Montserrat

Montserrat, 'serrated mountain' in Catalan, is a range of strange, rounded rock pinnacles rising out of the plain about an hour from Barcelona. Halfway up sits the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, home of the Black Madonna, the patron saint of Catalonia.

You reach it by rack railway or by a cable car swinging up the cliff. From the monastery, funiculars climb higher for walks among the rocks, and on many days you can hear the Escolania, one of Europe's oldest boys' choirs, sing in the basilica.

Visitors queue to see the Black Madonna, whose shrine is reached by a stairway behind the altar of the basilica. Combine Montserrat with a half day in Barcelona. Wear good shoes and bring a layer, as it is cooler on the mountain.