Montserrat Day Trip or another day in Barcelona?

(For me) Montserrat is higher priority than Park Guell or the beach areas. It's really cool and well worth a day trip.

I'd strongly look at replacing Park Guell with Hospital Sant Pau complex. Its right by Sagrada Famila, offers a whole complex and is largely ignored by throngs of tourists.

Agree, Montserrat is worth the trip. Lovely spot, amazing views and history.

I agree with Chris. Montserrat is a very interesting place and can take a fair amount of time to see well. It is also a nice break from the city.

Love Montserrat and well worth the time IF not raining nor totally clouded.

We had such a great time at Montserrat - it turned out to be one of our favorite days on our 9-day trip. Take a picnic lunch with you if you plan to do some hiking (the cafeterias can get pretty crowded and the food options are not so inspiring). Do eat the monks' honey and cheese from the market stalls. We especially loved coming on a Sunday when the boy's choir was singing.

Montserrat was a big disappointment for us — extremely crowded and chaotic, though the trip up was lovely. Strongly agree with the recommendation for Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau — uncrowded and gorgeous. Another day trip option would be to Figueres for the Dali Theatre-Museum which we enjoyed much more than Montserrat.

We enjoyed Montserrat when we visited it years ago. When we travel now we have an agreement to not take day trips the day before departure. The rationale behind it is in case there’s a train strike, power outage, track closure, etc. that would prevent you from getting back.

A few years ago we took a day trip to York and walking back to the train station the power went out. All trains were cancelled until power was restored. We sat in York for about 5 hours getting us back to London well beyond when we wanted to get back for an early morning flight.

Having eagerly anticipated my day at Montserrat, I'm sorry to be a nay-sayer like mml. Not literally, I wouldn't discourage anyone from going if they are interested, but I must say I was disappointed.

I did a DIY taking the 8:35 (or maybe 8:36) AM train. I didn't realize (foolishly) that the trains would be comparable to the "milk run" commuters here in Chicagoland. Long ride of about an hour, little to see until close to the mountain. After a 30 minute subway ride to Plaça España to start the journey and the wait for my train departure, I had been traveling for nearly two hours before arriving in Montserrat. I knew the timeframe, but the reality was more taxing than I anticipated. Returning to Barcelona was similarly draining.

I had looked forward to hiking, but never found the promised maps and signs to trails. I did manage to find the main trails, but only after a frustrating and time-consuming self-directed orientation. I was unexpectedly disappointed with the Basilica - crowded even during non-tourist season and noisy. By the way, there is now an entrance fee - much of the online info is wrong.

I did enjoy the art museum very much - impressive collection.

Everyone's experience will be different. I truly hope others have a great time such as I had anticipated, but didn't realize.

Like Jaime, I also follow a similar self-imposed rule about staying in town the day before I need to fly back to the US. I find I am much, much more relaxed!

I am confused by much of the previous post.
As of last Summer, there was no entrance fee for the Basilica. There is typically a line on the right side to go see the Black Madonna but it also was free of charge. Also, there are paved hiking trails everywhere spreading out from the main area. There are QR code signs that link to maps and I imagine you can also get a map from one one the concessionaires. I used Alltrails though.
The trip is 1:01 to the Gondola and 1:04 to the Funicular stop. Yes, it is a commuter line that stops at various communities along the way to let locals on and off.

There is now a fee to enter the Basilica. I don't know exactly when it was instituted - it is new. I was surprised; I asked the guard at the entrance if I needed a ticket for the church even without the Black Madonna. Yes - available at the tourist office or online. I stood outside the entrance and booked online. No one was admitted to either location without a ticket although perhaps there is a way to enter for Mass. I didn't observe that.

Much of the online info indicates free entry - certainly not what I experienced earlier this month. I didn't notice in advance of my trip, but Rick has updated his "Near Barcelona" guide info: For books printed before July 2024, the following may apply:
"​The basilica on Montserrat now charges admission, and requires timed-entry tickets not only to see La Moreneta (the Black Virgin) but to enter the basilica."

The long train ride was the one from Plaza Espanya to either the cable car stop or rack railway. As I said, it reminded me of a slow commuter train in the US. The rack railway was fine -scenic, not a long journey. I didn't take the cable car.

I missed any Q codes with maps. I don't doubt that Chris found them - I didn't!

When faced with a similar question last year, we opted to skip Montserrat. Obviously I can't give you a report on something we didn't do, but I will say that from your original post, there's a lot lesser-known places in Barcelona that you can do, which was the route we chose. Hospital de Sant Pau is the #1 recommendation. Also: The Monastery of Pedralbes; the Museu Frederic Marès; Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya; Sant Pau del Camp; and the Barcelona Maritime Museum.

I would go to Montserrat and would replace Park Guell with something else. Maybe the Picasso Museum or the Monastery of Pedralbes, or maybe both.