Monteserrat

Look at some choices on Montserratvisita.com.

... firstly to mention, the name is Monestir de San Benet de Montserrat -correct spelling is crucial :)- furthermore note that since Catalan is the local language here in Catalonia, not Spanish (albeit is co-official), the names of sites and places tend to naturally be in Catalan language. Saying so because visitors often complain about not always finding the information they're looking for and that's sometimes because they're looking with an incorrect non-Catalan spelling.

Anyhow, you're unlucky with this one because its website is not offered in English, despite saying so in one option on the site. Either a glitch or a "work in progress" issue. Regardless, the information you seek is here: http://monestirsantbenetmontserrat.com/page.php?id=341&lang=1 just use Google Translate (Catalan>English).

A piece of advice, in case you're not familiar with accommodation in a monastery... lodging in a monastery is not like lodging in a hotel, while you continue being the guess, of course, they're not there to 'serve' you as in a regular hotel and one needs to respect and to adjust to their rules (as for example in keeping a peaceful environment), if you catch my drift.

BUUUT....

Perhaps you're not even referring to this particular accommodation since there is a "proper" hotel, named Hotel Sant Benet, not far from there. Can that be the one you're looking for?

Thank you Enric and Ed
I did look at the website, and Enric you are right, I could not get it to translate to English, it did not work. but I got the feel of it. The hotel Sant Benet looks interesting.
We will no longer have a car in Barcelona at this time, how to we get to Hotel Sant Benet , train or bus? Looks like its an hour from city center of Barcelona. And also Enric thank you for the heads up about the language, I do speak Spanish but I must remember the information about the language Catalan.

Hi Sandy,

Well, without a car it can be a bit of a nuisance to move about in the countryside, but it's doable.

To get to the hotel, from Barcelona you could grab the FGC train (Plaça Espanya station, line R5) to Manresa Alta (about 1h30' or so), then walk (5') to the Bus Station (Estació d'Autobusos de Manresa) and take bus 751 to Navarcles (stop Passeig Bonavista-Tinet, time: 35', 10 stops) and from there walk to the hotel (~800 yards). The hotel is located in an idyllic place indeed, but that comes with a trade-off... not being so conveniently located to be easily reached. Sorry, you can't have both :))

Problem is that, once you're at the hotel I would assume you'll want to visit nearby places, right?... Montserrat Abbey, for example, is at 20km or so. To get there you'd have to trace back your steps to the train station in Manresa, take the same line R5 towards Barcelona and 4 stops later, in Monistrol de Montserrat you'd get off to take the rack train to the Abbey, or if you prefer the cable car, you'd get off the station after, in Olesa de Montserrat. Some other ideas for activities if you lodge at Món Sant Benet.

Also worth mentioning, the Alicia Foundation is located there...

You can speak Spanish, English (and even French)... for once thing, we all study them at school and also there are lots of Catalans whose ancestors are of Spanish origins and have kept Spanish as their primary language. Still, if you want to put a smile on many of us native Catalan speakers... try this. As in any country in the world, speaking a few words in the local language takes you a long way, or at least, opens up people's hearts.

If your main aim was to visit the Monastery of Montserrat complex, know that there's a hotel there (Abad Cisneros), albeit it's not cheap and in July it fills up quickly.

Thanks Enric! I will keep the car then! My husband says I should use a travel agent, but I just proved to him THIS is so much fun to speak to travelers. Every trip in the past 8 years have turned out fantastic!! And what better than to speak to a local like you. Thank you again Enric. you will see I have questions about the Barcelona activities now.

My pleasure Sandy, fire away!... but I suggest you group your questions in different posts thus other members of the forum with similar doubts can find them more easily and follow the contributions.

As per travel agents, well, one needs to acknowledge that a good travel agent (not many around though!) is much more than a mere clerk that books this or that for you and can be a wealth of knowledge that you can tap. However, in the information age, certain traditional "wells of knowledge" have become less relevant as information has been democratized and, not only it becomes part of the adventure to find out for oneself, but also far cheaper :)

Sandy... regarding your PM...

From the hotel to the monastery there are barely 30km (20 miles) and you have two choices, both good ones, either the motorway C-16 or the C-55 road. I'd probably use the later. Both will take you to the base of the mountain, from there you can drive to the monastery on windy roads, if coming via the C-16 via the north face and if via the C-55 via the northwest. An alternative would be that you park in the parking lot of the towns of either Monistrol de Montserrat (track train) or Olesa de Montserrat (cable car) and not only you'd save the headache of trying to park in the monastery if it's a very busy day but, this way, you'd also be able to experience part of the "adventure" to go to Montserrat which is the ascension via track train or via cable car (read my article). Just sayin'.

HOWEVER... since you'll be driving, I have a further three or four suggestions to round up your day in the area -which might slightly alter your original route and schedule. All of these are a short distance by car from each other, say 10-15 miles from each other tops.

• A visit by Les Coves de Collbató -on the south side of Montserrat. It's a set of spectacular limestone caves underneath the mountain range and one of them is open for visits. Here a video. They're open to the general public on Sat and Sun -the rest of the week it's for groups (min 20). The visits are at 10:30, 11:45 and 1pm, it's a guided visit and lasts 1h. Check the website above for more info. Fortunately, these are not well known among many locals neither to foreign visitors and there are never "crowded", on the contrary, a visit to them is always very pleasant due to the very manageable number of visitors. While the visits are in Catalan, the guides can speak basic English -at least they did last time I took foreign friends to visit the caves. Regardless, the caves are interesting enough to have a great time!

• A visit (and lunch!) to the vineyards of Oller del Mas, a family-owned estate with a 1000-year old history. The Margenat family has owned and worked this land for generations and now they've opened their estate to visitors with an array of high quality services, among which I would highlight a visit to the vineyard and the wine caves, and the restaurant. Gosh, great food!. A very pleasant experience with true Catalan hospitality.

• A visit to the Cave of Saint Ignatius in nearby Manresa. Again, not widely publicised either therefore very manageable for visitors. Regardless whether you're religious or not (I am not!), the historical importance of the figure of Saint Ignatius in the development of Christianity -the foundation of the modern Western society for the good and for the bad-, as well as the architecture of both the cave and the impressive Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral of Manresa, are well worth a visit.

With no particular order, I've plotted this on the map so you can have an idea about distances: see here. Now you have enough info to mix and match your day in and near Montserrat, LOL!

Also, should you feel the need for more "nature", besides the Natural Park of Montserrat, next door to it you have also the Natural Park de Sant Llorenç de Munt (more info here).

In fact, your hotel is actually at the fringe of this natural park. And there are cute small villages all over, like Mura or Talamanca among other. In the later, you have also a medieval 11th-century castle -which by the way, it was up for sale in the market (seriously!). Unfortunately for you it already has new owner... :)

Enjoy.

Enric