Montserrat and Cava Trail Small Group Day Trip from Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Combine mountains, history and wine on a visit to Montserrat and either the Freixenet or Codorniu winery on a full-day small group tour by minivan from Barcelona. You'll travel in a comfortable air-conditioned minivan and receive individual attention from your expert tour guide. On this small group tour, you'll receive personalized attention from your guide.

Leaving Barcelona, you'll head straight to Montserrat to visit the Royal Basilica where the famous 12th-century statue of the Black Virgin is housed. At 1pm on weekdays there is the opportunity to hear one of Europe's oldest children's choirs, La Escolania de Montserrat. While you're here there's time to visit the fascinating Museum of Montserrat, go for a walk or ride the rack railway or cable car up the mountain.

In the afternoon, leave Montserrat to visit one of the most famous wine producers of the Penedes region, either Freixenet or Codorniu. Visit their vast wine cellars, sample the product and see why this sparkling wine has acquired international fame.

Special Offer - Book and travel before June, 30 2012 and receive a FREE bottle of Spanish cava by presenting your voucher at the end of the tour at their office. - Book Now!

USD $100.53

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Terri L. O	April 2012
Fantastic day!! Adrian, Luana, and Gloria are all great guides. Montserrat is incredible and the winery was great fun.

Review by: Richard J	April 2012
A magical place with fantastic walks and views followed by cava wine tasting at a cave run by a family company fascinating and I would recommend it to everyone

Review by: Joel C	March 2012
This was a very nice day trip. My sister and I really enjoyed it. The two tour guides who were in our group of two vans were fantastic! They were very informative, helpful, and made sure the trip was enjoyable. Very professioanl, indeed. I would hightly recommend to all.

Review by: Mark C	March 2012
Great tour. Good balance between guide pointing out highlights in Montserrat and giving us free time to see them. Tram up to highest point is a must as it gives bird's eye view of entire complex. Boys choir enjoyable but lasts less than 10 minutes. Cavalry tour was best cellar tour we've ever been on and we been on many.

Review by: Anu Alur	March 2012
I and my husband thoroughly enjoyed the day trip. Montserrat was a decent visit however for us the Cava trail stole the show. We visited Paras Balta winery, and the owner conducted the tour for us. It was a complete pleasure to have him educate us on the process of making cava. He also gave mini lessons on wine tasting and it helped that you could buy what you tasted. All in all the day was a complete treat. Our group ended up overstaying the allocated time. Ilona, our tour guide was very helpful and accomodating as well as knew a lot about the region. Totally recommend this trip.

Review by: MADELINE P	March 2012
The Montserrat leg of this day tour was splendid. Our guide, Alex, was funny, well informed, and eager to answer our many questions about this gorgeous mountain site. February crowds were light and unobtrusive, and we got to enjoy the funicular ride and the walk up to St Joan's hermitage in a kind of resonant silence. Alex informed us of Napoleon's tragic destruction of the earlier basilica, which explains its austere, functional exterior... but inside, it is Catalunyan gorgeous, all black and gold, with light of every color streaming over the hundreds of people gathered to hear the boy's choir. We had as much time as we needed to explore, and admire the view, out over the city, and over the river and valleys toward the sea. Memorable.

Review by: Bradley P	February 2012
Great day trip with excellent guide. Only wish we could spend more time at Montserrat to enjoy the different hiking trails. Due to the timing, with the boy's choir singing at 1pm and having to leave for the vineyard tour, it is nearly impossible to complete one of the hiking trails.

Review by: Nerijus P	February 2012
It was more, than we expected... Fantastic trip! and fantastic guide. Sorry, don't remember her name, but best greetings for her from Lithuania!!!!!!!

Review by: Heather	January 2012
We were disappointed to start the day when the 8 people in our group were picked up in a regular 9 person van. It was definitely not the comfort expected for a full day tour. We were then surprised that the guide was on his cell phone booking a winery after the start of the tour and announced that the 3rd choice winery was the first one that he found availability and that we couldn't go there until 4:30 which extended our time in Montserrat where the funicular was closed and most of the museum--neither fact of which the guide was aware until we got there. _br/_ Montserrat is beautiful and the winery that we went to was great. The tour company is the problem.

