Montserrat questions

If you buy train tickets at the station in Barcelona, you will need a debit/credit card with a PIN.

You can purchase the tickets on the same day. You simply board the next available train -there are several trains each hour all day long.

To my knowledge, there's no cost for listening to the choir. The reservation is only to ensure availability to local residents since the place is normally full of tourists. If you don't have a DNI/NIE document, you can't make a reservation, which doesn't mean you can't attend. You will have to queue and it's not guaranteed you will be able to enter to listen to the choir -it'll depend on the number of fellow tourists queueing before you.

Check out a previous post of mine for further info re:Montserrat https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/a-visit-to-montserrat-the-holy-mountain-near-barcelona-in-catalonia

Thank you Enric.

A bit of advice for folks who want best of both worlds... take the Gondola up and the Rack loco down (the gets you on the train back to BCN one stop before the crowds from the Gondola take up all the seats). Ticket buying for Montserrat/train/rack/gondola are IMO unnecessarily complicated but there are people at the machines who can help if you explain exactly what you want to do. It isn't particularly necessary to buy in advance, just show up at Placa España with time to spare.

The gigantic queue at the Monastery is a trick...it's just for those who want to go up and venerate the Black Madonna.

Light a candle for someone (or just respectfully walk through) at the sanctuary "cave" to the left of the Monastery.

Packing a lunch is a good option. There are lots of spaces to enjoy your picnic... just not in the area in front of the Monastery entrance.

Try to enjoy the organ recital or the Boys Choir (L'Escolania) while you are there. The latter is at 13:00 but it depends on the day. Again; that line to the right isn't to get in to the organ recital, it's to see the Black Madonna.

Don't forget sunscreen and water

The line to see the Boy's Choir didn't move much when I was there a month ago. I suggest that you get there ahead of time (at least an hour?) and be an early bird. Grab a later time reservation ticket for the Black Madonna before getting in line for the choir. They had TV monitors on the Cathedral exterior walls, so you could hear and see the inside choir performance while waiting in line.

Thanks! Knowing we can hear and see the choir outside is good to know. Does anyone know about reserving tickets for the choir inside for non-Spain residents?

... it's not Spanish residents, it's just residents. If you were living here you'd be also entitled. This is to prevent the sheer number of tourists from "monopolising" the visit to Montserrat.

We visited early May. We purchased the TOT ticket at the Ti the day prior. The only way we could get around the “resident” requirement was to purchase the TOT ticket, which allowed us to ride all funiculars, see the black Madonna, and included lunch.

We went three weeks ago and we bought the transportation package online with included the boys choir and visit to the virgin. Here is the link: .https://tickets.montserratvisita.com/en/48-transport-pack/4466-visit-montserrat-and-singing-of-the-escolania-with-rack-railway I see that they have availability on June 15. I would get the tickets asap because they sell out especially since Barcelona was a lot more crowded this year than last year. You do need a ticket for the boys choir and to visit the virgin. I suggest lining up at least 20 minutes before the choir in order to get a seat. Right after we saw the choir we then lined up to see the virgin.

We went to the Plaza Espanya station about 25 minutes before our train was scheduled and we exchanged our voucher for train tickets. The people at the station were very helpful at explaining things and getting us to the right spot.

We will be there in early October. I was not aware that you need a ticket to see the virgin. Is that ticket for a particular time? Can you purchase it when you buy your tix at the train station? Thank you