Montserrat Hiking Experience from Barcelona

What an incredible break from the hustle and bustle of Barcelona. It was so nice to go get some fresh air while getting some of the best views I can remember on a hike. Also, the monastery is a beautiful building that is a must see on your trip. Peter is a native to Barcelona and gives wonderful insight beyond just the hike and the monastery.

This was a terrific experience! I would highly recommend this tour to anyone traveling to Barcelona -- Pere was THE BEST. So knowledgeable, personable, and considerate -- he paced our hike according to our comfort, and got us back to the monastery in time to catch the Boys Choir performance (with a little jogging through the forest). Plus, he brought extra gear for us, and his camera along to capture some key memories -- which he shared with us post-trip. He went above and beyond to make this excursion A+++; if you like to hike, this is the tour for you!

Pere was our hired tour guide for the day and my husband and I had him to ourselves for this adventure. We drove about an hour outside Barcelona to Mont Serrat. On our way in to the area where we are going to hike, Pere stops the car to show us what mountain we will be hiking. I look high and say, WOW! Hmm, hard to wrap my non experienced head around this sight. We then drive into the monastery and park. Pere opens his map of the trails and says, we are going to hike 2 hours up, 2 hours down! We look at this map, not really aware of what it truly means. My husband, doesn’t even stop to think and says, “Let’s go!!”. I am the more fit of the 2 of us, I teach fitness classes and do a lot of cardio. I’m a bit worried if it’ll be too much for my guy?! So, we go on our adventure of climbing this mountain. Words escape me. The smells, the beauty and the attentiveness of our guide to make sure we have a successful journey are only a few ways to describe this tour. Pere stops us when my husband just really needs a break and coaxes us along when it’s only a few more minutes to a fabulous view. The climb was strenuous, steep and conversation so interesting. Pere’s English is great as well as such an interesting guy! When we got to the top, words can’t describe the sense of accomplishment as well as beauty! We sat, he provided us with some delicious snacks, talked, took more pictures and enjoyed nature’s beauty. After a while we began the journey down. Another adventure due to the steepness of the slope. Not strenuous, just constantly being aware of where your feet are and the pitch of the mountain. We end at the place we started. It was my favorite place and tour this trip. If you want activity as well as beauty and an interesting guide, he’s the man for the job. Another cool thing about Pere, is that he photographs your adventure and then send you these fabulous pictures. Beautiful!

Probably the best experience we had in Barcelona. Pere was an amazing guide- very knowledgable, very friendly. I'm not a big hiker but this tour turned out to be my favorite part of vacation. The view at the top of the mountain is worth it enough. This is a do not miss tour!

This tour was fantastic! This was my second time to Barcelona and I purposely booked this hike because it was something I didn't get to do the first time I was there due to time restraints. We did the easiest version and it was adequately challenging. For reference, the group was a 25 year old, two 34 year olds, and a 62 year old. It's an hour-and-a-half to two-hour hike up the mountain. We definitely worked hard and it was quite enjoyable. The view at the end is incredible! Absolutely stunning. Plus, the guide, Fermi, was excellent. He provided us with history and facts here and there. He is a very skilled hiker/rock climber and I felt very confident with him leading the hike. He was very accommodating to our needs. I would highly recommend this hike. Don't forget to wear athletic shoes! It's an absolute must.

This was a great tour and we were fortunate to get a private tour for group prices because it was just my friend and I who booked this tour that day. Our guide is an experienced hiker and rock climber. He provided lots of information, pointed out interesting sights loved the rock formations of the Papa, Mama and Baby elephants, and hiked at our pace. He also had a camera with him and offered to take pictures which he provided via email at the end of our trip, I thought that was a nice touch! He also provided bottles of water and light, tasty snacks. Pick up and drop off at our hotel was very convenient.

My husband and I highly enjoyed this tour conducted by Pere. He gave us outstanding background on the area and then led us on a challenging but safe hike. We are so happy we had this experience.

Best tour ever! We have done a lot of tours in the past, and although many of them were fun, none of them were perfect. This one was. There was not one bad thing about it and I am a very critical person in general. It was a nice change from the crowds in Barcelona. If you go to Barcelona and dont hike Montserrat, you will definitely have missed out on something spectacular! This was a private tour, so Pere the very nice guide customized it to exactly what we wanted to do. The minivan was roomy and there were pillows for the back, very comfy. We mostly wanted to hike and see nature, and wed heard that the line to see the black Madonna can be an hour long, so we had planned to skip the monastery, but we got there early, so there was no line. We did a quick detour and saw the black Madonna and the inside of the monastery actually really impressive. My mom and I 70 and 33 years old are not entirely sedentary, but we are also not hikers, so we elected to take the funicular 8.10 euros per person and do the 2 hour hike unlike the marathon runners who had apparently done the tour shortly before us with a much longer and fast-paced hike. It was a challenging hike for us, but he helped us up the steep sections. We learned a lot about the region. It was beautiful. The views were stunning. Pere took some great shots of us with these views in the background. We visited hermitage ruins. We learned about the monks water-collection system. Pere had a yummy assortment of snacks including vegetarian and meat options for a picnic prior to starting our descent. We then made it back in time to see the boys choir perform and then visited the farmers market where they have lots of cheese that you can sample also tasty.