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.

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.

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.