We fly into Barcelona two days prior to our cruise, but I figure I could enjoy those two days in Barcelona and the morning we leave on the cruise (the ship leaves at 7pm) we can do a side to Montserrat.

Now I need some help with the logistics here.....

Do you think I have time to do this?

If we get up early in the morning and take the 1hour train ride to Montserrat at 8:30am, we can walk around the area for a few hours and take the train back to Barcelona. If we make it to the hotel by noon with our bags ready, our taxi driver can take us to the port by 1:30pm. Our departure time is set for 7pm.

Does the timing sound reasonable to you??
Am I allowing enough time to do this?

Yes, it can be done and I rather doubt anything short of a major rail accident will keep you from getting back in plenty of time.

You aren't, by any chance, leaving on the "Millenium" in July are you???

no, we are leaving Brilliance of the Seas on June 17th

Just curious...we will be doing the Montserrat trip pre-cruise in July. I've been to Barcelona before but never to Montserrat; hope your excursion is enjoyable.

You had better calculate the travel time carefully. It's not only one hour train. You will have to get off at a station (the name was something like "aerial&quot after 1 our or so train ride and change to the "aerial" cable car. The ride lasted like only 15 minutes as I remember vaguely (I did twice some time ago) but sometimes the wait is long especially for getting down. The wait for the train to return to Barcelona was even longer both times. Perhaps I waited for 20-30 minutes. If you are leaving Placa d'Espagna around 08.30, when you are up at Monserrat, it could already be later than 10.00. Doesn't it sound pretty tight even before counting a few hours' of walk up there? I admit my calculation is very approximative so anybody better informed than me please correct.

Wait, you mean to be at Monserrat at 08.30? If you take the cable car down at 10.30, I would say you will arrive at Place d'Espanya around 12.30. In other words, I would calculate at least 2 hours for each way.

I meant, take the train from Barcelona at 8:30am, since that is the first train ride of the day.
I did not think about the cable ride and the wait in lines....

Why don't you search for a trip to Montserrat with a group in an agency ? They give time enough to see everything and as they have their own transport you don't have to worry about the hour, you will know it in advance, when booking

Try this one : http://www.pullmantur-spain.com/

Yes, it could be done, but no, you won't get much out of it. Once you get to Montserrat you will have to take a funicular to the Monastery. I'm not sure what you plan to see, but here is the rundown of what you can see and do.

The boy's chior performs at 1:00. The line to see the Black Madonna is quite lenghtly leading up to that, not sure about the other times.

I did not see the art museum while I was there.

If you want to go to the area where the Black Madonna was found, you have to take another funicular down then hike about 1/2 hour.

If you want to go to the nature center you take another funicular up, then there are many trails to even better views.

You also will need some time to visit the audiovisual area to learn about the monastery.

Montserrat is a wonderful place to visit, I highly recommend it, but I'm not sure if a few hours is worth all the travel. It really deserves a full day.