Montserrat With Cog-wheel Train & Black Madonna Priority Access

the pickup location is not very clear. the tour mixed participants signing up for different activities and accommodated one group specifically, leaving the rest of us wondering around on our own for 2 hours waiting for the special group . also such arrangement caused a long line and wait to see the black madonna. bottom line the tour was not conducted as advertised.

Viator... please update the instructions on how to find Julia Travel. Certain entrances were closed and there are no Viator instructions stating cross streets. I wandered for a while and finally had to walk down the bus lane. Even mentioned the poor instructions to a Julia Travel employee and her response was "I know". The tour guide. Ivan, was fantastic and friendly. He knew about the history and stayed available during our free time. The location is beautiful. Wish I had more time once there. I didn't get to do everything but really enjoyed my visit.

The guided tour only includes the sanctuary. The museum is a separate fee. You can walk to the cross for free but beyond that there’s not extra time to do anything else. Our guide was nice and very proud of his culture.

A very moving and powerful place to visit, I definitely recommend doing this tour with the Skip the line and priority access to the Black Madonna. There were huge lines to get in, if you don’t have all day to waste, skip the line is definitely the way to go

Would like more time to explore!!!! Don’t get time to go museum snd wine tasting…Awesome cathedral and scenery is magnificent!

The tour was well-organised with a comfortable bus. We booked online but the staff at Julia Travel storefront opposite Sagrada Familia were very helpful in assisting us to get to the tour pickup location. The guide was not the best we have had in Europe.

Do NOT use this tour! They are a rip off. Great trip just don’t use Julia. Front desk is horribe!!! Not helpful, super rude. And refused a refund bc the ticket time was 10:15 am. Bus left at same time. DO NOT USE THIS TOUR GUIDE LR VIATOR.!!!!!!!

Marvelous tour of Montserrat and was able to get up close with the Black Madonna. The views are breathtaking. We had the small group tour with an excellent guide, Ivan. He was informative, attentive and very kind to one and all. A great tour guide. Wine, liquor and cheese tasting was tasty. A wonderful tour. I would recommend this tour.

It is a very full day but such a great experience. Jonathan our guide was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour. His instructions were precise and easy to follow. All in all an amazing outing. So pleased we went to Montserrat

Our tour guide, Ms Miri was a very jolly and amazing girl. She explained everything so beautifully and took care of each and everyone in our group. She even gave us recommendations for the best restaurants and places to visit at Barcelona. Montserrat is a mystical place with picturesque spots. Black Madonna was the highlight. Funicular ride was a thrilling one. Local delicacy of fresh cheese and honey was a tasty one. Audio-visual tour was a good one too. Cannot miss this half-day Montserrat tour with Julia travels.

The tour with Julia Travel was excellent. The coach was very comfortable and timely. The guide Lorena was very informative and knowledgeable. I am hearing impaired and Lorena went out of her way to keep me informed. I couldn't have asked for more and would definitely recommend the tour by Julia Travel with Lorena as guide. John

There was no communication with the service provider. Texted several times with questions, no response. The booking showed that the meeting point was at Julia travels. Waited there and even texted them. No response or no communication. For a new comer to the country . There should been some communication and reply to the message. Completely disappointed. Missed the trip and the money is lost.

I was given Julia Travel as the meeting point, Google Maps only listed 1 Julia Travel near Sagrada Família, Myself and several others met there and missed trip because we were not aware of 2nd Julia Travel

Great tour. Would do it again. Beautiful views up the mountain. A lot of time to see everything and to grab a good lunch.

Ivan was exceptionally welcoming with Julia Travel. Informative and directive for what was an potentially huge outing. It deserves more time then I booked for this tour

This tour provided a great overview of the fascinating history of both the Montserrat monastery and the Black Madonna. Our tour guide (Maria) was very knowledgeable and had the perfect personality for this type of activity. The visuals, natural, architectural and religious were simply breathtaking. All of this was enhanced by comfortable bus and train rides as well as a fun wine and cheese tasting activity. We would not hesitate to book this tour again.

Probably the most disappointing tour we have with Viator. We left late, didn’t get into the Basílica and spent around three and a half hours on a coach out of a total of seven hours.

