Montserrat day trip
Montserrat is the classic escape: a saw-toothed mountain with a working monastery an hour from the city, reachable by commuter train plus rack railway or cable car.
Getting there
The FGC trains from Plaça Espanya connect to the rack railway or the cable car up to the monastery. Buy the combined ticket and go early: mid-morning queues grow fast in season.
What to do up there
The basilica and the Black Madonna, the funiculars to the hermitages and the marked trails between rock towers. The Escolania choir sings at set times on school days.
Hiking options
The Sant Joan funicular drops you at the start of the summit paths, forty minutes to the top with the whole plain below. Wear real shoes: the paths are honest mountain terrain.