Planning a Trip to Montserrat Spain:
Montserrat, Spain, is a must-visit due to its stunning natural beauty, including a unique mountain range and breathtaking views. It's also home to the historic Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, a place of significant cultural and religious significance.
Fun Fact
Montserrat means "jagged mountain" due to the pointed tops of its peaks. The legend states that an angel came down from heaven and carved out these jagged peaks to become a throne for the Virgin Mary.
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Why Visit Montserrat?
Our day trip to Montserrat is one of our favorite travel memories to this day. Not just in Spain, but of everywhere we have traveled. The hike to San Jeroni summit is truly breathtaking, rewarding, and awe-inspiring. Not for the faint of heart, yet this hike truly inspired us to search for EPIC VIEWS on all of our adventures. There is nothing more rewarding than hiking to the summit of a mountain that allows you to feel higher than the clouds. If not for the amazing hiking opportunities, Montserrat is also home to many religious attractions. If time allows while in Spain, be sure to add Montserrat to your list.
Top 5 Things to Do in Montserrat
Depending on your time and skill level, all trails to the Sant Jeroni Summit are great options and require a moderate amount of hiking. We chose to hike in-and-out via the Escales dels Pobres trail due to our limited time and willingness to conquer a steep elevation gain to the summit. As long as you take your time and bring lots of water, the trail is well-marked with minimal scrambling. Fair warning, there are A LOT OF STAIRS, but believe it or not, we almost forgot we were climbing them due to how incredible they are.
Trail & Alternate Routes
Completing the entire Sant Jeroni Summit Loop is 5.8 miles round-trip with 1,978 feet in elevation gain. The trail is a loop and is rated as "moderate" difficulty. Plan at least four hours to complete the entire trail. The starting point to begin this trail clockwise is by getting on the Cami de Sant Miquel trail located in front of the Sant Joan Funicular. For more information and to download the trail offline on your mobile device, visit AllTrails.
You can take the Sant Joan Funicular to Sant Joan Superior which cuts off about a mile of hiking. You could also begin your hike on Escales dels Pobres trail located behind Bar de la Placa and make it an in-and-out hike which also cuts off about a mile. Please note, this route has a steeper incline to the summit which is why most people hike this trail heading down the mountain to the Monastery on their return trip.
After only a couple minutes of hiking, this was our view of the Monastery. We hope you have your camera out this entire hike, because the spectacular views sure make the elevation gain worth every second.
0.5 miles from the top of the mountain you will come across the Ermita de Sant Jeroni, which is a small hermitage located at the base of Sant Jeroni summit. Prepare yourself, there are only EPIC VIEWS from this point on.
Also Read: 4 Days in Barcelona Spain
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You may think you've reached the summit when you get to this point, but you still have a few more stairs left to go (reference the cover photo of this article). However, there is only a small platform at the summit, generally with people waiting their turn to take incredible, above-the-clouds photos.