Montserrat was beautiful with great views! Our tour guide was ok, but spoke very quickly with an accent, so I didn't understand at least half of what she said. She didn't have a flag or any kind of marker to allow our large group to follow easily. The instructions of where to meet were not clear, so many people were confused. 2 people didn't find us, so it held us up an extra half hour. Overall, a good tour, but the tour guide could use some guidance on leading a large group.

Plenty of free time to see/do what you want. Beautiful scenery with art gallery and museum to visit.

We missed some of our activities that we paid for in advance such as the choir and the video mapping. It was unclear where to go to do these activities. We basically were told to wander around, which we did and it was ok but then it makes you wonder why pay for a tour guide when you wander independently. Montserrat was stunning and definitely worth the trip however.

First of all, Julia Travel should mention that their office is INSIDE bus station not any ground floor. We spent 15 minutes circling around to find them. The Montserrat is beautiful. The train ride is charming. The tour guide was unremarkable, boring. Didn’t even catch his name. Would recommend the tour if a better luck with another guide.

Nuria was fantastic and fun! Wish her the best in the future! Our bus driver was excellent! We really enjoyed the entire tour!

Guilia, the guide for Montserrat via Julia Travel was an excellent host. She was knowledgeable, friendly, patient and attentive. She made the trip relaxing, educational and fun. Montserrat with the cogwheel train ride up is just breathtaking. If you have the opportunity to get the additional choir boys singing package, don’t miss it! Count on your entire day being spent in the most beautiful fashion. The mountains, the monastery, Black Madonna, all of it, perfection. 10/10

We had such a great time including the kids at Montserrat! A beautiful experience and our guide Nuria (Noria I can’t remember spelling!) was so fun and funny and knowledgeable. Our kids loved her! She was a delight and we had a lot of time and opportunity to explore. More than that, we were very thankful for the company, Julià Travel, for taking such good care of us and when we needed assistance they were kind and prompt and extremely thorough. We’re thankful for the tour, the experience, and the company.

Could have multiple pick up points

When it rains heavily in Barcelona, it is nearly impossible to get a taxi. We were unable to reach the meeting point, unable to contact the travel agent, unable to contact Viator, and unable to contact a call for a taxi. We were soaked to the bone trying to get to the meeting point and despite not arriving on time, Viator and agent made no known attempts to contact us! That would have been appreciated. Trying to contact Viator via the app did not work. Sent message to agent but didn't receive a response. Very disappointed in this experience and the lack of assistance from Viator and agent. We were looking forward to seeing Montserrat.

The process of finding Julia Travel is difficult even after reading reviews that said it was on the 1st floor of the bus station. The bus did not have free wifi as stated in the description. We did not take a cog train ride as stated in the description. It was a rainy cold day which did nothing to add to the enjoyment of the tour. But that is not something that they could control. Our tour guide Sarah? was friendly and informative. I am not Catholic but am a believer in Jesus Christ and was offended by some of the "tradition dialogue". Knowing what I do now, I would not take the tour.

Great experience overall! Jose was a kind and knowledgeable guide. And Kim was a great driver even in the rain. I enjoyed having the bulk of the time to explore on my own paired with information and help where it mattered most, the basilica and black Madonna. 10/10 would recommend!

Easier to go on own since not much help from guide really left on own had to ask security were bus pick up since he didn’t even explain hardly ever saw guide. Line for Madonna was over half hour so luckily we had a ticket to get into church so saw Madonna from church

Tour was excellent, guide Ivan was very nice.

Our guide John was great very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the day Jordy our bus driver did an amazing job manoeuvring the bus around the mountains

An excellent experience. Kyra who was a great tour guide. She brought her knowledge of the trip, and excellent customer experience to the trip all day on the Montserrat, Cogwheel and Winery Trip. Thank you so much for making your day.

Getting to and from the bus was easy and that was about it. The guide doesnt talk during the trip, instead she talks when getting to the monastery. This means you loose all the time that you could have spent looking at the surroundings and church. We got about an hour, barely to go to the cross and back. Forget the movie and the shops and markets!, on top of that the guide doesnt know when the masses are. Which means, like us, that we couldnt get into church. Its prohibited to enter the mass and you need to prebook, we were listening to the guide when it started and trip back was 12.10. The mass quit 12.40. As the tour operator Julia Travel, although being the ones who doesnt do their job(shouldnt you know masshours and take the customers in first!!), refuses refunds or another trip i highly recommend you to take the trains (2 for about 10 euros) from Barcelona or book with others than Julia travel. As for Trip advisor they made a small refund which is not good enough! They sell this so should pay back or offer another trip.

