Full-Day Trip Barcelona to Montserrat Monastery & Cava Winery
Description
Explore outside Barcelona on this incredible day trip taking in the famous Montserrat Monastery and Black Madonna, before the crowds of the day arrive. Afterwards, head to a family-run cava winery, where you’ll tour the vineyards, enjoy a homemade farm-to-table lunch, and see the bottling process firsthand. All in the comfort of your small group's private transfer and with an expert guide.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your guide and small group first thing in the morning at a convenient location on the edge of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter. Board a private minibus for the hour-long drive out to Montserrat. Along the way, your guide will give you a bit of information about Barcelona, Catalonia, and Montserrat itself to set the scene for your experience.
It’ll still be early by the time you get to Montserrat, so you’ll beat the crowds that tend to arrive later in the morning. Explore the basilica and 11th-century monastery with your guide. They'll share stories of religion, nature, and history that will help you appreciate Montserrat more than if you had attempted to navigate this fascinating space on your own. Among other stories, your guide will tell you about the famous Black Madonna (La Moreneta), a carved wooden statue from the 12th century that many pilgrims believe has healing powers. Your guide will also show you where you can see it from the basilica. After the guided portion of your Montserrat visit, you’ll have a 45-minutes of free time to explore the site and its surroundings at your own pace. Visit the small yet impressive onsite art museum with paintings by Dalí and Picasso, hike to a nearby panoramic viewpoint, explore the local farmers market, or grab a cup of coffee in the café.
Your final stop on this day trip is a family-run cava winery, where the owner will show you around. Sip a glass of welcome cava before heading out to the vineyards on a 4x4. Enjoy a relaxing stroll among the vines, and if in season, you may even have the chance to do a bit of pruning or grape-picking yourself. Then it's time for a homemade lunch prepared by the owner and his family. Sit down at an outdoor table overlooking the vineyard and enjoy a delicious lunch with high quality regional products and paired with the bodega’s best wines. You’ll finish up with a look at the bottling and labeling process inside the production plant (one lucky guest will even get to take home a custom bottle) before heading back to Barcelona.
Board the private bus for a comfortable ride back to Barcelona's city center after a full day exploring the Catalonian countryside.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- This tour is in English.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- This tour is adaptable for: Vegetarians, Pescatarians, gluten free (not celiac), dairy free, Non-alcoholic options & Pregnant women. Not recommended for Vegans.
- This tour covers lunch, but not before 1pm.
- In case of rain lunch will be inside la Bodega of la barraca.
- Children under 16 years must be accompanied by an adult.
Reviews(217)
We enjoyed this activity. Our guide Alex was great, and also the driver Ricardo and Gina at the winery. We learned a lot about the vineyards and how cava is made. Lunch was simple but very tasty and made from local and seasonal ingredients. The wine and cava were excellent also. We bought a couple of bottles. Note however that it doesn’t include the ticket to see the Black Madonna up close, which was disappointing. You get to see her only from the nave, at a distance. Overall though we had a fantastic time and recommend this activity.
We’ve been on many guided tours in many parts of the world, and Alex was truly outstanding. Her knowledge extended far beyond the scheduled stops. As we drove through the region, she brought everything around us to life by sharing the history, culture, and significance of the towns, landmarks, and landscapes we passed. By the time we arrived at the winery and later Montserrat, we already had a much deeper appreciation for what we were about to experience. Alex’s knowledge of the winery, local wines, the monks, the nuns, the history of Montserrat, and the surrounding region was exceptional. She presented everything in a way that was engaging, easy to follow, and never felt like a scripted lecture. What made the day especially memorable, though, was her personality. Our tour consisted of just four guests—my wife and me, along with another couple—and Alex created such a welcoming atmosphere that it genuinely felt like we were spending the day with friends rather than strangers. She was warm, engaging, and attentive throughout the entire experience. She also went out of her way to take wonderful photos of my wife and me, which was such a thoughtful touch and gave us memories we’ll always appreciate. If you have the opportunity to tour with Alex, don’t hesitate. She transformed what would have been a great day into one of the highlights of our time in Catalonia.
Amazing time!! We had so much fun! Alex was excellent guide! We couldn’t have imagined it being better!! Highly recommended!
We had the best time on this tour. We have traveled all over Europe to visit wine regions and this tour was up there with the top. Feliciano and Georgina did an excellent job making the tour and tasting educational and fun. Lunch was amazing. The morning visit to Montserrat was fabulous and we beat the crowds. I would highly recommend this tour.
This tour was an absolute highlight of our time in Barcelona. Feliciano was a delightful tour guide. He offered us a lot of wonderful insights into the history and culture of the monastery and the wine country we visited. The cava winery tour was perfect from the tasting to the tour and the delicious homemade lunch. Georgina was the ideal host at the winery. We would definitely not hesitate to go on this tour again.
We had an incredible time with Feli on this tour! It was a little painful to wake up early after the Spain v. Belgium game, but it was so worth it to get to Montserrat before the crowds. We had almost the entire church/museum to ourselves. It was unbelievable how crowded it was by the time we were done, we were so relieved we woke up early. The cava winery tour was our favorite of the whole trip. Georgiana was so knowledgeable and personable and let us get very hands on with the cava bottling:disgorging process. The lunch in the vineyard was delightful, we tried so many wines and ate local favorites made by the winery owner. Feli and Georgiana were so warm and personable, it felt like eating lunch with old friends. It was surreal to eat lunch in the vineyard with them and we couldn’t recommend this enough!
Lots of info and sites packed into our tour. Delicious food & wine.
Ariana was absolutely amazing and very informative!
Ariana was a wonderful tour guide! She kept us informed and made sure we had time to explore and enjoy. The wine tasting was superb and the local family was amazing and so welcoming. I highly recommend this tour.
Well worth a trip. Interesting and fascinating. Need to book to see Madonna up close but may be seen from a distance. Restaurant facilities on site. A good day out. Even my grown up kids thought it was interesting
