A must tour with Pau. - Monserrat was geologically spiritual and good for the spiritual soul. This was due to our tour guide Pau who was such a joy, he was wonderfully knowledgeable and genuinely one of the kindest people my husband and I have ever met.

Breathtaking - Pau was extremely knowledgeable and personable. Knew all the secret shortcuts. Definitely said this excursion was a highlight of our trip.

A wonderful day out - Had a wonderful day with Pau. The tour was educational and fun!! A great day out up the mountain. Definitely recommend!

We recommend walking the path to St. Michael's Cross. It's only uphill in one direction! - Pau was a great guide. His familiarity with the area and the people provided us with an insider's view of the site. We recommend walking the path to St. Michael's Cross. It's only uphill in one direction!

Would do again - Wonderful trip to Monserrat. I would definitely do it again. Pau, our guide, was fantastic. He is a local who absolutely knows his way around and is friendly with all of the right people on the trip. Very knowledgeable and extremely helpful. He knew all there was to know and wasn’t the least bit bored with a tour I’m sure he has given countless times

Pau was an excellent... - Pau was an excellent guide. He definitely tailored the experience to what we were able to do, offering alternatives at different points. I had been wanting to go to Montserrat and his expertise added to my enjoyment.

Wonderful Day in Montserrat - Great trip. Our guide was able to get us in everywhere, and offered a great personal experience. I loved getting up close to the Black Madonna. Spectacular!

Amazing experience with a... - Amazing experience with a personal guide is worth cost. The trip was seamless and top notch communication and coordination

Great day half day trip out of Barcelona - Our guide Pedro was great and very knowledgeable. He took the anxiety of traveling by public transport and navigating our way to Montserrat easy and enjoyable. Definitely a highlight of our trip. Only knock on this tour, is how it is set up. Would have been worth it, and comparable to other private tours, if the guide accompanied us through the monastery and museum, so he could give further detail and highlights

Not exactly what we thought it would be like... - A visit to Montserrat seemed like a wonderful idea, especially since three of the four of us had already been to Barcelona in the past. Paola met us right on time at 10:00 a.m. We went to the station, and he stood in line to buy tickets for the 10:45 train to Montserrat while we waited. By the time we boarded the crowded train, we found the last few seats where the five of us could sit together so Paulo could tell us about Montserrat, Barcelona, and other tidbits about Spain. He seemed quite knowledgeable, but the noise of the train, his accent, and the people standing around us sometimes made it difficult to take in what he was saying. After the one-hour train ride, we stood in line for well over an hour for the gondola to the abbey. There are only two gondolas--one goes up while the other comes down. Each gondola holds over 20 people, and luck of the draw made us the last people to board the cars (both up ad down), requiring us to stand in the middle instead of next to a window where we could enjoy the view and take decent pictures. When we got to the top, we sat on the steps in the square and had a light snack prepared in advance by Paolo. Fortunately, it was a pleasant, sunny day. By the time we had finished eating, it was time for us to visit the church to see the Black Madonna, so we did not have any time to stroll the grounds or visit the gift shop, if there IS a gift shop. Another long line that seemed to take forever, waiting for our turn to see the statue... (The tour did not say that we would have skip-the-line tickets, so this is our fault for not realizing how much time we would waste standing in lines.) The end result of the day is that we met our tour guide in Barcelona at 10:00 a.m. and left him at 3:45 p.m. During those 5+ hours, we had two 5-minute gondola rides, a light snack, 15-30 seconds to actually see the Black Madonna, and time to view the inside of the church. All that time, Paolo must have felt like a babysitter who had to keep us engaged by sharing his knowledge while we waited around. By the time we returned to Barcelona, we were stressed and decided to unwind with sangria before heading to the Sagrada Familia. We enjoyed this so much that we went looking for churros. By the time we found those, it was time to head back to our cruise ship. As a result, I am probably one of the few people who has ever visited Barcelona for a day and not seen even one Gaudi work!