Bus ride was pleasant . I traveled with 2 other friends. The view was majestic once we arrived. So much history.. no words for the beautiful church.

We booked with Julia travel thru Viator. Our guide Nuria was a delight. She was energetic and enthusiastic towards her culture. Very friendly and knowledgeable

Went on this tour to see the basilica. Tour guide did not know there was mass Sundays and took us to the Black Madonna first therefore were not able to see the basilica. The whole point of the tour. The guide talked for 45 minutes at the montserrat, things that could have been said on the bus therefore wasted 45 minutes of time we could have seen more on the mountain. When asked, she stated she did not know there was mass. Shouldn't a tour company know this before offering to tour people around? When asked why she didn't talk about the tickets and such on the bus, not to waste time actually seeing the sights she stated "you are on a tour". Requested refund!

Incredible amount of information to absorb but well worth it.If participating in events on mountain be sure and plan your time out well.We had the opportunity to hear Benedictine boys choir during service screened to outside basilica.Some people were lucky enough to have admission tickets to service. Would recommend!

It was a great trip to Montserrat. We enjoyed the tour and the information shared by our guide, Evan.

Experience at monserrrat felt rushed , there was a bunch of people on the tour , better to get there as early as possible and not get a guide all the history and background is mentioned in the audio visual room

This was an easy and very efficient experience. The draw is the Black Madonna but there was so much more. Sights from the bus, the fun cogwheel train (sit on the left), the glorious sights and history of the monastery, and also liquor tasting and interactive visit covered by the ticket. The small art museum up there was terrific with a few great masters and wonderful Spanish artists. Of course, shopping and food. The guide was organized and kept us going on a busy tour. Sit on the right on the bus ride down the mountain.

Ivan was an amazing guide. He told us about the history of the area and answered all questions.

We felt that there was not enough free time. Start the tour earlier. We went onto the museum and had to rush through it to get to the Black Madona's scheduled time. Lunch took time. It was just all rushed.

Absolutely the best experience and our guide Ivan, was very very knowledgeable, personable and make our experience a pleasure! The Montserrat is a must see and the history about it was most fascinating!

The place was beautiful and we were able to take many photos. The translator was speaking Spanish and English for a full bus load. It would have been more efficient to have 2 interpreters for each group. She was small and her umbrella was flat, not curved nor brightly colored so we lost her often. She did show us photos to give us some of the history.

The directions for finding Julia's Travel were incomplete and added to a great deal of stress and confusion. Why not be direct and indicate that the travel office is on the lowest floor of the bus station? Carrer d'Ali Bei, 80 was a locked door to a side entrance to the bus station. The next side door was also locked. Several locals helped us locate the locked 80 door and then redirected us to the main entrance. By the time we had reached that entrance, we had actually walked completely around the bus station. Indicating that the main entrance to the station was on Carrer de Napols and that using the L1 Metro line exiting on the Napols side almost directly across from the main bus station entrance would have made the trip so much easier. Thankfully, we left more than an hour earlier than was needed and arrived at the sign on Julia's Travel Office where we were directed to Bus port 19 with 10 minutes to spare. The trip itself was good, and Jonathan supplied a lot of information. Three hours free time was excessive. We took the 10:15 trip and arrived back in Barcelona about 5 pm.

This tour is a must do! Sandra was great. Informative and friendly. Beautiful monastery and surrounding landscape.

Lorena was awesome, we learned a lot about Montserrat than if we went without a guide. The insights and tips were very helpful.

We had a wonderful time at Montserrat! Our guide was terrific—knowledgeable, funny, warm, and very helpful. She made the history and experience so much more meaningful. Seeing the Black Madonna was very special to me. I only wish we had a little more time there to take photos, reflect, and say a prayer. Overall, a beautiful and memorable experience that I would highly recommend!

Very fascinating, ambeliveable, can’t believe a place like this exists, really love this and we will be back again.