Cable car to Montserrat???
 

My wife and I will be visiting Barcelona this July, with our two children (12 and 15). We are very excited, bit a bit nervous about keeping the kids entertained and interested - they don't mind museums, but we like to break it up a bit with some other exciting, adventurous, or entertaining activities.

I think Montserrat might catch their interest, but I would appreciate input from anyone who has visited there. I would also appreciate any comments on taking the cable car ride - is it worth the price of admission???

We visited Barcelona in December and enjoyed a daytrip to Montserrat. I had read so many different opinions as to whether it was worth going to, but we really enjoyed the day! We do enjoy getting out of cities into the countryside, and even just the train trip was interesting. We had not had a particularly early start, and were amazed at how busy the train was. A lot of people ended up sitting on the floor of the train as it is a long way to stand all the way. If I were to go again I would try to get a much earlier train in an attempt to avoid the crowds. When you purchase your ticket, you either buy it in conjunction with an aerial cable car ticket, or with a rack railway ticket. I understand the cable car is a quicker option, but we opted for the rack railway. The advantage of the rack railway option is that on the return journey, you get on the train when it is empty. By the time the train stops for the cable car passengers, the seats are already all taken. You CANNOT do cable car one way and rack railway the other. Montserrat is basically a monastery on the mountainside, but for us the scenery was beautiful and was what made the day special! There are several walks in the area – we did not do much walking unfortunately as a few of us were suffering the tail end of colds and flu, without much energy.

If you go to Monseratt, make sure that you visit the museum near the monastery. We were thinking that it is a museum of religious art, and we are not fans of this type of art. However, we entered and had a very big surprise. Inside are many interesting archeological items, but also many paintings. There are paintings from 13-18 sec, including Caravaggio and El Greco and also paintings and sculptures from 18-19 sec, like Picasso, Dali, Miro, Monet..
For us, the highlight was a collection of less known Catalan painters (at least we did not know them), but loved their works.

We took the cable car in 2009. It was a standard cable car ride, which means I was shaking with fear. But your children will probably like it.

I can't remember the exact timing of all of this but ... we knew the time of the train back to Barcelona so we took the cable car down that would let us get on that train. But the line for the cable car was packed and many people behind us missed the train. I guess my advice is don't go down to the cable car at the last minute.

Sorry I think I missed a line. Many people did not get on the cable car down and therefore missed the train. The cable cars don't run that frequently. If you miss the one you need to meet a train, you will be waiting for awhile.

Our three kids loved the trip but primarily because of the hike further up the mountain from the monastery. Incredible views.

My higlight ( have been there 2 times ): the first time I had not been feeling well ( in the train coming from barcelona, I had to run through the crowded cars - as the first reply above says, people sitting on the floor - to find a bathroom to vomit ...) and after the cable car up, at the top finally went to the medical care service and they let me have a good rest in a bed for an hour.... But the view was nice - a clear day.

I went to Montserrat last October. We took the rack railway option which is fine, with some great views on both ascent and descent.

if you opt for the cable car, the train stop is before the rack railway stop. This is OK on the way there, but on the way back as PRLCH points out, you are waiting for a train which is already full.

And as cold says, the queues for the cable car later in the afternoon for the return trip are long.

And I imagine that in July there are going to be many more people visiting Montserrat than in mid October. it was hot enough then on the train. Go early in the morning and return mid-afternoon.

I got off too early so that I didn't take the rack railway all the way up, as I'd meant to do. I had to pay a little to take the cable car--and I agree that there were people in that car that were nervous. I did take the rack railway down.

By the way, I saw people making the trip on foot, hiking up on the road.