Montserrat is a well-known place most visitors to Barcelona, about 40 km south, will probably head to. This place was also on our itinerary, but not because of the main attraction that attracts tourists, the Abbey of Montserrat, founded in 1025, and the 16th-century Basilica of the Mare de Déu de Montserrat, which houses a museum. We headed to Montserrat mainly because of the protected area of the Parc Natural de la Muntanya de Montserrat.
Monestir de Montserrat with Agulla de la Verge
We expected a lot of tourists, so we chose to arrive near this attraction on a Monday evening. But reality exceeded expectations. Off-season, after the weekend… and there were more than enough people. Buses brought hundreds, even thousands, of tourists. So we looked at the famous sights from the outside, along with thousands of other people. Immediately after that, we set off on an exciting hiking trail leading to the highest hill in the park, Sant Jeroni, with a height of 1,235 above sea level. Suddenly, the number of tourists decreased to only a few dozen.
Although we didn’t reach the hill itself in the end, the trail was still exciting, starting near the monastery.
The whole nature park is crisscrossed with numerous paths and trails for hiking and routes for all levels. Montserrat is known as the Catalan climbing school, with hundreds of routes for all types of climbers.
The cable car Sant Joan with a maximum gradient of 65% is the steepest funicular in Spain. It connects the monastery and the upper terminus with sacred sites and walking trails.
Montserrat is one of Catalonia’s greatest symbols. It is not only its religious center but also a natural symbol, with its characteristic structure of rounded and abrupt rocks and needles.
Official information about the Parc Natural is here:
https://muntanyamontserrat.gencat.cat/ca/el_parc/senderisme/
We managed to park and spend the night about 300 m from the main square. But there are only a few places (4-5) for motorhomes longer than 5-6 m, so we can say we were lucky. We parked on a slope, spent the night in silence under the cliffs, and explored the surroundings in the morning.