Review by: Shawn M	January 2012
Our experience was very positive. Our guide was from Greece, but he was very knowledgeable and friendly and he made the experience very pleasant. The only negative thing was when the other guide was critical of him in front of the group. It was very unprofessional and completely uncalled for. I am very happy that he was our primary guide and not her. He better understood what it meant to be a tourist and he was really easy to talk to. I know he was new to the company, but you should certainly hire him for the future.

Review by: Sand	January 2012
Excellent day trip. Montserrat was stunning and it was interesting to listen to the tour guide. Lots of time to wander round by yourself. Stunning views. The Cava Trail was a lovely experience and was a wonderful way to end the day. I would highly recommend this tour.

Review by: Carolyn I	January 2012
This was an excellent tour! Amazing views from Montserrat and a truly special experience. Coupled with a cava bodega tour who could go wrong! Excellent, warm, knowledgeable tour guide Anna!

Review by: Tracy	January 2012
Excellent trip! Our guide, Adrian, was fabulous and made the day really fun!

Review by: Alexander L	December 2011
We weren't sure what we were getting into with this trip but it quickly became the highlight of our vacation! Montserrat was beautiful and we were lucky enough to see Codorniu. Ana was such a great guide and we were honored to have a 'private' tour from her, as no other tourists signed up for that day. Would recommend this tour and our tour guide to any and everyone!

Review by: Karen C	December 2011
The tour itself was very good, informative and enjoyable but the process of reconfirmation was a disaster. It was stated that if we needed to reconfirm directly with the provider but the phone number provided was non-existent nor were the numbers listed on their website. My hotel tried very hard to make contact and we just had to take our chances the email confirmation was successful. This caused a lot of confusion and frustration as I had to be prepared to make alternative plans in case of a no-show

Review by: Edward M	December 2011
Tour guide was Adrian - very good and easy to converse with. Thoroughly enjoyed this tour which also included a tour of a small winery.

Review by: Edward T	December 2011
This is a van trip up to Mount Serrat, where you're given a very brief tour then left to explore on your own for a few hours. Then you go to a winery where the wine staff provide a tour. We enjoyed it.

Review by: eyevvv	December 2011
The tour was excellent. We had 2 great guides, Jaume and Anna. Highly recommended. Montserrat is a MUST VISIT. The trip was very comfortable and we were pleasantly surprised that there were only the 4 of us. Excellent! Thank you Jaume and Anna.

Review by: Mary Eileen D	December 2011
Adrian was an excellent guide -- knowledgeable and extremely personable. My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Montserrat, exploring the winery (and sampling the cava), and driving through the inviting Catalan countryside.

Review by: cazzen	November 2011
Montserrat was just amazing and we had a good amount of time there (although you could easily spend a whole day there). The tour at Pares Bolta, the winery, was extremely well run and although I am normally a non-wine drinker I enjoyed the cava.

Review by: jose alfredo s	November 2011
Excellent program.guide anna was great. did not visit freixenet.we were taken to albet i noya_br/_ instead which was ok. unfortunately did not have the Escolania.kids on holiday

Review by: karhuta	November 2011
Excellent trip! Our guide was simply the best and Montserrat and Codorniu winecellars were absoltely fabulous. I surely recommend this trip to anyone!

Review by: Kristine M	November 2011
This was a very good tour. I had a great time and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. I would recommend this tour to others.

Review by: James D	November 2011
Terrible guide. No microphone. Did not speak from front of bus, sat and talked to individual people only when they asked a question; Learned nothing about area.

Review by: Duane S	November 2011
I have used your services in the past and have always been pleased. I will be traveling in the future, with others, and will use your tours.

Review by: Peter D	November 2011
Adrian was a great guide, well-paced highly interesting tour, enjoyed it a lot.

