car Archives - In Search Of Umami

I traveled to Barcelona many, many times. It’s one of my favorite European cities and I have a very good friend living there. Somehow all those times I never thought of visiting Montserrat. I knew it was a monastery in the mountains and to be honest I was never a big fan of catholic sites like that. But this year JD and I decided to give it a try. After all if it’s bad it’s only one day wasted.

I love to be wrong like that. It’s literally the best day trip from Barcelona.

What is so special about it?

On paper it doesn’t sound too great. Monastery in the mountains. It’s not as boring as that. The mountain range looks as if there were huge stone giants walking around the region, got tired and decided to lay down and stay. On those people they built a monastery but that’s not even the most spectacular part of the site. There is a little church built in a rock, crazy serpentine of roads in between the peaks and incredible views from numerous places. But let’s go step by step through…

…what is there to see?

Benedictine Monastery

That is by far the biggest and most famous attraction in there. Attraction is an adequate word to describe this site as there is even a bar that sells beer just next to the monastery. Quite shocking honestly. The Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey was founded in 10^th century and is still fully functioning with around 70 monks living in residence. It doesn’t look much different from a usual church unless you look from afar. The sight of the monastery surrounded by almighty peaks is just jaw dropping.

Viewing terrace

Very close by the religious sight there is a whole serpentine of roads going back and forth and presenting incredible views on the mountains below as well as Santa Cova Chapel that looks imprisoned in between the rocks. We wandered around quite a bit and managed to find a balcony with two seats and the best views on the valley. We indicated where it was on our map below. Maybe because of the stairs that led to it and the fear of going back people didn’t dare to go there. Their loss was our win, we enjoyed these views with just the two of us.

The Instagram staircase

Just as we were walking around Montserrat we realized that it’s where the famous Staircase to Heaven was. We saw it on soooo many Instagram photos. Although on each and every one of those people climb on the very last of the nine stacked concrete blocks, it’s forbidden. Nowadays there is even a fence to prevent that. It was meant to be a piece of art not an Instagram installation. To be frank I would die of fear if I had to climb it… One false move, could be the last one. Also the view surrounding the staircase is not that spectacular compared to many others in the surrounding.

Santa Cova Chapel

It’s a hillside cave where the Virgin of Montserrat was hidden before being found by shepherds in the IX century. Centuries later a tiny chapel was built here. Although it’s possible to get to it by a funicular, it’s actually a short, not very challenging walk. A return trip would be about 1.5 hour all together. I think it’s the best way to visit it especially since funicular is not really cheap and it doesn’t take you all the way to the chapel anyway.

The church is really tiny but the views and the path leading to it are mind-blowing.

San Miguel’s Cross

From the monastery it might seem that you can visit the Santa Cova Chapel and then continue walking to the Sant Miquel’s Cross. Unfortunately there is no path behind the chapel so those are two separate walks. But going to the cross is a very short, 20 minute stroll that is not really challenging and the views are well worth it. We could admire the monastery from a distance and the gorgeous mountains below. Compared to views that we saw from Santa Cova (which we liked better anyway) these ones were more open simply because it’s a much higher point. I guess we prefer to feel “in the mountain” rather than on top of it but you might like this one better 🙂

Sant Jeroni Mountain

To reach the highest mountain in the area (1236m) we took the funicular that goes to the highest station and from there we followed a very clear path that led us through some forest patches and some beautiful view points over the mountains to the top. As much as we loved the views we recommend this hike to very motivated people. It’s not very strenuous and the path is easy, well maintained and clear but… we did it as the last thing on Montserrat and the sun was just excruciating. What’s more it’s a 3 hour return trip that does indeed provide beautiful views but not much different than the ones from previous places.

How to get to Monserrat and how to get around?

There are so many ways to get to Montserrat that it’s almost too confusing. So which one is the best and which one did we take?

By train and rack railway

That’s the option we chose because we wanted to be on the site as early as possible and the rack railway was beginning earlier in the morning than the cable car. Besides it was a bit cheaper than the option with the cable car (we paid 20.10 euro p.p). It takes about 90 minutes in total from Plaza de Espana to the top, so a bit longer than if we took the option with the cable car.

So with that option you take a R5 train from Plaza Espana to Manresa. You get off at Monistrol de Montserrat right next to that platform is where you have to take the next train. You can’t miss it. The whole route is really beautiful and it gets more and more impressive the higher you get.

Prices, timetables and combined ticket options here.

By train and cable car

It’s pretty much the same option but instead of the rack train you take a cable car from Montserrat Aeri. The cable car takes you up there in 5 minutes. If you’re going off season it’s worth checking if you can actually go with that option since during winter it’s only open on weekends and public holidays.

This mean of transport is best for those who want to get there fast and have the most spectacular views on their way. Additionally it’s few euros more expensive…

To check the cable car timetables and if it's even running go here.

By bus

I heard that there was also a bus going to Montserrat but it’s not frequent and so I didn’t take it under my consideration when we were going.

By car

If you’re into photography and you want to get there for the sunrise or stay till sunset or have the place all for yourself, car is the best option. There is plenty of parking spots up there. Unfortunately I have no idea how much it would cost to park there.

