The closest large city to Montserrat is Barcelona, which is home to the Barcelona International Airport, the second largest airport in the country after the one in Madrid. Major carriers such as Spanair, Air Europa, Air Madrid and Iberia Airlines all have major operations here. Domestic flights (to cities such as Madrid, Seville, Valencia and Granada) are mostly operated by Spanair and Iberia. However, flights to most major European cities are available as well. You can also find flights to the Middle East or North Africa, and even a few to North America or Asia, from this airport. Visitors from the United States will have the best luck finding flights to Philadelphia, New York and Atlanta.

There are hourly trains from Barcelona or Manresa to Montserrat via the FGC, or Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat. The trains depart Barcelona from the Barcelona-Plaça Espanya Station every hour. This station is accessible by metro from anywhere in Barcelona. Once at the station, look for a Line R5 train for Manresa. Tickets for the hour-long train ride can be bought with or without a cable car ride. Not taking a cable car to go up the mountain to the sanctuary requires riding the train for one more stop.

Once in Montserrat, take the Cremallera, or rack railway, to go up the mountain. This train shuttles visitors from the FGC station in Monistrol de Montserrat to the Montserrat monastery in 15 minutes, with departures every 20 minutes. To get to the sanctuary, use the Aeri, or cable car, which travels up the steep incline in 5 minutes at 15-minute intervals.