Private Montserrat & Hot-Air Balloon Ride

This is NOT a Private tour. The ONLY private part was being collected by a driver & taken to a location about 20 minutes from Montserrat for the balloon ride. There was 8 people crammed into a small basket, the advertised photos showed only 3 people. We saw glimpses of Montserrat & the Pyrenees, we never got close to capture a good picture. After the ride we we're driven to Montserrat & put in a tour group of 12 people, 2 of them were from Mexico so the guide had to speak 2 languages. Again NOTHING Private of the tour except for then being driven back to the hotel. We we're only given about 1.5 hours after the quick guided tour which only gave us time to do the tram ride up the mountain. If you want a more Private & Intimate tour, stay away from this over priced misleading tour.

This experience was wonderful albeit mislabeled or misleading. The word "private" only has to do with the transportation not with the ride or the tour. In the description of additional information, this is their quote: "This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate." I paid more to get private and only got a private drive to the locations. I've tried to reach out about this and have received no response. The balloon ride was fantastic. For the monastery tour, we were an add-on to another group. The schedule was so close that we had to leave before the celebratory toast at the conclusion of the balloon ride to get to the monastery tour. Didn't receive access to pictures from balloon flight due to early departure. Not well planned. The balloon ride was amazing.

Wonderful experience and everything went as planned. Our guide Xav made sure we were on schedule and we had time to stop for coffee before the balloon ride. It can be very chilly in the early morning so make sure to wear a good coat for this ride. Also be prepared to help in setting up and taking down the balloon. The balloon pilot took lots of pictures inside the balloon and from go pro cameras mounted on the balloon, which gave incredible shots. Champagne toast at the end too! Big time saver doing Montserrat afterwards as it is close by vs. having to schedule another separate tour from Barcelona.

We had the tour back in September 2022 and we had a wonderful time with Liana as our guide. Liana picked us up right on time but we were met with surprisingly heavy traffic on our way to where the balloon was supposed to take off. We magically arrived at the site with just minutes to spare. That alone made the trip more adventurous. The balloon ride over the beautiful fields was fantastic. Late September was a good time to do this ride as the weather was perfect. Once at Montserrat we took the tram up the top and hiked back down. Liana patiently waited for us at the bottom. Beautiful scenery all around. I feel that I probably could have done the Montserrat visit on my own, but a friendly, dependable guide like Liana) can add so much value to it. The peace of mind cannot be overstated.

The most memorable parts of this experience? Let’s start with the guide Liana, who greeted us promptly at 630am and took us to the site of the hot air balloon ride despite unusually heavy traffic. Liana was probably a professional car racer in a previous life! Seriously she was very friendly and personable, and managed to keep all 4 very different personalities engaged the entire time, giving us valuable information about the region, the monastery, and Barcelona! The hot air ride was very safe, the pilot, Mike and his crew of 2 were also very friendly. It appears everyone is friendly in Spain! Breathtaking views up in the sky, the balloon took us slowly across farmlands, old barns, churches, and it flew low enough that it barely grazed a pine tree where the pilot snatched one of the pine cones and handed to one of the shared riders as a souvenir 🙂. We (4 of us) shared the balloon with another family of 3. Montserrat was a spectacular mountain to visit, and we enjoyed the monastery as well. This is where a guide proved to be valuable because Liana gave us a good history lesson about the place. Liana suggested a few things for us to do after the monastery visit , and we picked taking the cable car up the top of the mountain and hiking back down, soaking in all the beauty of nature at our own pace. Highly recommended. Liana is a star.