II will be in Barcelona next October and am doing my research I would love to maybe take a day trip to Montserrat.
Can anyone suggest a company or guide who offers group day trips to Montserrat?
And how challenging is Montserrat? I have an arthritic knee but doing physical therapy..
We self-guided our visit. Very easy via train & cog railway. Here is the abbey's website with lots of useful information https://www.montserratvisita.com/en/index.html
I think the abbey area should be OK with your knee. You won't be able to walk the trails in the very rugged hills surrounding the abbey.
I agree that you can tour Montserrat easily on your own. I am not at all a hiker and took the funicular up to the very top and briefly walked around but opted out of any truly energetic hike. It was a great day trip from Barcelona.
We went to Montserrat on our own.
As others have said, the area immediately around the monastery, and going inside to see the Black Madonna, should be fine.
The upper trail was closed when we were there, but my daughter did it another year, and she fell (it was a bit muddy). We did do the lower trail, to the chapel, however, and that was pretty smooth, but with a bit of a hill.
Search this forum for Montserrat
Many posts
davebarnes
Thank you for the information.
You are correct that there are many posts on forum about Montserrat.
I did do a search before I posted my question but seemed to have missed the more recent posts. Most of the posts that i discovered were years old. My mistake was in not going over to page 2.
Thanks to all for the information
I have no interest in hiking any trails. I want to go to the abbey and visit the museum that I heard about from a youtube video. I do not read very much about the museum. Is the museum close to the abbey?
I had read a little about Montserrat and then I began to watch youtube videos. And the videos created a desire to visit. I was only going to spend four nights in Barcelona but I might have to add on a fifth.
I am interested in a. group tour from Barcelona because of my age and knee. I have become the one who can get lost when no one can possibly get lost.
The beauty of this visit is self-organising it... it's very easy and you have different options. I wrote an extensive post about this a few years back, but it's totally up to date: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/a-visit-to-montserrat-the-holy-mountain-near-barcelona-in-catalonia
Once in Montserrat, there are several paths you can take and they're not challenging at all.... for example the Camí del Via Crucis. This is not 'the best' video to showcase it, but you can have an idea how wide and 'flat' it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpziy5En-5M
I did do a search before I posted my question but seemed to have missed the more recent posts. Most of the posts that i discovered were years old. My mistake was in not going over to page 2.
You can filter your search so that you only get posts that are 6 months to 2 years old, which is usually what I do.
BostonPhil, we too will be visiting Barcelona next year (late-May) and set up a half-day Montserrat tour with City Wonders:
https://citywonders.com/barcelona-tours/montserrat-express-tour
After looking at various tour companies offering similar itineraries, we thought this one had the right combination for our likes: scope includes what we want to see, easy/arranged transportation and skip-the-line access, and positive reviews from previous participants.
Thank you Matt
I like City Wonders and will look into a day tour with them
I am possibly going to have to add an extra night in Barcelona to do Montserrat but that is ok with me.
I think that you said something about being in Barcelona next April or May. Hope that you will be posting a review of your trip and will continue to jump in to my discussions about Barcelona since I will not be there until next October.
Thank you for your help Mardee
Next time I do a search on Forum, I will try to find and use the filter. I did not notice the filter. I may have also made some otjher mistakes because the results that I originally got were not helpful.
I have been thinking about you because I believe you use google flights and google hotels in searching. Many of the very well traveled and experienced members of this site also do so.
Until somewhat recently, I have only used kayak and booking which i still use but I have been trying out google flights and hotels as well. Just more options but kayak and booking are still more familiar to me when it comes to using and reading the results.
We did Montserrat on our own, taking the earlier train. We got there before the crowds and it was great. Didn't need to be on a tour.
The train leaves from Plaza Espania.
I had read a little about Montserrat and then I began to watch youtube
videos. And the videos created a desire to visit. I was only going to
spend four nights in Barcelona but I might have to add on a fifth.
Have you considered a night at Montserrat itself? When I go back I'm thininking of spending a night there to give myself more time for the abbey and for hiking the trails.
Next time I do a search on Forum, I will try to find and use the filter. I did not notice the filter. I may have also made some otjher mistakes because the results that I originally got were not helpful.
Phyllis, just key in the words you want; i.e. "Montserrat." When the results appear, look for a box directly to the left of the results that says "Filter by Type." Click on "Travel Forum." You will get new results and again, look at the box to the left and this time, click on "Filter by Date." You have the option of choosing the last 2 years, the last year and the last 6 months.
You will get a lot of results even after filtering it, so you may want to start with the 6 month option, and see what that brings, then expand it to 1 year or 2 years if you need more information.
I have been thinking about you because I believe you use google flights and google hotels in searching.
I do, but so do a lot of people on this forum. Most of the frequent travellers here use Google flights. I'm not sure how many use Google hotels, but I use them a lot, especially when I have not been able to find anything I like elsewhere. That's how I found several hotels/B&Bs for my upcoming England trip. And I will say I've never been disappointed in a hotel I chose using Google, but I'm also good at reading reviews and analyzing their accuracy. :-)
