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How to get to Basilica of Montserrat by 9 am from Barcelona

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Hello,
I will be in Barcelona in mid April and have planned a day to visit Montserrat. I would like to have a ticket time to see the Black Madonna no later than 9:30 to make better use of our time as I know if you don’t see her by 10:30, we have to wait until noon. We also hope to do some of the longer hiking paths while there. It’s difficult to plan the exact that you will be done with a hike so I’d rather see the Bkack Madonna first.
I had planned to purchase a package ticket which included underground transport to Placa D’Espanya, travel by train to Monistrol de Monserrat, rack rail up to Montserrat, viewing the Black Madonna, funiculars, etc…. I had read on some website having to do with Montserrat, that the earliest FGC train I could take out of Placa D’Espanya to get to Montserrat was the 8:36 train, however when I look on the FGC website, I see several trains departing Placa D’Espanya before this: 5:16, 6:16, 6:36, 7:16, 7:36, and 8:16. Is there a reason I cannot take one of these earlier trains to get atop Monserrat before 10am?

If I cannot get an earlier train and do not have a car, would my only option to get to top of Montserrat prior to 9am be bus or taxi?

Thank you

Posted by
3362 posts

I don't see why you couldn't... don't know where you read that, but if you check the schedules in the actual train and rack-train websites, you'll notice you can take the train earlier than that. As you'll notice at the end of this post, the first cable car is indeed at 9:30, so taking a train too early would be unnecessary, but if you intend to ascend via the rack-train...

The first cremallera (rack train) to the monastery departs at 7:48h, and it takes 20 minutes.
https://turistren.cat/en/trains/montserrat-rack-railway-and-funiculars/

So, you can take the train in Plaça Espanya in Barcelona at 6:36 and reach Monistrol by 7:40.
https://www.fgc.cat/cercador/?from_address=Barcelona-Pla%C3%A7a+Espanya&from_lat=41.3745059&from_lng=2.1484134&from_code=PE&to_address=Monistrol+de+Montserrat&to_lat=41.610359602&to_lng=1.84919403&to_code=MO&datetime_option=1&range_option=0&date=04-02-2026&time_from=05%3A00

The rack train station is literally in front of the train station; it takes one minute to transfer

However, for info for those interested, the first aeri (cable car) departs at 9:30.
https://aeridemontserrat.com/en/timetables-and-fares/

Posted by
64 posts

Hi Enric,

You have helped me with other questions I’ve had as well. Thank you so much.

I’ve been working on this trip for quite a while now. Thank you for letting me know I can get the rack rail earlier. I will plan to do that. If I had worked on this a bit longer, I could’ve uncovered that myself, but I started doubting what I was doing.

Planning for Montserrat hasn’t been that easy. Are you aware you can’t buy a TransMontserrat card right now and that neither funicular is currently operational? I’m hoping they are by the time we get there, but I don’t know.

That said, this is good news for me, that we can get up top on Montserrat by 9am. I just needed someone “in the know” to unscramble the puzzle.

Thanks Much

Posted by
3362 posts

Hi!,
Glad it helped.

  • Re: funiculars. That's a yearly event. They close them around this time of year for annual inspection and maintenance. They'll be out of commission for a few weeks, then up and running as always. There's a pop-up message on the website announcing this. In any case, both the cable car and the rack-train to ascend to the monastery are business as usual.
  • Re: TransMontserrat. You can purchase it online, but it's unnecessary. You can also buy it on the spot on the day you intend to go to Montserrat. Since it's a sort of commuting-like service, it doesn't require pre-booking, nor does it 'fill up'.

And just to make you a bit jealous, I’ll show you a spectacle that “only” people who drive up there get to see. You have to be at the monastery at sunrise, which means being there around 6 or so in the morning, so you have to drive. And it's only during a certain time of the year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzeYTiCklt8

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