Barcelona and Montserrat
Montserrat is one of Catalunya’s highlights. This mountain rises from the river Llobregat up to 1.236m, one hour away from Barcelona. Besides its amazing rocks foundations, this mountain also hosts a Benedictine monastery since the IXe century. Both nature-lovers and culture-lovers will enjoy a trip to Montserrat.
The Monastery, build around the IXe century has long been a center of devotion to Virgin Mary. Through the ages, some famous religious figures as John Paul II or Ignacio de Loyola decided to spend some time in this holy place.
Nowadays, the monastery is open to visits and hosts a museum as well as a library and a choir school. The monastery itself is free but you will have to pay to entry in the museum. The museum contains art works from Mesopotamia up to early painters (Rusinol, Picasso, Degas or even Le Corbusier).
It is also possible to visit the library which contains more than 300.000 books and is considered not as the least of Montserrat’s treasures.
After visiting the monastery, you can enjoy walking in one of the most spectacular mountains of Catalunya and get the funicular up to the top of the mountain.
The easiest way to visit Montserrat is to stay in Barcelona and to take a day-trip to Montserrat. Train will take you there in approximately one hour, from the metro station Espanya (green and red metro lines) and will cost you 12€ for a return ticket. You can buy a ticket which includes cable ride to the top of the mountain. We recommend you to buy this one as the view from the top is simply breathtaking! For more informations, go to the website of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya : http://www.fgc.es/accesible/cast/viatjar/xarxa.htm.
Barcelona offers lots of different accommodations, from pensions to five-star hotels. We recommend you to stay in Bcn Loft for apartments located in the very center of Barcelona: www.bcnloft.com.
