Complete 2024 Montserrat Monastery & Mountain Day Trip Guide

About Montserrat Mountain, Natural Park & Monastery

The number one tourist excursion is a Barcelona day trip to Montserrat. Montserrat is the religious centre of Catalunya with a monastery, basilica, Museums, restaurants and a hotel. It is a mountain top religious centre and world famous pilgrimage destination. The Benedictine Monk retreat at Montserrat offers you some of the most spectacular mountain views of Catalunya.

Montserrat Mountain Hiking

For an easy family day trip to Montserrat I recommend visiting the Montserrat Monastery Basilica first and walking around the main square. The Easy Santa Cova walk can be done with young children or elderly relatives after you have finished in the basilica.

For an family day trip to Montserrat with children I recommend a visit to the Montserrat Monastery Basilica first followed by the Easy Montserrat walking route. This combination will allow you to explore some of the mountain hermitages as well as the basilica.

For a more challenging Montserrat day trip hiking experience, I recommend a quick visit to the Montserrat Monastery Basilica followed by the Sant Jeroni from Montserrat Monastery route. Sant jeroni is the highest summit in the Montserrat natural park and you will enjoy magnificent views of some of the most unusual rock formations in Catalonia consisting of a sedimentary geology of pebbled stone with its flora, fauna and abandoned hermitages along the way.

Alternatively the monastery complex can be reached from Monistrol de Montserrat with a spectacular hiking route up the side of montserrat mountain via the Abandoned Hotel Colonia Puig and Santa Cecilia Hermitage.

For the ultimate Montserrat hiking route from Colbató, walk up the entire Height of the Montserrat mountain range rather than starting half way up from the monastery complex. The Sant Jeroni from Colbató circular route from Colbató is reachable by bus and provides great views of the opposite side of Montserrat mountain from the Monastery. This route is challenging because it involves walking up the entire height of the Montserrat mountain range rather than starting half way up from the monastery complex.

Not on the Montserrat mountain range but in the valley below is La Puda abandoned thermal bath complex and this hiking route gives spectacular views of Montserrat mountain from Sant Salvador de les Espases hermitage.

Where to Eat Montserrat Mountain, Natural Park & Monastery

• Plaça Abat Oliba: Leaving the main square in front of Montserrat Abbey by the descending ramped street with the orange trees goes down through a gate into Plaça Abat Oliba where you will find Queviures supermarket that sells sandwiches, drinks, and food gifts like honey. Opposite is another cafeteria, Bar de la Plaça. In Plaza Abat Oliba there is also a drinking water fountain.
  Queviures supermarket:
  • Monday to Friday: 09:00h to 17:30h
  • Weekend: 09:00h to 18:30h
  Bar de la Plaça:
  • Monday to Friday: 10:00h to 17:30h
  • Weekend: 09:00h to 18:30h
• Montserrat Buffet Restaurant & Cafeteria: Opposite the Montserrat Cremallera Station is a cafeteria style restaurant that offers meals of traditional Catalan food as well as sandwiches, cakes and drinks.
  Buffet Restaurant:
  • Monday to Sunday: 12:00h to 15:15h
  La Cafeteria:
  • Monday to Friday: 10:00h to 17:30h
  • Weekend: 09:00h to 18:30h
• Restaurant El Mirador: A 1976 architectural monstrosity perched on the side of the mountain underneath Mirador dels Apòstols next to the bus and coach parking area. Despite the ugliness on th outside, the dining room commands superb panoramic views over the mountain, the Santa Cova and the Llobregat river Valley.
  • Monday to Sunday: 12:15h to 16:00h
• Restaurant Abat Cisneros: is a the restaurant inside the hotel/hostal Abat Cisneros, former monastic buildings.
  • Monday to Sunday: Breakfast 08:00h to 10:00h, Lunch: 013:00h to 15:30h, Dinner 19:45h to 21:30h
• Bar El Rincón: My secret pick of where to eat in Montserrat is not in the Monastery complex but is a small garden restaurant that is accessible from the end of the Aeri de Montserrat FGC train station. It is a shed kitchen with 3 or 4 outside dining tables in a forested plot of land. The food is fresh, delicious and cooked when you order, unlike the reheated canteen stuff served in the Monastery Complex.