At one in the afternoon, inside the basilica at Montserrat, fifty boys sing the Salve and the Virolai. It lasts a little over ten minutes and it is the most singular thing the mountain has. Most people who go up that day arrive at two and never learn it existed.
And there is a further detail almost nobody mentions: that 1 pm singing requires booking in advance. It is not a matter of turning up early, it is a matter of having planned it from home. Montserrat is a day trip decided entirely before you leave Barcelona, and that is the difference between a great day and a morning spent in queues.
How do you get to Montserrat from Barcelona? By train from Plaça d’Espanya, a little over an hour, then either the rack railway or the cable car. The rack railway takes 15 minutes and leaves you in the sanctuary; the cable car takes 5 with a view over the valley. They leave from different stations, so choose before boarding.
I will start with the decision that weighs most and that almost nobody realises they are making.
The hour you arrive decides the whole day
The Escolania timetable governs everything else, and it is stricter than it looks.
Monday to Friday they sing the Salve and the Virolai at 1 pm, and vespers at 6.45 pm. On Sundays there is conventual mass at 11 am, Salve and Virolai at noon and vespers at 6.45 pm. Booking in advance is required for the weekday 1 pm singing and for the Sunday mass.
Two important warnings. First, the choir is sometimes not there: it has holidays and it tours, so check its calendar on escolania.cat before fixing your day. Second, Saturdays do not appear in that schedule, so if your only free day is a Saturday, go knowing the choir probably will not sing and build the plan around the mountain instead.
What that means in practice: to make the 1 pm singing you have to leave Barcelona by mid-morning at the latest, allowing a little over an hour of train plus the ascent. Leave after lunch and that train no longer gets you there.
Rack railway or cable car, and how they really differ
These are two ways of covering the final stretch, and you choose before boarding the train, because they leave from different stations.
The cremallera, the rack railway, leaves from Monistrol de Montserrat, takes 15 minutes, climbs more than 600 metres in a little over five kilometres and drops you directly at the sanctuary. It costs 9 euros one way and 15 return for adults, runs every 20 minutes and starts at 8.30 am.
The aeri, the cable car, leaves from the Aeri de Montserrat station, which is a different and earlier stop on the line. It takes 5 minutes, runs every 15, operates from 9.30 am to 7 pm and costs from 10 euros one way and from 15 return. It has been running since 1930, it hangs over the valley and it is the most spectacular part of the trip if heights do not bother you.
| Rack railway | Cable car | |
|---|---|---|
| Departs from | Monistrol de Montserrat | Aeri de Montserrat |
| Takes | 15 min | 5 min |
| Frequency | Every 20 min | Every 15 min |
| One way | €9 | From €10 |
| Return | €15 | From €15 |
| Drops you | At the sanctuary | Above, with a short walk |
| Better for | Children, luggage, vertigo | Speed and the view |
My recommendation, if you want it: rack railway up and cable car down, if the timings work. You go up in comfort early, and come down facing the valley with the light still on it.
What almost nobody does, which is going higher
Here is the most repeated mistake at Montserrat: plenty of people see the basilica and head home without setting foot on the mountain.
The Sant Joan funicular leaves from the monastery complex itself, has been running since 1918, takes about 7 minutes to cover 500 metres at a maximum gradient of 65 per cent, and leaves you above 1,000 metres at a viewpoint taking in the whole massif. It is by some distance what people remember when you ask them months later.
From up there the path to Sant Jeroni begins, the summit of Montserrat at 1,236 metres. It is not a technical route, but it does call for proper footwear and for working out your remaining daylight, because the last funicular down waits for nobody. If that kind of plan appeals, it runs along the lines of the hiking routes near Barcelona.
The other funicular, Santa Cova, which descends towards the cave where tradition holds the image was found, dates from 1929 and has been out of service. Check before counting on it, because if it is not running the descent to Santa Cova has to be done on foot along a path with real elevation.
The Moreneta queue, and whether it is worth it
Entering the basilica is free. What has a queue is going up to see the image close.
La Moreneta sits in a chamber above the altar, and getting near means a line that in high season eats a solid chunk of the day. This is where you have to be honest about why you came: if it is for the religious side or the tradition, the queue is part of the trip and it earns its place. If you came for the mountain and the whole setting, the image is perfectly visible from inside the basilica without queuing, and that time is better spent higher up.
