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

Montserrat Basilica| A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona
Montserrat’s Basilica is gorgeous at every turn.
Monserrat church/basilica|A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona
Entrance to the church

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.

A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona| view
Some views while going up the mountain
View 2| A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona
Isn’t that just breath-taking?
A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona
It’s called Montserrat for a reason 😉 Look how serrated it is!

3) Visit La Morena & the little markets

A day trip to Montserrat, Barcelona |Town
The town otherwise is relatively small.

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.

12 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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

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