Review by: Ginny S	November 2011
We enjoyed the small group of people we travelled with in a van to Montserrat. The guide gave my husband and me lots of good history information. The cathedral was beautiful and the boy's choir sang like angles. The tour of Cava winery was fun and we would recommend this tour.

Review by: GG	November 2011
Amaizing! Ana, our tour guide was incredible! Don't think it twice and book your tour today! So worth it - my husband and I had the perfect day! _br/_ El tour valio la pena. Ana, nuestra guia estuvo estupenda. Es bien personalizado ya que el grupo es pequeno - Mi esposo y yo la pasamos fenomenal. Monserrat es divino, haz un recorrido por las monta~nas, no te vas a arrepentir. Xavi el muchacho del la vinera estuvo tambien fantastico. Gozamos un monton! Haz tu reservacion online - es mas facil :) Alex y Griselle Fort Lauderdale - Florida

Review by: gveidel	October 2011
Once we arrived in Barcelona we were to confirm our tour within 24 hours, the phone numbers I was given had been disconnected as I could not reach anyone. Luckily, the hotel staff was helpful in getting me to a Representative in Madrid which then helped me get a message in a voicemail for confirmation. This was my first experience booking a private tour and traveling internationally so this didn't start off smoothly for me. The next day, we had a great guide - Christian. He was very knowledgeable on the history of the region, food, and just about anything you wanted to ask him. He was very personable and interacted with our entire group! He even gave us restaurant recommendation for the evening and it was amazing! Montserrat was interesting and beautiful. The Cava tour was great as well. Our group enjoyed the bus ride to and from each of the places as the terrain is so different. This took an entire day and was worth it. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who is staying in Barcelona and would like to explore something outside of the city.

Review by: Christie A	October 2011
The tour was great. We loved Montserrat and appreciated that we had about 4 hours there on our own to explore. We also ended up at a small winery- Pares Balta- that was a great experience. I have not toured the larger wineries but appreciated a smaller company we would not have been able to taste in the US. _br/_ Cons- we had to call the tour company, Explore Catalunya, to reconfirm, which is a really inconvenient thing to do when you're traveling. Since we pre-paid, that seemed silly. It also ended up being a larger group than promised. There were 20 of us so we ended up in a large tour bus.

Review by: Jerry	October 2011
We enjoyed the magnificent view from Montserrat. The basilica was beautiful. We would have liked to get closer to the Black Virgin, however, it was way too crowded for our time allotment. The trip to Cordoniu to taste the cava was very interesting. It definitely rivals French champagne. Our guide Adrien was very informative.

Review by: Sandy	October 2011
Montserrat was unreal. The trip up the mountain in the rickety van left a bit to be desired, but it was still worth it. Definitely take the tram up to the top and then hike the trail as far as you can - fairly easy hike and the views are just incredible. Our tour guide was ok - she knew the basics about the history of the monestary but I would say she could do a bit more reading on the topic. That being said, she knew the right winery to visit - Pares Balta. Small, family owned vineyard with some outstanding wines. Anna Booth was our guide and she explained how they organically farm the grapes, how the older vines produce more complex wines and how the winemakers really need to follow the weather and know the best time to pick the grapes. The tasting was very generous, starting with the cava, a white, a dark rose, then two of their top shelf wines. All were incredible...my only complaint was our guide was rather rude when we first met. We met at Plaza Catalunya outside Hard Rock Cafe. There were 4 or 5 guides with clipboards - when she asked which tour, I said Montserrat and as I pulled out our paperwork to make sure we were talking about the same tour since there are several Montserrat tours, she rolled her eyes then shortly afterward told one of the other guides in Spanish that we were dumb white Americans. My daughters both picked up on what she said because they know enough Spanish. She covered it up by saying "he left no gas in the van so we have to stop for gas". But you will find many arrogant Spaniards in your travels, don't let it ruin your trip.

