Barcelona & Montserrat Itinerary

TOUR ITINERARY

This is a sample itinerary for our Private Montserrat & Barcelona Tour.
Final itinerary and timings might vary due to many factors (location and pace, traffic, staying for the Escolania choir or not, your chosen city sights and their availability…)

9.30AM

DRIVE TO MONTSERRAT

Meet your guide & driver

Your tour guide and your driver will pick you up at your location and drive you along the Llobregat river. You’ll start learning about our land from what you see on your way: industry, farming, local history… And as you approach Montserrat you’ll also start learning about its history and geology.

10.15AM

CABLE CAR, RACK TRAIN OR DRIVE

Your choice

Once you get to the foot of Montserrat, you can choose to take the cable car up to the Monastery or continue 15 minutes by car up the winding road (we don’t recommend the cog wheel train so much because lines are long and guides can’t skip them).

10.30AM

MONASTERY AREA

Things to do in Montserrat

Around 2 hours

Once in the monastery area, you can decide with your guide what you feel like doing:

Funicular to St. Joan and hike down (2 hours)
Art Museum (1.5 hours)
Audiovisual Show & Exhibit on the monastery (30 minutes to 1 hour)
Stroll in nature along the Holy Cross Path (30 minutes)
Shopping (gift shop, farmers market)
Coffee Break

PLEASE NOTE that departing Barcelona at 9.30 you won’t arrive early enough to get to see the Black Madonna from close, touch her and make a wish as it’s traditional (but departing earlier would mean either missing the Choir or having one hour less for Barcelona).

ENTER THE BASILICA

Waiting for the Choir

12.30PM

The Escolania Choir sings every day except Saturdays and school holidays at 1PM (Sundays at Noon). The Basilica gets packed, so for the best experience we recommend arriving 30 minutes earlier to get a good spot standing as close to the altar as possible (or one hour if you wish to be able to seat). During the waiting time your guide can continue whispering you explanations, and as the Choir time approaches, a monk will read some passages of the Gospels in different languages.

ESCOLANIA CHOIR

Oldest Boy Choir in Europe

1PM

Hearing the Escolania Choir is a highlight of this tour. But because it’s so popular, there’s not enough room in the Royal Basilica of Montserrat for everyone that wants to attend (even if the Basilica isn’t precisely small…). That’s why we recommend to head there 30 minutes earlier in order to get a good spot standing as close as possible (if you want to be seated, then you should arrive 1 hour earlier).

The Escolania sings 3 songs: the Our Father prayer, the Salve (an anthem in honor of the Virgin Mary), and the Virolai (the hymn of the Black Madonna), and it lasts 15 minutes. They sing every day at 1PM, except Sundays when they sing at noon right after mass, and Saturday when they have their day off and don’t sing at all.

1.15PM

After the Choir it’s time to head back to the car. There’ll be no time for toilet or shopping as we need to live quickly to avoid the horrendous traffic jams that happen at that time, so make sure everything is done before hearing the Choir.

DRIVE BACK TO BARCELONA

Down the mountain road

1.30PM

Enjoy the descent from the Monastery via the other side of the Mountain, so you get to see a different scenery until you join the main road. There are less curves, too.

TAPAS LUNCH

Time to Eat!

2.30PM

Back in the city your guide will take you to some lovely tapas bar for lunch. You’ll try a variety of local specialties and will be able to discuss with your guide what else you feel like visiting next.

3.30PM

BARCELONA SIGHTSEEING

Your favorite sites

Around 3 hours

The afternoon is a custom itinerary with your favorite sites. We recommend to discuss it with us in advance, to make sure your expectations can really be done in that time. Also, if you wish to go inside Sagrada Familia or Park Guell we need to know as tickets must be purchased in advance because they sell out.

If you’ve booked a full day chauffeured tour, you’ll continue using the driver to move around. Otherwise, you’ll take taxis or walk to get to the sites as necessary.

6.30PM

If you kept the driver, at the end of the tour you’ll be dropped back to your hotel or apartment. Otherwise, your guide can put you on a taxi or give you directions to take the subway or walk back to your hotel.