. Said stairs are what you need to take!
The New Path (1h15min) – Pretty straightforward and easy way to the top of Montserrat. Once you exit the cable car station in Plan de las Tarántulas, simply take a right toward Sant Jeroni. The path is mostly flat (100m altitude gain) until the very end where you’ll have to climb up some really steep stairs in order to reach the highest point called Miranda de Sant Jeroni.
The Old Path (2h) – It connects the Monastery with the paths just below the mountain top so the altitude gain/loss is quite big. If you’re opting to walk to the top of Montserrat in one day, we suggest to take the cable car on your way up to Sant Jeroni.
Whether you wanna take just cable cars or sweat your way through the top, Montserrat will surely leave you speechless. Not just the monastery but the whole mountain range is a beautiful day-trip adventure away from the bustling Barcelona. Try do your best to include it in your itinerary!
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