Montserrat- worth a visit but…
Spain
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Jul 1 - Jul 11, 2023
On the last day of a 2 week trip to Spain , I joined a group tour to Montserrat. The tour was operated by We Barcelona. While I can’t point to any one thing about this tour that was bad, it was different than expected. For example, I was under the impression it would be a small group tour but it included 36 people. I’ve taken group tours before but they have all been for small groups and we traveled by minivan style bus versus a large bus. Additionally, although the meeting point was super convenient to where I was staying, once all 36 people checked in, we walked 5 -6 blocks to the bus. The meeting time was 10:30 am but by the time we got to the bus it was 11 and our arrival to Montserrat was about 12:20-12:30. Two young professional women were with us and provided us factual info about Barcelona and Montserrat via microphone during the bus ride. Upon arriving at Montserrat, we split into 2 groups of 18 and our short tour began. The tour lasted about 20-25 minutes and then we were on our own for 75 min. Other travelers who visited Montserrat in years past mentioned how much they liked hiking around there so I originally thought I would do that but it was 1 pm when we had our free time and it was very hot. Our 2 groups of 18 reconvened at 2:10 and we waited to take the funicular down the mountain. Montserrat is spectacularly beautiful so this ride was very scenic. At the bottom of the hill, we met the bus and then we’re driven about 30 minutes to a farmhouse for lunch. I believe the tour advertises having and outdoor lunch on the far, but we ate inside which made sense given the heat. It was a lovely lunch which included a few tapas, a green salad, bread, grilled meats, wine and sorbet. Coffee and tea were offered at the end but were not included in the prepaid tour price. We left the farmhouse around 4:30 and we’re back to Barcelona an hour later. I’m glad I went to Montserrat but would probably do it differently if I had to do it again.
Activity Review
Montserrat is a scenic wonder and a beautiful place, however this was a large group tour so my review of it is significantly impacted by that fact. I’ve never taken a bus tour so my expectations might be skewed by my tendency to take small group tours or explore on my own. Originally this tour appealed to me because I heard many great things about the hiking. Additionally the fact that I started at 10:30 (versus 8) was originally a bonus but in retrospect the start time and large group size meant we didn’t get free time at Monstserrat until 1 pm and I found it too hot to hike. As someone with no large group tour experience I found a lot of time wasted with just the logistics and transport. For example, our meeting time was 10:30 and everyone was on time but each party had to sign in on 1 tablet and fill out a bunch of information so that took about 15-20 minutes. Then we had to walk 5 or 6 blocks to the bus. So we didn’t actually get moving until at least 11. We arrived at Montserrat at about 12:20 but all the bus parking spots were full so we waited another 5-10 minutes before getting off the bus. There were 2 guides with us so we broke into smaller groups and out tour began. The tour did not include getting close to the Black Madonna but instead included about 2-3 stops outside the monastery where information was given and one stop before the Basilica where info was given. This part of the tour lasted about 15 minutes then we were in our own for 75 minutes. At 2:10 we gathered to take the funicular down the mountain. Then we met our bus and drove about 30 minutes to the farmhouse for lunch. We had lunch inside the farmhouse between 3:15-4:30. We were served a few tapas, bread, a green salad, grilled meats, wine and sorbet. Coffee and tea were offered but not included and had to be paid for separately. The meal was good and I enjoyed the company of the other travelers. We got back to Barcelona at 5:30.