Sant Joan Funicular Station — Local services in Collbató

Clean, well run facility, they shoe-horned as many as 15 people into each of 4 cars to ensure that as many as possible get to the top each day. The ride was smooth, stately and slow. Not the least bit scary for even those with a fear of heights. The view at the top was fabulous! We could see clear to the French border, rank up on rank of the Pyrenees. The landing was equipped with a patio and vending machines dispensing lovely cold bottles of water, that most people took advantage of before we began our hike back down to the Monastery. Such a lovely day! Such a STEEP path down! We truly admired the people we met who were hiking up from the Monastery, the trip down was easier, exertion-wise, but one had to watch every step to avoid tripping and just tumbling for a hundred meters. One can, in fact, buy a round trip ticket on the funicular, if you don't fancy an hour's...

You take the tram up the strep slope from the monastery to the St Joan at the top. Ticket costs 13€ two ways. There are several hiking tracks at the top lasting 15-60mins two ways. Great views all around and you can see the French Alps to the Northeast and Barcelona to the Southeast. We even chanced upon a mountain goat which is endemic to Montserrat and they produce cheese from them. There's a small visitor center which has a balcony overlooking the monastery and the valley below and the Alps in the far background. Just a...

It is important to get on the right track for route 1. When you reach the station by funicular, there are three routes shown on the map. Route 1 will lead you to the top of the mountain. The little entrance to route 1 is located behind the station building and could be easily missed. When we got there, most people opted for the open road which was actually route 3A. You can walk down instead of funicular via route 3 which would lead you to St....