Montserrat

The rock is conglomerate: pebbles and sand cemented together, then worn by wind and rain into the rounded pillars you see from the road. The mountain is a natural park, and its highest point, Sant Jeroni, reaches 1,236 metres.

Abbot Oliba founded the abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat in 1025, beside a chapel built where, by legend, shepherds had found an image of the Virgin in a cave. The statue venerated today is a 12th-century Romanesque carving with a dark face and hands, which is where the name La Moreneta, the little dark one, comes from. Pilgrims have made the climb to her for close to a thousand years.

Napoleon's troops burned and looted the monastery in 1811 and 1812, so most of the buildings are from the 19th and 20th centuries. The basilica façade was only finished in 1968. Around 80 monks live there today. The Escolania, the monastery's boys' choir, is one of the oldest in Europe. The Museum of Montserrat holds paintings by El Greco, Caravaggio, Monet, Picasso and Dalí, beside objects from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Plan on most of a day. The trip from Barcelona takes about an hour each way, and most visits leave two to three hours on the mountain.

The last stretch up is part of the experience. The cogwheel train climbs for about 15 minutes along the cliff and stops right inside the monastery complex. The cable car is quicker, about five minutes, and rises up the rock face in a small cabin.

At the top, you cross the square to the basilica, which is free to enter. To see La Moreneta close up, you join a separate queue that leads up stairs to a small chapel above the altar, where you can touch the orb she holds. She can be visited from 8:00 to 10:30 and from 12:00 to 6:25 pm. Off-season the queue takes 15 to 30 minutes. At weekends and in summer it can take much longer, so on a tour with a fixed schedule, ask your guide if there is time.

With free time, the Sant Joan funicular climbs to walking paths with views across Catalonia, and a paved path leads down to the Santa Cova, a chapel in the cave of the legend. Allow about an hour there and back. Food and wine trips go on to a winery or farmhouse near the mountain.

Go early. The basilica opens at 7:00, and coaches from Barcelona start arriving in late morning, so the square and the Black Madonna queue are calmest before about 11:00. Weekdays are quieter than weekends, and Sundays bring local pilgrims as well as visitors.

The mountain has its own weather. It is usually cooler and windier than Barcelona, and cloud can sit on the peaks while the city is in sunshine. Take a layer even in summer. Spring and autumn are the best seasons for walking.

If you want to hear the Escolania, plan the day around it. The boys sing on weekdays at 1:00 pm and on Sundays at Mass and evening prayers, never on Saturdays. They break for school holidays, including most of July and August. The weekday performance needs a reservation, so check the choir's calendar before you book.