Hikers Guide to Montserrat Monastery

Why you should visit Montserrat Monastery?

During this quarantine, we started reminiscing about the days when we could hike and climb mountains. A lot of tourists that come to Barcelona for holidays but don’t realise how much more Barcelona has to offer than just a city and a beach (although it is still our favourite city).

Just 45 mins outside of Barcelona you can visit Montserrat Monastery, located on the outskirts of the city, perfect to get in contact with nature, get out of the loud city and simply visit for breath taking views. Well known by mountain lovers and offers a range of sports activities including hiking, mountain climbing, view watching and plenty of places to kick back and relax. We’ve decided to put together a guide to climb Monserrat for those who are looking to do the full hike experience and see Montserrat from the very bottom to the very top, enjoy!

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Peak of Montserrat

How to get to Montserrat from Barcelona

Go to Plaza Espana train station and purchase your train ticket, there are many ticket combos the one that suited us the best was to purchase the return train + cable car (€22,00). This way you can get off at the station and do the full hike through the old town that leads you to the top of the mountain and also give you the possibility to take the yellow cable care on the way down. Take the R5 from Plaza Espana to Station Monistrol de Monserrat!

Take a tour through the old town of Monserrat

Once you get off the train walk through the magical old town, plenty of cafes and beautiful tapas bars if you are hungry on your way! Once you get to the start of the trail you will be guided by painted flags on the rocks, which will lead you up the mountain trail.

The Montserrat Trail

The trail to the Monserrat Monastery took us approximately 1 to 1.5 hours at a constant pace and without many stops, enjoy the landscape views and unique shape of the rocks (dont forget your camera). Once you get to the Monastery we would recommend taking a break, rehydrating and getting some lunch. You also have the luxury of free entrance to visit the Monastery and I would absolutely recommend, it’s beautiful and offers an unique experience on the mountain. After lunch, if you’re up for more hiking we would recommend taking old route of Sant Jeroni. Behind the Monastery you can carry on climbing the infinite steps that lead you through a dense forest, if you are lucky you may be able to see wild animals in the distance. Once you reach the peak of the mountain you will come to a small viewpoint, where you can see views of the sea to the Pyrenees (You have a spectacular 360 degree view). This experience requires an entire a day and we recommend you start early in the morning around 9/10 am and avoid the busy crowds and heat!

Lucia & Tomas

Station Monistrol de Monserrat Cafe