Day-trip from Barcelona: the mountains of Montserrat and cava cellars in Penedès
Barcelona is the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region. And while the food, wine, architecture, and culture in Barcelona alone may keep you busy, there is so much in the surrounding area worth exploring.
High up on my list were (1) the picturesque mountains of Montserrat and (2) cava wine cellars in the heart of Penedès
(1) Montserrat is situated approximately 30 miles northwest of Barcelona which makes it a perfect candidate for a day trip.
(2) Located 30 miles southwest of Barcelona, the Penedès wine region is home to more than 140 wine producers. It’s most well-known for its sparkling wine: cava
Accessing the surrounding Catalonia region — via tour bus
While you can access the foot of the Montserrat mountain via a ~1 hr train ride, I opted for a small group tour with Viator for ~$100 per person (link here)
4 reasons why I chose this small group tour:
- Convenient transportation to and from Barcelona (we left Barcelona via tour bus at 8:30 AM and arrived back at 7:00 PM; and did not have to think about train schedules or fear getting lost)
- In the same day, visit both Montserrat and a cava wine cellar (I wanted to group both outings into one day to make the most of my five days in Barcelona)
- Having a tour guide there to explain things (while yes, the internet exists so I can look up the history myself, or I can read signs, I still like hearing about a place from a local expert)
- The tour fee covers the cava wine cellar tour and tasting fees (While cava cellars offer tastings and tours that you can book individually, there will still be a fee; the tour I joined booked everything for our group, and covered the 2 hour guided cava tasting tour around the Codornieu grounds and wine cellar)
Clearly, this tour matched a lot of my needs, and if you’re in a similar boat, I’d highly recommend it. Read on for details of my experience!
Part 1: Exploring the mountains of Montserrat
After a short one hour drive from Barcelona and many winding roads, we arrived at the beautiful Montserrat Monastery. We were given a brief history lesson before having free reign to explore on our own and only a hard-stop time to re-board the tour bus to proceed to Part 2 of the tour (cava cellar visit).
We actually got there before the other tour groups/crowds arrived, so my friend Julie and I briefly visited the Montserrat Monastery to pay our respects to the Black Virgin, a 12th century religious icon, before traversing up to the peak of the mountain.
We purchased single one-way tickets for the Sant Joan funicular to go to the top of the mountain, where there are many hiking options. While you can assent to the Sant Jeroni peak and get an even higher vantage point, that hike takes approximately 2 hrs, and we didn’t have that sort of energy in the blistering summer heat (nor the proper footwear).
We chose the “hike” from Sant Jeroni back to the Montserrat Monastery (labeled “Sant Jeroni — Monestir de Montserrat” on the little map at the funicular), which was a nice 40 minute walk back down to the monastery. We were rewarded with beautiful 360 degree views of Catalonia as we wound our way back down the mountain. Would highly recommend!
3 tips to make the most of your trip to Montserrat:
- Pack ample food and water, otherwise you’ll pay exorbitant $$ prices for basic snacks and cafeteria-style meals at the Monsterrat Monastery. Seriously, it’s like highway robbery.
- Wear comfortable walking shoes (especially if you plan on hiking) — no need for intense hiking gear, but for the sake of your feet, I would recommend wearing closed-toe shoes (something we forgot) as the trail is quite gravelly.
- Purchase only a single one-way Sant Joan funicular ticket if you plan on hiking back down to Montserrat Monastery (as the hike will lead you back down to the start) — The single one-way ride is like 6 euros, while the one including a return is 10 euros. Little savings, but hey why not put those 4 euros toward an extra glass of wine back in Barcelona.
Part 2: Exploring a cava cellar in Penedès: Codorniu
As a budding wine enthusiast, I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to visit a cava (Spanish sparkling wine) cellar in the heart of Penedès, the largest wine-producing region in Catalonia and the home of Spanish sparkling wine, cava.
I thought it was incredibly special that we visited Codorniu, as this was the first documented winery to create cava using the typical grapes found in cava (Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Paralellada). And the oldest family-owned business in Spain (dating back to 1551).
I absolutely loved this portion of the tour and would not trade the experience for anything.
We had the opportunity to learn about the production process of cava sparkling wine, ride a train through the labyrinth of underground cellars, and taste Codorniu’s most recent releases. It was highly educational, and fun too!
What I learned from our informative tour-guide Vicenç:
- Catalonia is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in Europe, with traces of early viticulture dating back to 600 BC
- While Catalonia’s terrain makes it well-suited for a variety of grapes, it is most recognized for Spanish sparkling wine cava, which is typically made from the classic trio of grapes originating from Catalonia: Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada
- 95% of cava is produced in Catalonia
- Cava undergoes the exact same production process as champagne from Champagne, France i.e., the sparkling wine went through its second fermentation (to produce the bubbles) in the bottle in which it’s sold; however the Spanish method is called “traditionnelle” and only the snooty folk in Champagne, France are allowed to call the same method “method champenoise” (due to heavy lobbying)
- Codornieu is the largest producer of sparkling wines fermented in the bottle, selling 60 million bottles annually, which is 2x that of Moët et Chandon, Champagne’s largest producer
- Codorniu is also the owner of one of my beloved estates in Napa, CA (for Pinot Noir): Artesa Winery
Thank you for reading about my day-trip to Montserrat and the cava cellars!
Are you planning your trip to Spain? Read about my other adventures through Spain below:
