Montserrat - from the monastery to Sant Jeroni (camí vell)

This is one the best trails in Montserrat. It brings you in about 1 h 15 min from the monastery to Sant Jeroni, the highest peak of Montserrat (1224 m). During the hike you will enjoy the inspiring forms of Montserrat's rocks, and once at the top the excellent sights of the planes around the mountain chain.

You will find signs with directions at every crossing, so it's really easy to follow. I've uploaded the track just to offer some practical advice and share a few pictures:

- The hike begins at the stairs to the left of the fountain at the end of the main street.
- It's physically not very demanding, but you have to go up more than a thousand steps, which can be rather stressful for your knees. Take it easy, especially at the start.
- The trail can be roughly split into three segments: the first one consists mostly of steps up under the sun, the second one a path through the woods, and the last one again steps up with a few shadows.
- There are no fountains during the hike: bring water.
- Recommended season is from mid-October to May. During the summer make sure you wear sunscreen and a cap.
- From Barcelona you can reach the monastery by a combination of train + rack train. You take the R5 (Barcelona - Manresa) line of the FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat) trains at Barcelona-Plaça Espanya station and step out at Monistrol de Montserrat. There you take the rack train (cremallera) to the monastery. There is a quite convenient roundtrip ticket train+cremallera, which you can buy at the ATMs of Plaça Espanya station.
- To go back to the monastery you can follow back the same track, but I recommend you take the alternative route through the "camí nou/Sant Miquel", which I've uploaded in a separate track ("Montserrat - from Sant Jeroni to the monastery (camí nou/Sant Miquel)").