Montserrat or Cadeques?

We stayed one night in Girona (1 hour by train from Barcelona), then picked up a rental car there, visited the Dali Museum in Figueres, then drove on to the Dali House in Port Llegat, over the ridge on a twisty road from Cadeques. We reserved a spot for the final visit time of the day at the House, then drove to Roses for the night. We returned the rental car in Girona the next morning, then rode the train back to Barcelona. So we did spend 2 nights outside of Barcelona, but we wanted to have one night in Girona and also it was November, so things closed and got dark pretty early. Your schedule might accommodate a train/rental car combo. The Museum and the House were both highlights of the trip, and are well worth the journey. We didn't investigate getting a private driver or finding a Dali day tour, nor did we make time for Montserrat this trip.

Haven't been to both so I cannot compare. We were in Montserrat as a day trip from Barcelona last Fall. It is very easy to do via rail. Actually there is a combo ticket for the rail and the gondola. If it is convenient I would buy the ticket a day or two before. We left early in the morning and the ticket line was long and slow. May have taken close to an hour to buy tickets. I am guessing it would be short in the later afternoon. Montserrat is impressive. We took one of the cable cars to the top and slowly walked back down. Made for good exercise. There are dozen of well marked trails you can follow. The train schedule is frequent enough that you don't have to worry about a schedule.

Montserrat hands down given your schedule. Don't try and do Cadaques without a car. A one day rental is not very efficient, both in cost and time. And I think 2.5 hours is at the short end of the drive time.

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your thoughts. It does sound like a lot of time and energy to get to Cadaques, so I think perhaps we will stick with Montserrat and enjoy time there rather than 5 hours of traveling to Cadaques.

That's good advice about getting our tickets ahead of time. Our hotel is very close to Place de Catalanya, where we can purchase the tickets, so that will work out well to buy in advance.

Thanks again!

Hi Jay72,

We did the RS's Spain and Morocco tour fall 2012. My husband and I wanted to see both as well - so we arrived two days in advance. We stayed at the Hotel Barcelona Centro. We did not need a car at all.

For Monsterrat (detailed in RS's Spain book) we purchased the 'Tot Montserrat' tickets online while still in the states and picked up the tickets at the underground ticket office in the Plaça de Catalunya.

The morning of our Monsterrat trip (with tickets in hand) we head out. The To get to Montserrat, we travel to by Metro, train and cable car. The first train to Montserrat is at 8:36am. Our instructions caution us to give ourselves extra time as the signage for the Metro to the train (R5) is lacking. Sure enough, our Tot Montserrat ticket wouldn’t work in the turnstile. We ask for directions and were told by the attendant we entered the Metro at the wrong station. The Tot Montserrat Metro only works at the Catalunya station. We had to go back up to street level and walk five minutes to the Catalunya station. We were disoriented and since the sun wasn’t up yet, we couldn’t get our bearings. Finally, we arrived at the right station at Placa d’ Catelunya and take the Metro to the Espanya stop.

Here’s where it really got tricky (fortunately, we still had plenty of time until the 8:36am train to Montserrat). We ask an attendant in a booth how to get to FGC R5 line. He instructed us to go up to street level, go right, and in front of a hotel is the entrance. ---OK???? The instructions didn’t sound quite kosher, but we follow them. Above ground, the only hotel we saw was more left than right, so we cross two streets and went back down the stairs and voilà, R5.

Thank goodness we found our train with time to spare. It was overcast, so the views weren't great but the everything else was wonderful.

Again, stateside, we booked tickets via Viator for Cadaques and Figueres. After eating breakfast at the hotel around 7am we walked a short distance (less than 5 minutes) to our pickup location for the tour of Figueres and Cadaques, Spain. We headed out of Barcelona at 8:44am on the tour bus for Figueres. We toured both the theater/museum and a jewelry museum then got back on the bus for the ride to Cadaques. Lunch was on our own. To see Dali's home was an additional $11€ (totally worth it as it is just as Dali left it after his wife Gala died) - others just walked around the fishing village. Then it was a 90 minute ride back to Barcelona.

I wanted to visit Monsterrat; my husband is a huge Dali fan. We compromised by seeing both. Happy choosing; better yet see both!
Simone
P.S. Some folks like Viator; others don't. Over the years, we used them several times for tours and have been very satisfied. They are a consolidator and not the actual tour provider, nevertheless, our experience has been good.

Then it was a 90 minute ride back to Barcelona.

Just a correction here - it is NOT 90 minutes from Cadaques to Barcelona. It's at least a 2.5 hour drive and that's without traffic congestion around Barcelona. The trip over the mountain range alone is 45 minutes. It's an hour from Figueres to Cadaques and another 1.5 hours to Barcelona via the tollway (again without traffic).

Thank you all for the thoughts. I think we will definitely skip Cadaques based on the time and distance. Montserrat looks awesome too, so I don't think we'll feel like we're missing anything!

I agree with those who say that Cadaques is too far to do as a day trip. However, with just 3 days in Barcelona, I would suggest you skip the day trips altogether. There is so-o-o much to do and see in Barcelona. As for Montserrat, I consider it one of the least interesting places I've been in Europe. First of all, it's a reproduction of a medieval monastery. The original was burned by Napoleon's (?) troops. It's rather plain, no gorgeous sculpture or decoration like some monasteries have. The major attraction for many visitors is a small statue of the Madonna, which they line up for, in order to have their picture taken by their friends. This despite signs clearly forbidding photos. I found this example of 21st century idolatry laughable and disgusting in equal parts.

Rosalyn... for god sake!, Montserrat is a 9th century monastery not a 20th century theme park. It had been ransacked a few times through out these 1000 years, the later by Napoleon, but being ransacked is not the same than destroyed, the monastery remains one of the oldest Christian churches in Europe. But Montserrat is not just a monastery, it's (and has been) a symbol of Christianity in Western Europe since it was erected, furthermore it's importance it's not only religious but political and historical and it's visited yearly by millions coming from all four corners of the world. In short: Montserrat it's not just a building. And your last comment it's simply rude and a complete lack of respect -and oddly this is being said from someone like myself who is not a bit religious.

Rosalyn is not far off in her thoughts about Montserrat. It IS a largely late 19th and 20th century reconstruction. Of course, much of European architecture we think of as very old is either late 19th century or mid-20th century reconstruction. There are some historic elements but for the most part you see things that are no more than 150 years old. The basilica is pretty inside no matter.

It does have religious significance for many, and that is a reason for some people to go. But I think her point is that the vast majority of tourists waiting in the long line to see the Black Madonna have little concern about the spiritual significance, they just want to get their picture taken with it like it's a theme park attraction. I'm not religious at all, but I always find that attitude disrespectful and kind of ruins the effect.

It's a pretty setting and for those who have not seen any/many monasteries, it might be worth it for the experience. There are certainly far better (and more historically intact) ones architecturally. If you like hiking, it's a great setting for that. I was far more impressed with the rock formations (very unusual) than the architecture (and I am all about architecture). But I personally wouldn't put it on a "must see" list for most people, especially with only a few days in Barcelona.

@Eric
A guidebook I own says re Montserrat " . . . most of the present structure is from the 19th century, with some parts completed only after World War II." I don't know where the 20th century theme park jibe came from. I didn't say anything like that. What relevance does that have, anyway? As for rude and disrespectful, Rude to whom? The so-called spirituality seekers for whom a photo is the be-all and end-all of the experience? I'll add that I think the real show of disrespect is to be taking photos in places where it's clearly forbidden, something I never do.