Montserrat Day Trip from Barcelona: Train, Cable Car, Monastery

By Joan. I have lived in Barcelona for 16 years, and Montserrat is still the day trip I recommend first.

The jagged peaks of Montserrat rise 1,236 meters above Catalonia, about an hour out of Barcelona. The Benedictine monastery, the Black Madonna and the boys choir pull in over 2 million visitors a year, and almost all of them stay within a few hundred meters of the basilica. Walk ten minutes past that and the mountain empties out. Here is how to get there, and what I would plan the day around.

Quick answer:Take the R5 train from Plaza Espanya and the rack railway up, from €24 for the combined ticket. That is the classic route and the comfortable one. The cable car is faster and more dramatic if heights do not bother you. Allow 5-7 hours round trip. The monastery itself is free, the funiculars and the museum cost extra. See my Barcelona day trips guide for the wider comparison. Prices change, so check the current one before you book.

The short version

• The R5 from Plaza Espanya leaves every hour and the combined ticket with the rack railway starts from €24.
• Plan the day around the choir, which sings the Salve at 12:00 noon and at 6:45 PM Monday to Saturday.
• Entry to the basilica is free, so the ticket cost is transport plus whatever you add on the mountain.
• Both funiculars cost from €10 round-trip and some combined tickets already include them.
• Give it 5-7 hours door to door, which means it eats a day and not an afternoon.

How I would decide: by what you want from the mountain rather than by what is cheapest, because the price difference between the routes is small and the experience is not. If you get vertigo, that decision is already made for you.

Getting there

The R5 regional train leaves from Plaza Espanya station every hour. From there you have two ways up, and they leave from different stations on the same line.

1. The rack railway

Get off at Monistrol de Montserrat. Slower, more scenic, more comfortable. This is the historic cremallera and it climbs the rock face at a pace that lets you look at it. It is the version I would put a family or anyone nervous about heights on, and the one I would choose myself when there is no rush.

2. The cable car

Get off at Aeri de Montserrat. Faster, more dramatic, not for anyone scared of heights. The aerial car hangs off the cliff and gets you up in a fraction of the time. If your group includes someone who does not like that idea, believe them and take the railway instead.

At the monastery

The Benedictine basilica is free to enter. The Black Madonna, the Virgin of Montserrat and patron saint of Catalonia, sits in an alcove above the main altar with a separate queue to touch the orb she holds. L'Escolania, the boys choir, sings the Salve at 12:00 noon and at 6:45 PM Monday to Saturday. Plan the whole day around that, because it is the part people remember and it is also the part they miss by arriving at the wrong hour.

Beyond the monastery

Funicular Sant Joan goes up to the hiking trails and the best panoramic views. Funicular Santa Cova drops down to the cave chapel where the Black Madonna was originally found. Both cost from €10 round-trip and some combined tickets already include them. If you only take one, take Sant Joan and walk. The crowd stays at the monastery and the ridge is where the mountain actually happens.

Before you book

• Check the choir schedule for your date before you buy anything, it decides your train
• Buy the combined ticket rather than paying for each leg on the day
• Take real shoes, the ground on the trails is rock and gravel and not path
• The monastery is a working abbey, so dress accordingly inside the basilica
• Every price here moves, so treat these as starting points and check before you pay

Montserrat Organized Tours

Full-day tours with transport, monastery guide, and time for hiking or lunch. Worth comparing against the train if you would rather not think about connections.

If you have three days in Barcelona, this is the one that gets you out of the city and still feels like Catalonia. If you have two, I would keep it for the next trip.