Barcelona Day Trip to Montserrat: One Day Itinerary

Are you debating a day trip to Montserrat from Barcelona? If so, I’m here to say that I think it’s a really good idea! This multi-peaked mountain range and the thousand-year-old monastery that is tucked away in it make for a great way to diversify your Barcelona itinerary.

Even though it’s a popular day trip from Barcelona, I had never heard of Montserrat until years after my first visit to Barcelona! My sister had moved to Barcelona to study abroad, and she posted a picture on her Instagram of her atop this structure of large blocks in the clouds.

It looked super cool! So I immediately clicked the geolocation on her post to see where it was. To my horror, it was super close to Barcelona! How could I have missed my chance to see it?

So several years later, when I moved to Madrid as an English language assistant and visited Barcelona again on a long holiday weekend, I made sure to take my own day trip to Montserrat from Barcelona. And it didn’t disappoint!

And today, I’m sharing how you too can easily make a day trip to Montserrat from Barcelona without a tour group or car. It’s not the most straightforward of journeys. But I’m going to walk you through it in such detail that you’ll feel super confident doing it yourself.

Ready? Then let’s get to it!

How to Get to Montserrat from Barcelona (and Back)

You can get to Montserrat from Barcelona completely by public transport. This has three parts or steps involved.

Yellow cable car going up into Montserrat mountains

Step One

Step one is to get yourself to Barcelona-Plaça Espanya station. Enter the nearest metro station to you, and pop Barcelona-Plaça Espanya station into your Maps mobile app. Follow the instructions to get from your starting point to Barcelona-Plaça Espanya.

A single ride metro ticket will cost you €2.90. If you are using the metro a lot while in Barcelona, consider the T-casual card which grants 10 single tickets for €13. Or if you are traveling in a group, consider the T-familiar, which grants 8 single tickets that can be shared for €11.50. These tickets can be purchased in advance online from the official site.

Step Two

Step two is to get yourself to Montserrat-Aeri station. Exit Barcelona-Plaça Espanya metro station and enter the Barcelona-Plaça Espanya FGC train station. (Ask metro staff for any help if you need it!) Then, ride the R5 train until the Montserrat-Aeri stop. This journey takes one hour.

If you are traveling alone, you will need to buy a “Single Ticket 2 in 1” for 4 zones, setting you back €13.80 (plus €1 for the physical ticket) for a round-trip ticket. But if you are traveling with others, you get a slight discount per journey if you get a “Single Ticket 4 in 1,” since the journeys can be shared by different people. You can read more at the official site.

Step Three

Step three is the most fun part of the journey to Montserrat! Exit the Montserrat-Aeri train station and head to the Aeri cable car ticket booth. (This is a popular day trip, so you should have no problem just following the crowd of people who got off the R5 train with you!) Ride the bright yellow cable car, which will zip you up the mountain in just five short minutes, and take in the awesome views of this unique mountain range.

A one-way ticket up to the monastery (which is what I recommend) will set you back €10. Choose this option if you would like to take the rack railway back down. If you want a round-trip ticket up and down, it will cost €15. There are discounts for kids and seniors. You can purchase tickets in person or online at the official site.

How to Get Back to Barcelona from Montserrat

If you would like to experience both modes of transportation at Montserrat, you can take the rack railway back down from the mountain. This ride is longer (15 minutes instead of five) and hugs the mountains more, so it gives you a different perspective than the cable car. This train brings you down to Monistrol de Montserrat station, from which you can hop back on the R5 train to Barcelona-Plaça Espanya. A one-way ticket is €9, while a round-trip will set you back €15. Again, there are discounts for children. Tickets can be purchased in person or in advance online from the official site.

I didn’t really know about the rack railway train until arriving at Montserrat, so I took the cable car both up and down. But in retrospect, it would have been cool to experience each mode of transport and appreciate the uniquely shaped mountains from both vantage points. So that’s what I recommend that you do for your own Montserrat day trip!

Things to Do in Montserrat

Although getting to Montserrat is honestly half the adventure, there is actually quite a lot to do once you are up the mountain. Depending on how early you depart Barcelona and how many sunlight hours there are during the time of year you are visiting, you may be able to “do it all.” But otherwise, you will probably just have to pick and choose what interests you most, depending on your interests and budget.

Basilica de Montserrat

Built in the second half of the 16th century, boasting a beautiful facade, this church is where the monks of Montserrat congregate several times a day. Entry to just this on its own will set you back €10 in person and €0 if purchased online from the official site.

Escolania Choir

Montserrat has a boys’ choir, called the Esolania, and it is renowned around the world. It is one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe, dating as far back as the 14th century. And you can attend a performance of theirs during your visit!

These take place in the basilica from Monday to Friday at 1:00 p.m. And on Sundays, the boys participate in the Conventual Mass, which you can book in advance online. The choir is off from around the final week of June until the end of August.

Tickets to just this on its own costs €14 in person and €12 if bought online from the official site.

Boys of the Escolania Choir performing inside the Basilica de Montserrat

The Throne of Our Lady

The basilica houses the Sanctuary of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat. There, you can see the Black Madonna, which is a Romanesque sculpture of Mary and the Baby Jesus from the late 1100s. When purchasing your ticket, you must select a time slot for this viewing. Tickets purchased in person for just this viewing on its own will set you back €14 in person and €12 if bought online from the official site.

Montserrat Combo Tickets

If you want to see more than just one of the above items, there are various different combination tickets that you can purchase to gain entry into multiple parts of Montserrat at a reduced price. If you are interested in simply seeing the basilica from inside but do not need an audio guide tour or to walk around the entire thing, you will be able to enter the basilica when listening to the boys choir. So that is one thing to consider when viewing the combo ticket options.

Santa Cova de Montserrat

This is where, according to legend, shepherds found the image of the Virgin of Montserrat (the Black Madonna that you will have seen in the basilica, if you chose to). You can read more about the legend here. To get to the cave, you have two options. You can take the Santa Cova Funicular part way up and then walk about 15 minutes (one way). Alternatively, you can walk the entire way, which takes around 30 minutes (one way). Can you spot the orange building in the photo below?

Other Hikes Around Montserrat

There are a lot of different walking trails and hiking trails of various difficulty in the mountains of Montserrat. One popular walking route is the walk to the Stairway to Heaven (which you can no longer climb up), located here on Google Maps. It’s a leisurely 10 minute walk (one way) from the monastery. From this part of the mountain is also where you get nice views of the monastery itself against the mountains.

But if you start your Montserrat day trip earlier than I did, giving yourself enough time, you can try one of the actual hiking trails. There are a lot, but check out some of the main ones here.

That Wraps Up Your Day Trip to Montserrat from Barcelona!

As you can see, no two day trips to Montserrat will be the same! You kind of need to pick and choose (1) which transportation methods interest you, (2) which parts of the monastery interest you, and (3) which trails interest you. I hope this guide has been helpful in getting you started!