Montserrat

Montserrat needs 1 day: the Benedictine Montserrat monastery, home to the Black Madonna (La Moreneta), patron saint of Catalonia, and the rock formations that give the mountain its name -«serrated mountain»- on the same visit, reached by cable car or rack railway from the base. April-October is best for combining it with a hike along the mountain trails. It's affordable as a day trip from Barcelona, just 1 hour away. It's Catalonia's most important sanctuary and one of Spain's most visited pilgrimage sites, with the Escolania de Montserrat, one of Europe's oldest boys' choirs, singing daily for visitors.