I have done it and I do not always do it. It depends on the day and who I am with, and there is nothing wrong with saying so.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Basilica | Free |
| Rack railway return | €15 |
| Cable car return | From €15 |
| Sant Joan funicular | Paid separately |
| Trans Montserrat card | Around €44.70 |
| Seeing the Moreneta | Free, with a queue |
The Trans Montserrat card covers transport from Barcelona, the ascent and the funiculars. It pays off if you intend to use the funiculars; if you are only going to the monastery, it is more than you need.
The day that works
- Booking the 1 pm singing from home
- Checking on escolania.cat that the choir is there
- Choosing rack railway or cable car before the train
- Going up on the Sant Joan funicular
- Checking the last funicular down on arrival
The day that goes wrong
- Leaving Barcelona after lunch
- Counting on the singing without booking
- Going on a Saturday expecting the choir
- Staying in the basilica and heading back
- Assuming the Santa Cova funicular is running
The fourth line on the right is what turns Montserrat into a mediocre excursion, and it is the most common of all.
What I do not gamble on at Montserrat
Improvising the hour. The singing has a fixed time and a booking. The whole day arranges itself around that or loses it.
Staying at the bottom. The monastery is half the visit. The other half is seven minutes away by funicular.
Miscalculating the light. It gets dark early in autumn and there is nowhere to wait up top. The last funicular decides.
Going up on a Saturday for the choir. That day the plan is the mountain, which is excellent, but it is worth knowing beforehand.
How to build the day
Pick the day of the week first. Monday to Friday there is singing at 1 pm with a booking; Sunday at noon after the 11 am mass. Saturday, the mountain.
Decide rack railway or cable car before leaving. They are different stations on the same line, so getting it wrong costs a return journey.
Save the afternoon for up top. Sant Joan and, if the light and the legs hold, Sant Jeroni.
Come back hungry. Eating on the mountain is mediocre and expensive, so I go down and have dinner back in Barcelona, along the lines of eating well without spending much.
Montserrat is not a monastery with a mountain behind it, it is a mountain with a monastery wedged into it, and anyone who does not climb above the buildings sees only half.
Going up and unsure which day suits you? Message me on Instagram @barcelonainspira with your dates and I will tell you when the choir sings.
Keep discovering Catalonia with me
More getaways I write about here: villages within a day of Barcelona, the hiking routes I do, the autumn forests and the best time to visit.
What time does the Montserrat choir sing
Monday to Friday the Escolania sings the Salve and the Virolai at 1 pm, and vespers at 6.45 pm. On Sundays there is conventual mass at 11 am, Salve and Virolai at noon, and vespers at 6.45 pm. Booking in advance is required for the weekday 1 pm singing and for the Sunday mass, and it is worth checking the calendar because the choir is sometimes away.
Rack railway or cable car to get up to Montserrat
The rack railway if you have children, luggage or a fear of heights, because it climbs in 15 minutes and drops you inside the sanctuary itself. The cable car for speed and the view, because it takes 5 minutes suspended over the valley. They leave from different train stations, so the decision is made before boarding in Barcelona, not on arrival.
How much does it cost to get up to Montserrat
The rack railway costs 9 euros one way and 15 return for adults. The cable car runs from 10 euros one way and from 15 return. There is also the Trans Montserrat card, around 44.70 euros, covering transport from Barcelona, the ascent and the mountain funiculars. Entering the basilica costs nothing.
How long do you need at Montserrat
A full day to do it properly. The monastery and the Moreneta alone take about three hours, but that leaves out the mountain, which is the better half. With the Sant Joan funicular and a walk up top it becomes seven or eight hours including the journey from Barcelona, which is a little over an hour each way.
Can you hike up to Sant Jeroni
Yes. Sant Jeroni is the summit of Montserrat at 1,236 metres, and the easiest path starts from the upper station of the Sant Joan funicular. It is not technical but it does call for proper footwear and for working out how much daylight is left, especially in autumn and winter when it gets dark early and the last funicular down waits for nobody.
