I am hoping that I might be able to fit in a half day tour to Montserrat .
I would like a tour company that picks me up and drops me off at my hotel.
I want to see the Black Madonna.
And ideally I want to get to the museum
I will not be able to do all this on my own. I am going to need a guided tour.
Any recommendations would be so appreciated.
My first recommendation is that I don't think you can do it in half day. We took a full day but we were on our own. Just the logistics of getting there took some time and once there, it is a lot to see. If you don't get good recommendations here, then hit the TI on the square when you are in Barcelona.
Thank you, Frank. I think that I may have to do. a full day tour and that would be ok. Just hoping that i do not get too tired.
@ bostonphil7 - Phil try this tour operator. I used them last year for a Montserrat day trip tour from Barcelona. They do hotel pick up.
https://www.barcelona.de/en/excursion-montserrat-private.html
Take care
Rjean
Thank you. I like the looks of the site and the company.
I thought that I only had four nights in Barcelona but I now realize that I booked five nights. So glad. That means that I have three full days in Barcelona and can devote a whole day to Montserrat.
I have come across this excursion offered by Visit Barcelona which looks promising but I will keep searching and shopping around
this has just an enormous amount of info, on the place, how to get there, tours, places to eat. It does seem to answer all the questions anyone could have. https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/visiting-montserrat-barcelona-spain/
Kate, thank you
Site was beautiful as well as interesting. I went through it fast but will check back with it another time.
I do not believe that it will be possible to get all that I want but close. I am flexible. It is going to be hard to get the art museum in.
or stay overnight and get it all in :)
Kate,
It would be wonderful to stay overnight but there is not the time nor the money.
well, I have been checking out all recommendations including those that I have found on my own.
There are snags. Some excursions do not accept one person: you must book for two. Others offer only private groups, way too expensive for me. and still others do not include all that I am wanting.
I am going to stop looking for now. There is plenty of time.
I'm sorry. I hate the situation you're facing - when you know enough to want to do something and think you can work it out, spend lots of time researching and considering and start getting excited, and then realize all the details don't line up. Such a bummer!
I guess that's where the mantra, "you'll be back" helps let those disappointments go...or why RS has such a following of step by step plans! May not be all that you'd pick to see in a particular place, but easier and good enough.
melT
Thank you for your kind words and empathy.
I became so fatigued researching excursions to Montserrat that I had to give it up and take. a nap.
I will get back to it eventually.
Maybe I will get there and maybe I won't. Maybe I will get there but not as I would have liked. We have to be flexible when traveling.
May I ask- are you concerned about the difficulty of navigating the trains/transport yourself? What is it about the guided excursion that is appealing to you?
Mary57
I am old, going on 79. Due to an arthritic knee, walking is sometimes painful and difficult. Plus I have difficulty with maps and directions.
My cruise last October had some mini disasters when i tried to do unguided excursions on my own. I am talking about Bruges and Bordeaux.
Forum members who followed my adventures suggested that maybe I should not do unguided excursions and I agreed with them. Some suggested the hop on hop off bus and I also agreed with them.
I am spending five nights in Barcelona and plan on doing the hop on hop off bus as a beginning. My hotel is on Las Ramblas and once I get oriented, I will be able to walk around getting to sites and attractions on foot. Even with difficulty, I can still walk some distances.
I plan to take the Aerobus from the airport and the Cruise Bus to the cruise port.
I am not afraid of public transportation but I can easily get confused. I can not afford taxis or ubers.
So for the reasons above, it is probably best for me to take a guided excursion from Barcelona to Montserrat. There are many companies that offer them but it is not as easy as I expected for one person. Mostly everything is based on two or more persons when you sign up for an excursion. I may have to pay for two persons to join an excursion.
Visit Barcelona offers an excellent excursion for one person which includes everything that I want but I will have to go to the main bus station and then find my way to the correct track once i get there. I have posted a link to this excursion some posts up. The main bus station is located in a. square that i probably want to explore anyways so I might go the day before to explore the square and get familiar with the bus station. I would not have even known of this square and its attractions except that I wrote the tourist office about their excursion to Barcelona.
I have limitations due to age, budget and health issues that younger and more affluent people do not have. Still while I can, I take my one cruise a year.
I am feeling so much better.
I have accepted that I will have to go somewhere to meet a group but they are probably places that I want to explore anyways like Placa d'Espanya or Barcelona Nord Station.
As said, I will be taking the Hop on Hop Off bus first day and that should take me by both places.
I am also going to check out youtube videos.
