Wandering Through Monistrol de Montserrat: A Voyage of Discovery

I love discovering new places on Instagram and then visiting them. Like this place!

Have you ever heard of Monistrol de Montserrat?

Monistrol de Montserrat is located just outside Barcelona, Spain. The hermit monks constructed several hermitages on Montserrat. The monastery was subsequently established by enlarging the hermitage of Santa Maria in 1025. Miracles are associated with the Black Madonna discovered in the 12th century, which remains a pilgrimage site to this day.

I definitely recommend coming early and preferably during the off-season. I was there in mid-March and it was super pleasant. Of course there were a few people and a few tourist buses, but I had a few places to myself for a while. Towards the afternoon, it gradually became more crowded on the hiking trails.

How to get to the Montserrat?

It’s a perfect day trip from Barcelona. Depending on where you are in Barcelona, the trip to Monistrol de Montserrat takes about 1h 30min. Which is really a stone’s throw and it’s also good to get out of the city.

It is best to go to the Pl. Espanya station. There you can buy a ticket for the train to Montserrat. I spent €25.70 for a round trip by train plus the use of the cable car on site (as of march 2024). If you are not a fan of the cable car, you can of course book the ticket without the cable car. Make sure you check beforehand when the trains run, as the trains always ran every hour when I was there. Of course, it would be a shame if you missed the train and then had to wait an hour for the next one.

If you have booked the cable car ticket, get off at the “Aeri de Montserrat” stop. I was there first thing in the morning. The cable cars run from 9.30 am to 7 pm and I was at the stop shortly after 9 am. As the cable car is not that big, not that many people can be transported and it can take a little longer. If you haven’t bought a ticket for the cable car in advance, you can also buy one on site. In the queue you get a first impression of the nature that awaits you.

Arriving at the top by cable car, my ears first had to get used to the difference in altitude of the 1,236-metre-high mountain. It seems as if the buildings merge with the mountains.

I then decided to make the most of the day and try out the hiking trails. To be honest, I wasn’t wearing the right footwear. Luckily for me, the weather was great and the paths were dry or only slightly muddy, but I can only recommend that you wear sturdy and well-fitting shoes, as some parts can be steep and slippery.