What to see in Montserrat

How to get to Montserrat by car

You can get here by public transport: in Barcelona the train stop is Plaça Espanya; from there take the train to the Montserrat-Aeri stop and transfer to the cable car, or to Monistrol de Montserrat station and transfer to the "Cremallera de Montserrat" rack railway.
Driving here from Barcelona is a pleasure - the views are gorgeous, and parking right by the abbey costs 7 euros per day. There are plenty of spaces, but they are limited, and you will spend several hours walking around here, so it is better to arrive early. The map below shows the parking place, the abbey entrance and the rack railway that goes even higher up Montserrat mountain. Lower down there is a large free car park; you just need to take the rack railway from there up to the church.

What to see in Montserrat

Montserrat Monastery (Abadia de Montserrat) with the sacred image of the Virgin Mary - the Black Madonna

What to do: visit the church and touch the statue of the Black Madonna. To do that, you do not go into the church itself but through the door to the right of the main entrance. There they issue a free ticket for a particular time, and you get in by live queue. From 10 to 12 the church is closed for services. At 12:15 we took a ticket for 14:00 and rode the rack railway up to the Sant Joan viewpoint at the top. We walked back down and did not make it in time. But with that ticket they still let us in, even though it was already around 4 pm. Visiting the church is completely free; on the way out you can take candles and light them right there, and the money is left in the coin boxes.

Hiking routes in Montserrat

The rack railway to the Sant Joan viewpoint starts right at the abbey. It runs until 5 pm. The best option is to buy a one-way ticket (about 10 euros) and walk back down. When you buy the rack railway ticket, you are given a map of the hiking routes across the top of Montserrat. A great walk: from the railway (location 1) go through 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 14 (there are steps and a goat trail here), then turn back towards 1 and continue along the route 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 (a comfortable wide path) - this is the full descent to the abbey. Between 9 and 10 there is a short turn to the right to the Sant Miquel viewpoint - be sure to go there. The whole walk takes about 2-2.5 hours. There are many more hiking routes on Montserrat mountain, and they are quite comfortable and easy. Just choose dry weather, otherwise parts of the path can be muddy. If you really want to, you can also hike up and down on foot) If you only ride the rack railway up, there will be no particularly special views - you definitely need to walk to the viewpoints, from 30 minutes to 1 hour at the very least.