Review by: Peds Nurse	October 2011
It was a wonderful tour. Our guide,Christian was excellent. there were some issues that were not acceptable--the van--was a run down vehicle that had no airconditioner--and if it was summer--we would have died in the back seat--NOT ACCEPTABLE-- a member of the tour group was robbed--and Christian was not as quick to help them--as he should have been--we should have been warned about this and we were not. The free bottle of CAVA was finally given to us after I had to mention it many times. I was not happy about that

Review by: Debi	October 2011
The tour was wonderful our tour guide Cristian was very knowledgable and very professional giving our group 100% of his time and capped it off by giving us a lovely recommendatio for a restaurant inBarcelona, we all enjoyed this very much!

Review by: Robert G	October 2011
Was as advertised, excellent guide, only 3 of us on tour so we got personal attention. Vehicle was a very new Land Rover that was comfortable and clean. We were the only guests at the winery so again very personal. Anna was the guide and did a wonderful job.

Review by: Corne K	October 2011
Take your camera as there is a lot of potential. Took the hike and missed out on the choir. Thank you for the bottle of Brut.

Review by: kerrynepal	October 2011
I found this tour very interesting. The guide was very informative and always willing to answer questions. We were three couples travelling together. We talked about the tour and we all agreed that it was an excursion worth while going on. The history and the story behind the black madonna was very interesting. I would recommend this tour to other people.

Review by: Karen J	October 2011
I had a lovely time! Like my other experiences in Barcelona, this trip was just the right mix of structure and independence. Our guide, Ana, was helpful and friendly and not annoying or overbearing. Monteserrat is breathtaking! Reminded me of my other favorite place, the Grand Canyon. And I love cava!

Review by: Divya J	October 2011
Really enjoyed this trip. Our guide, Alex, took us on a hike at the top of the mountain. Pepe, our guide at Codorniu was hilarious as well. I had a very good time and highly recommend this day trip to people who are willing to do some physical activity at Montserrat - that really makes it the most fun.

Review by: Maria K	October 2011
Anna our tour guide was lovely and informative! Highly recommended and the tour was one of our highlights of our stay in Barcelona!

Review by: vonchita	October 2011
Awesome! Really good! And the tour to Cava,inbelievable

Review by: Neil E	October 2011
Only 3 hours of time to explore Montserrat, not enough ideally a whole day is need here to see it all. But definitely worth seeing it Then onto the Cava part, we went to Codorniu vineyards, you don't get to see the modern operation as it is a clean area. but you get to see all the ways they use to make it and how they did and the tasting at the end was an eye opener.

Review by: linda	September 2011
The overall experience was good. They arranged the wine tour at a different winery. We were expecting and anticipating to go the the Flexinet winery but did not. Tour was maginal. Montserrat was beautiful. Out guide was very good and enjoyed the day with him.

Review by: ALAN S, United States of America	July 2010
This is a great tour. Montserrat offers a beautiful setting with great vistas and interesting history. The winery portion was very interesting and well done. Our guide, Adrian, was extremely pleasant and helped make for a great day.

Review by: John W, Australia	June 2010
This is a great day trip. The Montserrat is a geological marvel and the stop at the cava estate was also quite enjoyable.

Review by: Gary L, United States of America	June 2010
The fact it was a small group tour of only five of us, plus the guide, made it very good. Guide had a tremendous amount of historical knowledge to share, and she was very pleasant. Plus, it was very good value for the money...much better than another tour we took in Rome, with another tour company

Review by: Robert R, United States of America	June 2010
Montserrat offers a beautiful mountain setting with great views and history. The winery portion was very interesting and well done. Our tour guide Adrian helped make for a great day.

Review by: Daryl D, United States of America	June 2010
This trip was well worth every penny!

Review by: Heidi L, United States of America	June 2010
As a family with two children 57 we were extremely happy with this tour. The guide was wonderful with our children and the group was small enough to keep everything moving and interesting. The kids were even treated to some juice during the wine tasting. There was a nice mix of walkingriding for the kids and it was a really nice tour.

Review by: KATHLEEN G, United States of America	June 2010
but it was only 8 12 hours instead of 10 hours like their add said.