La Moreneta
The wooden Virgin Catalans come for, passed by a slow, quiet queue.
kallerna โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Castellers d'Esplugues โ CC BY 2.0 ยท Castellers d'Esplugues โ CC BY 2.0
Montserrat is not another monument for the Barcelona list. It is a serrated rock massif about 50 km north-west of the city, with a Benedictine monastery lodged halfway up it, founded in the 11th century and still home to monks. The heart of a visit is the abbey basilica and La Moreneta, the dark wooden Virgin above the altar, reached by a side-passage queue. Around it: a square, a museum with a wider collection than you would expect โ Caravaggio and El Greco through to Picasso and Dali, plus biblical archaeology โ and two funiculars with different jobs, Sant Joan up to the ridge walks, Santa Cova down to the Holy Cave path. Getting there is part of it: FGC line R5 from Espanya station (Metro L1 and L3) runs about an hour, then the rack railway from Monistrol or the cable car from Aeri. It is colder up there, and wind can suspend the cable car. Among day trips, Montserrat is the one for landscape and quiet, Figueres for art; Tibidabo is nearer, but a hilltop over the city rather than a mountain range you walk into. Come early โ the coach tours arrive through the late morning.
The wooden Virgin Catalans come for, passed by a slow, quiet queue.
Rounded pinnacles packed around the abbey, with trails that look over Catalonia on a clear day.
A boys' choir that sings on weekdays at 13:00 and within the Sunday mass, never on Saturdays.
Take FGC line R5 from Espanya station (Metro L1 and L3), about an hour. Get off at Monistrol de Montserrat for the rack railway, or at the Aeri stop for the cable car โ the cable car is faster and steeper, the rack railway calmer if heights bother you. The two funiculars on the mountain are included only in the Trans Montserrat and Tot Montserrat passes, not in the basic combined train ticket, so check what yours covers on the official site. Allow about two hours door to door, and more if you miss a rack-railway or cable-car connection.
Montserrat if you want mountain air, a landscape unlike the city, and a place still used for prayer; Figueres if art and astonishment matter more. With small children Figueres is easier โ Montserrat means walking, climbing and descending. And if Gaudi is still unfinished in the city, finish that first.
Start on one of the first morning trains: the coach tours arrive through the late morning and the statue queue lengthens. The Escolania sings on weekdays at 13:00 (the Salve and the Virolai) and on Sundays within the 11:00 mass, never on Saturdays, and it pauses for school holidays and choir tours. The 13:00 slot now needs a free reservation booked ahead, so check the official site and book before you travel rather than arriving on time and being turned away. Bring a layer; the mountain is colder and windier than Barcelona.
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Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, 08199 Montserrat, Barcelona