The only conveyance when i was there some years ago was the aerial cable way

but i understand there is now also a rack railway, which implies on the ground and not in the air - funiculars run on the ground usually even though they may practically go straight up the cliff. But i have not seen the new funicular or rack railway or whatever it is - not sure the old cable car still runs?

I didn't notice any cable cars when I was there, very confusing!

becky - could you describe the conveyance from the bottom and the train station to the top?

Was it a train, on tracks, on the ground

or did it go thru the air?

the old cable way i supposed gave way to the new rack railway but i'm trying to get a fix on just what this might be

thank you - rail nut me

From the bottom to the part where the monastary was, it felt like a completely normal train to me. It had many cars and if I was off the ground, I had no idea!

The funicular, which left from nearby the monastary, felt like one train car, and it did go up at a pretty steep incline, but you are sitting (or standing) straight up in rows facing down. It goes up a track on the mountain. Check out this YouTube link, and you will see exactly...almost looks like a roller coaster...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhnryIf78Zs

Ok, this looks like the rack train to me, I was thinking about the gondola that goes through the air, the cable car, I think I called the cable car the funicular in my earlier post.

It's this thing that I'm afraid of:

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache...cd=1&gl=us

See the photo in the lower right hand corner.

Hourly FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat) trains from Barcelona link up with the rack railway (Cremallera) from the Monistrol de Montserrat station OR the cable car (Aeri) from the Montserrat Aeri station. The journey on the Cremallera takes about 15 minutes; the Aeri about 5 minutes. The two funicular railway lines run from the sanctuary to the Chapel of Sant Joan and the Santa Cova (Holy Grotto).

http://www.montserratvisita.com

http://www.cremallerademontserrat.com (+ funiculars)

http://www.aeridemontserrat.com (terrible website)

http://www.fgc.net (horaris = timetable)

Beckytx
we are going to spain in december and plan to travel to barcelona.
How many days would you recommend to spend in the city including the monserat? and would you tell me a little about your organized tour. we did this once when traveling and it enabled us to see alot more I think.
thanks for your comments ML

Hi, we were there for a whole week, and I feel like we didn't get to see everything. However, some days we slept in and were not very organized, so I think 3 days plus a day for Montserrat would be good if you do the Bus Turistic to get around efficiently. Here is the website we used to book the Bus Turistic, although it would have been better to buy once we arrived and knew the weather forecast.

City tour http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/?go=...Ubk8hJHv8QY5Y=

Day trips
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/?go=...cJlMtOFP4Tb5HN

We were in Barcelona in September for a week (and we also didn't seem to get to everything!) Anyway, we went to Montserrat and it was very easy to catch the train and cable to it. We slept in and only got there in the afternoon, and it was enough time, except of course if you want to climb to the top.

We were there for a week, and so it was a good ting to do - for shorter stays, there is so much more do in Barcelona.