https://aeridemontserrat.com/en/
The first option to get up to the monastery is via the Aeri de Montserrat cable car. This option is the fastest (the ride up takes about five minutes) and is the most scenic. The cable cars fit about 10-12 adults and the views are stunning. A highlight was spotting a wild mountain goat on a rockface. The car sways just a bit and the climb gradient is quite steep, but it was still an amazing way to ride.
If arriving on the FGC R5 train, you need to get off at the M
ontserrat-Aeri station (the first of the two Montserrat stations). You can either buy a ticket to the Aeri with the R5 train ticket combined or you can buy a ticket at the cable car base station. The combo Aeri-FGC ticket from Plaça d'Espanya is a ZONE 4 ticket and cost 15,65 € one-way. Remember, you can buy a round-trip combo ticket from FGC, but you are locked in to the same mode up and down the mountain.
On exiting the train station, follow the signs to the Aeri base station. There's a queue to purchase tickets and a separate queue to get on the gondolas. There's also public restrooms at the base station. On the day I visited, the first ride up was at 0930 and our train arrived around 0915 so there was a short wait, There were about six other travellers who got of the train with me and we all fit into the gondola and rode up. On the combo ticket, the train ticket doubles as the Aeri ticket; you just show it to to the checker at the end of the queue and it gets stamped as used and voided for any additional travel.
Pros- Fastest way up and down.
- Fantastic views
Cons- Slightly more expensive than the rack railway
- Limited passenger capacity in each gondola reduces the amount of travellers that can go up at one time. There may be long queues to get onto a gondola and larger groups may need to be split.
- There's a pretty long (maybe 50+ meters) walk from the top station to the monastery level and it's uphill the entire way. People with limited mobility and/or heart conditions should take note.