This is a MEDIUM level 17km circular walking route from Collbato to Sant Jeroni de Montserrat, The highest point in the montserrat mountain range. The route does not pass via the Montserrat monastery but does offer great views of the Monastery complex from a mountain path.
The route passes through the town of Collbato and heads into the grape vine fields before starting to climb the lower slopes of Montserrat mountain passing via the hermitages of Sant Joan, Sant Onofre, Sant Antonio and Sant Geroni. The route is physically challenging on the uphill climb. Finally the last section up to the summit is via concrete staris. This walk has multiple viewpoints along the way overlooking the llobregat valley and montserrat mountain range.
On the way down from Sant Jeroni the route passes via La Vinyanova Restaurant which is a converted rural farmhouse and has amazing food. Note that meal times are set so plan to go really early if you want to make a 14h to 15h lunch.
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This is a good spring Calcotada hike when started early at 8 in the morning and arriving at restaurant Vinyanova at 14h to 15h for the Calcotada set menu.
Calcots are milder and less bulbous than onions and have a length of between 15 and 25 cm (white part) and a diameter of 1.7 to 2.5 cm at the root. Planted in trenches, like an onion, as a single bulb, and successively increasing the depth of the soil around the stems throughout autumn and winter. They sprout into 4-10 shoots, roughly the shape of small leeks or scallions.
The origin of the calcot and its cooking method is in the town of Valls, Catalonia, Spain, where an annual event celebrates the harvest of calcots. Nowadays, thousands of eating gatherings centered around the calcots, called calcotada, are celebrated around Catalonia.
Calcots are harvested in early spring / late winter and served in calcotadas in many of the rural and city restaurants in Catalunya. In these events, they are grilled over a hot fire, wrapped up in newspaper, served on terra cotta tiles and eaten, after peeling with bare hands, by dipping them one by one in salvitxada sauce (sauce made with almonds, garlic, tomatoes and olvie oil).
At a calcotada you are served with a bib, gloves and wet wipes because eating them the traditional way is a messy but fun affair.
This is a medium walking route and is predominantly an uphill walk to the summit. I always do it with a small rucksack of the essentials including first aid kit. Emergency waterproof jacket is optional depending on the weather forecast.
Take 2 to 3 litres of water because there is nowhere to top up water bottle along the route. I like to wear ankle boots because some of the paths are rocky and uneven.
Address: Carrer pau Bertran S/N, Collbato. 08293
The bus departs from plaza Maria Cristina in Barcelona. The bus service is operated by Hispano igualadina-monbus.
The Hispano igualadina-monbus homepage has the option to input origin as Barcelona and destination as colbato. This will load the pdf timetable that is included in the documents section.
I also recommend checking this on the Movit Bus app.
Click on any one of the 3 PDFs to view in full screen and download.
A walk in Montserrat mountains from Colbato via Sant Joan Chapel and hermatige, s Sant Onofre Hermatage, Sant Jeroni Hermitage and La Vinyanova.
Distance: 16.75 Km
Difficulty: Moderate
Return Travel Fare: €12.00
Transport Network: Bus
Mountain Forecast weather for Montserrat Mountain
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