Barcelona City Escape: Montserrat

What and adrenalin rush last weekend in Montserrat! WOW have you seen the picture where I am up on the stairs of heaven? Yes that’s me ! It took me quite some will power to climb up till there but I needed to have this picture!

But let me start from the beginning!

After all the time always being in the city and not travelling as much as I have during the rest of the year I really needed a day off and outside of the city! Something new to see, to explore and the fresh air !

After checking some possible places to go, Montserrat felt like the right place to go to!

One hour by train (L5) from Placa Espanya you can find this amazing place in the mountains. There are different ways to get up to the monastery, by “Aeri” which is the easiest way, or by foot which takes approximately 1,5 – 2 hours depending on how fast you walk. The way is definitely not just a relaxing walk, so bring good hiking shoes! And don’t forget to go back down on time before sun set if you decide to take the hike back down, it is not illuminated in any way and it will be very hard to find a safe way back home if you can’t see anything.

Once you are up on the mountain you have amazing views over the whole area and will be in front of the monastery. The church is pretty and the whole area is representing a very peaceful environment.

Just on this level you have the famous “stairs to haven of Montserat”. This is a statue, so officially it is not allowed to climb on it, although a lot of people do it. Me and my friends decided to try it ourself too and I can only tell you WOW ! It is such an adrenalin rush to climb up there! The first 5 stairs are quite easy, but as soon as you face the area behind and you see how high up you are, your hearth starts to beat faster!

The most difficult part was the last stair. There is no further place to hold yourself and this makes it so much more difficult to climb it up. It was definitely a big adrenalin rush! But I have to say, for this incredible picture, it was worth it !

You have 4 different places to have lunch up here: The Café where it did smell really bad like old fish. A cafeteria, which offers a glass front and view over the area. The food is not bad and for the price it is definitely a good choice. And two more restaurants that are incorporated into a Hotel. Both with decent quality, but not the cheapest.

From this area you can go further up in the mountains, by foot or by a small lift/train. Up there you have a beautiful view on the other side of the mountain. For sunset this is my favorite place !

There are three further walking passes. I do suggest you to take time and go up here early! Each of the ways brings you to different places and each one of the destinations are worth a visit!

I really had an amazing day up in Montserrat and will probably go back some time soon! People asked me a lot when the best time would be to go there, I guess October/November and March/April will probably be this period. You walk a lot and here in Spain it is nearly every day sunny, so you will get warm really soon. During summer you will not enjoy the place that much because of too many tourists and because it is way too hot to hike around the are with around 35 degrees.