Montserrat: flat path and mató.

Montserrat fills up on Sundays, but almost everyone stays in the monastery square during the middle hours. This plan goes the other way round: you go up early, walk when there is nobody about, get to the Escolania mass if you feel like it and eat while the others are still queuing. The mountain, a conglomerate massif sculpted into needles, is better understood from the paths than from the square.

The day, hour by hour

8:30 · Departure. By car, go to the Monistrol Vila rack railway station: it has free parking for about 900 cars. By train, the Ferrocarrils R5 line leaves from Plaça d'Espanya every hour from 8:26 and connects at Monistrol with the rack railway.

9:30 · The rack railway. It climbs more than 600 metres in 15 minutes, over more than five kilometres of track, and leaves every 20 minutes from Monistrol Vila. Return costs €15 per adult and €7.50 for children aged 4 to 13. If you catch the first two trains of the day, at 8:35 and 8:55, there is a cheaper return ticket, €12, sold only at the station.

9:45 · The path to Sant Miquel. It is the first stretch of the Camí de les Ermites. It starts beside the Albergue Abat Oliba on a paved path, passes the lower station of the Sant Joan funicular and reaches the Creu de Sant Miquel viewpoint and its chapel, with the monastery wedged among the rocks. As far as there it is a stroll, suitable for everyone, and at this hour the path is yours. You will find holm oaks, the typical woodland of the mountain, and with luck wild goats on the rocks.

With more energy, to Sant Joan. From Sant Miquel the path climbs steeply to the Pla de les Taràntules and continues to the hermitages of Sant Joan and Sant Onofre, set in a crack in the rock. The full route is 7 km and about 2 hours. You can return the same way or go down on the Sant Joan funicular. If you do, skip the Els Degotalls walk later on.

11:00 · Escolania or market. On Sundays the Escolania, the monastery's boys' choir, sings at the conventual mass at 11:00 in the basilica. If you are resident in Spain or the European Union, entry to the sanctuary is free, but you must book on the Abbey website, up to a month ahead. If you are not going to mass, stroll round the daily market of the farmers from the surrounding area: mató, honey, cheeses and fig bread.

12:15 · A second walk, optional. The Els Degotalls path is 3.2 km and about 50 minutes almost flat, under walls from which water drips, hence its name. If you prefer a roof, the Montserrat Museum is open from 10:00 to 17:45.

13:00 · Lunch. A table booked at one, before the rush.

16:15 · Return. The rack railways that leave Montserrat at minute 15 of each hour are the ones that connect with the R5 train to Barcelona.

Where and what to eat

At the sanctuary there are several options and all belong to the complex itself. The restaurant at the Hostal Abat Cisneros, open from 13:00 to 15:00, is in the former 16th-century stables, with a stone vault and the living rock as a wall: traditional cooking, booked by phone or online. The buffet is open from 12:15 to 16:00 and the café all day. For dessert, mató, the fresh curd cheese of the area, with honey, bought at the market or ordered at the table. To take home, the cocas and herbal liqueurs from the shops, heirs of the monastery's old workshops.

With children and with a dog

The rack railway is already half the plan for a child. With children, the walk to the Sant Miquel viewpoint goes well; the climb to Sant Joan is steep and better left until they are older. At the viewpoint, hold their hand. Dogs go up free on the rack railway, on a lead and muzzled; if you do not have one, they sell it at the ticket office for €5.