Getting around there

We did most of our sightseeing on foot except taking the San Joan funicular (8.10 euro one way) to shorten our journey to the Sant Jeroni peak. There is also another funicular shortening the trip to Santa Cova Chapel which we considered too expensive for too little (3.25 euro for one way). There is also an option of combining those two tickets for 16 euro both return. More info here.

For those who expect Oman to be cheap… You can stop reading right now. Oman is very much a destination completely off the beaten track especially for backpacking tourists. There is almost no infrastructure like hostels or cheap guesthouses. The buses in between the cities are also a rare sight so the best option is to rent a car. To crazy ones that would like to hitchhike and wait for those precious rides in the boring, desert sun… good luck 🙂

In Oman we miraculously spend only 933 euros over 12 days. So that makes almost 39 euros per day per person.

So let´s explain how it turned out so “cheap” 🙂

Where did we go?

Our journey started in Muscat, later on we continued along the coast passing villages and going further and further south to Sur and Al Hadd where there is a beach known for being a turtle nesting area. From the coast we went camping in the desert and then back to civilization in the old town of Nizwa. From there we went to see the mountains and valleys on our way back to the capital.

How did we travel?

In the capital we traveled by bus which wasn’t too expensive (1 OMR for us both for a ride, around 2.5 euro). For the rest of our route we rented a car. Unfortunately travelling by bus was just not an option. Although buses between the main cities do exist, they are not very frequent and to get to the villages we would have to try hitchhiking… And renting a car didn’t turn out to be so expensive. We managed to get one for 172 euro for 7 days. I don’t have to tell anyone that as one of the countries rich in oil, petrol was not a deal breaker in our budget (on petrol we spend 15.3 OMR so around 37 euro).

On buses, car rental and petrol we spend a total of 238 euros.

Where did we stay?

In Muscat we stayed in possibly the only hostel in the country and it’s listed on Airbnb. We didn’t find it there. The owner of the hostel was a friend of our friend and he offered us staying there for free. Idrees was just such an amazing host, he really made us feel at home and helped us with everything. He also explained that hostels are not really welcomed in the country since backpackers and cheap travelling is not really desired. Surprisingly camping is no problem. So that’s what we did for a few nights. To be clear there are no campsites so also no toilets, showers and commodities like that. Just nature…

Our total of 124 euro for accommodation we spend for 3 nights in Nizwa in an Airbnb. For that money we got a really nice room with private bathroom and only a 10 minutes ride from the historical town of Nizwa.

What did we eat?

On food and eating out we spent a combined 262 euros. The 118 euro we spend on eating out was mainly fast food and coffee to use internet. Majority of the times we bought food in the supermarket and cooked ourselves also while camping.

How expensive are museums, tours etc?

On tourism we spend 20 euros for entrances to some forts and the Royal Opera House in Muscat. From what we researched online, tours are very expensive. For example 2 days (1 night camping) tour to snorkel was 85 OMR so around 200 euro… and that’s pp. That was actually one of the cheapest things I found. Going to the desert with a tour was out of reach even for our dreams.

Where did the rest of our money go?

In the 145 euro for equipment we included some clothes that we bought as well as 17 OMR (around 40 euro) that we spent on mattresses and sleeping bags. Buying those was actually cheaper than renting. The rest of the camping gear we borrowed from the hostel.

In the 144 euro for miscellaneous we included our one month visa for Oman (20 OMR each so around 95 euro together), car insurance and sim card that we bought to have mobile internet while camping (sim card + 1gb internet was just 2 OMR so around 5 euro).

How to get to Oman?

We came on a bus from Dubai and that was the cheapest option and costed only around 27 euro for both of us (not included in this budget). It took 7 hours and at the time when we used that option there were 3 buses per day and it was operated by a company called Mwasalat. There was also the same option going from Abu Dhabi.

How to rent a car in Oman?

We rented a car via Pepe Car which is available only to a few nationalities. That was the cheapest option really. We got a great, functional, medium sized car for a smashing price of 172 euro. To go with it we bought an insurance from an external company to cover the potential damages. We always did that one because it turns out cheaper than adding it to your rental option. It’s also good idea to check renting over various days, in our case renting for 7 days was cheaper than 5…. Weird but true:)

For renting a car in Oman we just brought our European driving license. They didn’t require an international one.

Our tips to save money in Oman

Airbnb is the best option for cheap but decent accommodation, there you might find “hostels” set up by private people as well as affordable rooms. Researching double rooms at Airbnb we noticed they were cheaper than most of the dorms available. Anyway cheap accommodation is pretty limited so….
Camp! You can camp almost everywhere and there are no campsites which makes it immediately cheaper, you only need to rent or buy the equipment. The downside is lack of public toilets and showers… The only option is a bucket and a quick shower in the sea… Just watch out so that the locals don’t see your naked flesh. It’s a Muslim country so they won’t appreciate it.
Rent a car 🙂 public transportation is pretty bad and renting a car can be pretty cheap, not to mention how cheap the gasoline was! 🙂

P.S. Exchange rate used for the overall budget 1 OMR = 2.46 EURO

Tag: car

Montserrat- the most epic day trip from Barcelona