If you’re looking for a quick day trip outside Barcelona, the beautiful Montserrat is worth a trek up. It hosts a beautiful monastery called ‘La Morena’; a black Virgin Mary statue. A lot of people visit the monastery for religious reasons, but I think the trek itself and the natural beauty that surrounds you is just stunning.
How to get to Montserrat
Car: It’s just an hour’s drive from the city.
Train: There’s a train that runs every hour from Placa d’Espanya all the way to Montserrat-Aeri. From there, you could choose to take a scenic cable car or funicular ride.
Bus: There are daily buses from Plaça de la Universitat.
What to do in Monserrat
1) Visit the Basilica
The choir at Montserrat is supposedly quite beautiful to sit in and listen, but the Basilica in itself is extremely gorgeous.
2) Trek up to the view point
The short trek up the mountain to the first viewpoint is relatively easy. It doesn’t take much longer and you don’t need to be particularly fit to go up. I do suggest you carry a comfortable pair of shoes though.
3) Visit La Morena & the little markets
If you are looking to visit La Morena (also known as the Black Madonna), it’s quite a bit of a trek, but a downward one. I hear there’s usually a very long queue to see a very small statue. Might be worth your while if you’re the religious kind.
Have you been to Montserrat? Let me know what you think of it in the comments below.
Just my kind of day trip. The Basilica is stunning and I love an excuse to put my hiking boots on.
Quite special place for me, and very iconic for the region
This is a perfect place for me. I look for history and nature when I visit a new place, it has both 🙂
awesome pictures simply loved the view from the top.
Woah! The basilica stopped me in my tracks… no kidding! So beautiful.
That looks like a great trip for history and breathtaking scenes. A score!
Those views are incredible!! Looks like a perfect day trip. Thanks for all the great tips.
Thanks for sharing this, I’ll definitely go next time I’m in Barca!
Looks like a great day trip from Barcelona! Definitely worth the hike of the views are stunning like that. And the basilica looks gorgeous.
Love, love, love this – always wanted to visit here but the tractor beams in the bars of Barca were just a tad overpowering. Sad, but hey.
I always thought this place was in a Bond movie, but seems not – although it’s been in several others. Really enjoyed your post and I now feel strong enough to repel the Barca bars. Maybe for one day.
I am currently housesitting on an olive farm in the Almeria province and have heard of this area but all this information is just amazing. I will be setting off to explore it all thanks to your writing