From Barcelona: Half-Day Montserrat Small Group Guided Tour
Description
Escape the city for a morning and discover the spiritual and natural heart of Catalonia: the Montserrat mountain and monastery. With this half-day excursion, you’ll travel from Barcelona in a private air-conditioned coach guided by an official local expert, ready to share the legends and history of one of the most iconic sanctuaries in Spain. Departure is in the morning from Estación de Francia, with arrival at Montserrat granting you early access to the monastery before the busiest hours of the day. After a 45-minute guided tour of the basilica and monastery (with a close view of the famous Black Madonna, La Moreneta), you’ll have 2 hours of free time to visit the museum, taste the home-made monastery liqueur, walk to the Saint Miguel Cross viewpoint or take the Sant Joan funicular up to the top of the mountain. Return to Barcelona is on the same private coach, with arrival back at Estación de Francia by early afternoon— leaving the rest of your day free to enjoy the city.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Montserrat is a mountain top monastery situated on top of an unusual rock mountain. It is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands. Montserrat monastery hosts “la Moreneta”, also called Black Madonna. The legend says that the benedictine monks found the statue, and they could not move the statue to build their monastery, so they decided to construct it around the statue. Montserrat was designated as a National Park in 1987. Nowadays, it is a site of pilgrimage for people around the world. Once in Montserrat, enjoy a 45-minute small group guided tour, and then you will have 2 hours to explore on your own. You can visit the Museum, taste the monastery’s homemade liquor, go for an easy walk to Saint Miguel's cross for an incredible viewpoint, go up the Sant Joan Funicular, take wonderful pictures, buy local products from the farmer's market, and more.
The origin of the monastery is uncertain, but it is believed that the Virgin of Monsterrat (La Moreneta) was found around 880. (8.30 am and 1.30 pm tours include tickets to La Moreneta). According to the legends, the monks built the monastery around the statue. The monastery still functions to this day with over 70 monks. The basilica of Montserrat began its construction in the 16th century, and now houses an art museum. It is also the place where la Escolania, one of the oldest Boys’ Choirs in Europe, performs during religious ceremonies (you can listen to them on the 9.30 am tour).
In your free time, you can visit the Montserrat museum, which hosts six permanent art collections and two temporary. You will find pieces from famous artists such as Picasso, Dalí, Caravaggio, and also unknown but talented artists.
In your free time, take the funicular and enjoy the panoramic view of the mountain. The funicular offers a view of the monastery as well as the breathtaking views from the Pyrenees. At the top, you can also visit Aula de Natura (Nature Centre), where you will learn about the history, flora and fauna of the mountain.
The Black Madonna of Montserrat, a revered 12th‑century statue of the Virgin Mary and symbol of Catalonia, is housed inside the Montserrat Basilica. Included in the option that specifies the visit to the Black Madonna.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchair accessible (Please let us know if this is your case since we need to arrange with the bus in advance)
- 'Montserrat with Boys' choir' option is available from Monday to Friday. The Tour starts at 9.30am
- 'Montserrat + winery + lunch' option is a full day tour, available from Monday to Saturday. The Tour starts at 8.30am
- 'Montserrat with La Moreneta' option is available from Monday to Sunday. The Tour starts at 8.30am and at 1.30pm.
- We meet all travelers at a meeting point. Travelers cannot enter their own pickup location.
- The tour guide will be waiting at the meeting point, holding a red burgundy umbrella.
Reviews(6,650)
This was the perfect way to see Montserrat. The guides, Marek and Carole, were friendly, knowledgeable, and very well spoken. The bus ride there and back was very comfortable. They pointed out important sights, and told important history. The walking tour once there was perfect to see the grounds and learn about it. We also enjoyed our free time at the location. They made it the best. We highly recommend the tour!
MK and Carol were wonderful, informative, and funny guides, very fluent in english. Highly recommend.
Tour was excellent enough time to see the sights. The 2 guides MK and Carol were excellent!
Carol was an informative and delightful guide. We had a wonderful time and learned a lot.
Carol and Merak were super engaging. Pace of the tour was perfect and plenty of free time to explore. Highly recommend :)
Carol and MK were knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. We learned a great deal and enjoyed our experience with them.
great tour with MK Really informative and a great half day tour.
Love it An extra hour would be perfect, as there are long lines and many other turists for our free time. For example; The line and wait time for the funicular almost took 30 mins
We had a fantastic experience on our Montserrat tour today and would highly recommend it! Our guides, Carol and Montse, were wonderful throughout the trip. They were friendly, knowledgeable, patient, and made the entire experience enjoyable and easy for our family. Their explanations were informative and engaging, and we really appreciated how well organized everything was from beginning to end. Montserrat itself was absolutely beautiful, with breathtaking scenery and an incredible atmosphere. Having Carol and Montse guide us made the visit even more memorable, as we were able to learn about the history and significance of the area while still having time to enjoy and explore it ourselves. Overall, this was one of the highlights of our Barcelona trip. A big thank you to Carol and Montse for making our visit to Montserrat such a wonderful experience. Definitely 5 stars!
Excellent half day tour to Montserrat, tour guides Carol and Montse were fabulous and so knowledgeable!! Toured with 2 teens and my mother and we all loved it, highlight of our vacation!
