Barcelona: Montserrat Tour with Cog-Wheel & Black Madonna
4.6 (9,388 reviews)
from €52.80Check dates
✦ Independent review · checked 18 Oct 2026
Julià Travel reviews: coach day trips, prices and whether it is worth it
Verdict: it is the cheap, dependable benchmark for a fixed-departure coach trip to Montserrat or Girona, but expect big groups, often a bilingual guide, and a lower Montserrat starting price on GetYourGuide and Tiqets than on Julià's own site.
ⓘ Note: we are not Julià Travel We are not Julià Travel or its official website. This is an independent review based on public sources; some links are affiliate links (GetYourGuide, Tiqets, Headout).Tickets and tours to book
12 options · Prices checked on 18 October 2026
No options match these filters.
Montserrat: Morning Tour from Barcelona with Cog-Wheel Train and Black Madonna
4.6 (167 reviews)
from €56.20Check dates
Montserrat: Afternoon Half-Day Trip from Barcelona with Liquor Tasting
4.5 (42 reviews)
from €59Check dates
PortAventura Park: Entry Ticket + Roundtrip Transport from Barcelona
4.2 (106 reviews)
from €69Check dates
Barcelona: "El Born" Walking Tour + Entry to Picasso and Moco Museums
3.5 (4 reviews)
from €53Check dates
01 —
Verdict: 7 out of 10
Julià Travel is the inbound-tourism arm of Grupo Julià, the coach company founded in Barcelona in 1933. It is the city's high-volume day-trip operator: Montserrat with the rack railway, Girona, PortAventura, Penedès wineries and guided Sagrada Família visits, plus the Barcelona City Tour sightseeing bus and the boat trips it sells at the harbour. The product works: fixed departures, low entry prices and thousands of positive reviews. What pulls the score down is the group size, the two-language departures and after-sales support that, according to reviewers, gets messy when you booked through a reseller.
| Criterion | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Price and transparency | 7/10 | Low entry prices (Girona €49, Montserrat €62), but the homepage and the product page do not always show the same price |
| Flexibility | 7/10 | Free cancellation up to 24 h before; after that, or if you do not show, you pay 100% |
| Public reputation | 7/10 | 4.6/5 from 9,300+ reviews on its GetYourGuide Montserrat and 4.4 on Tripadvisor, but a low Trustpilot score |
| Experience | 6/10 | Guides are well liked; up to 30 people per guide and bilingual departures that not everyone enjoys |
| Reliability | 8/10 | A 90-year-old group with a named company; complaints are often passed back to the reseller |
| Overall score | 7/10 | Mean of the five criteria, rounded to 0.5 |
Who it suits
- ✔ Travellers who want Montserrat or Girona on a budget without juggling trains and connections.
- ✔ Solo travellers and couples who don't need a hotel pickup: Estació del Nord is a short walk from Arc de Triomf metro.
- ✔ Anyone who prefers a big operator with plenty of daily departures that also sells on GetYourGuide and Tiqets.
Who should skip it
- ✘ Anyone after a small group or a guide who speaks only their language.
- ✘ People who tend to run late: at Sagrada Família the whole group shares one ticket, and late arrivals lose the visit.
- ✘ Travellers who want a hotel or cruise-port pickup: standard products don't include it.
02 —
Fact sheet
| Company | Julià Travel, S.L.U. (tax ID B-29045895), part of Grupo Julià. The terms on its City Tour website give the registered office as C/ Puerto de Used 20, 28031 Madrid; GetYourGuide's trader record places it in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat |
|---|---|
| Founded | Grupo Julià began in 1933 as Autocares Julià; Julià Travel, the inbound-tourism division, in 1978. Its website talks of "90 years" of experience |
| Barcelona base | Estació del Nord office (Carrer d'Alí Bei 80, ground floor, opposite platform 19) for day trips; C/ Sardenya 311 office for Sagrada Família |
| Catalan tourism registration | Not published on its website |
| What it sells | Coach day trips (Montserrat, Girona, Figueres, Andorra, PortAventura, Familia Torres), guided city tours, the Barcelona City Tour bus (with Moventis) and boat trips operated by This is Med |
| Official price range | From €25 (sunset catamaran) to €125 (Familia Torres winery with tapas) |
| Where to book | juliatravel.com, its offices and resellers such as GetYourGuide (supplier "Julia Travel Gray Line Spain"), Tiqets (supplier "Julia Travel"), Expedia and Musement |
| Public ratings | 4.4/5 from about 11,900 reviews on Tripadvisor; 4.6/5 from 9,388 reviews for its Montserrat tour on GetYourGuide; 2 to 2.5/5 from about 30 reviews on Trustpilot (unclaimed profile) |
03 —
What it sells and what it costs
Julià sells almost everything on its own site and on the platforms too. The surprise is that, for its best-selling trip, the platforms start lower than Julià's own website. We don't assume it is the same option or date: always compare the full product page before you pay.
| Product | Julià website | On platforms | Honest take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montserrat morning tour with rack railway and Black Madonna (5.5 h) | From €62 | GetYourGuide from €52.80; Tiqets €56.20 | The platform starts lower. Check the option includes the liqueur tasting and Black Madonna access |
| Montserrat afternoon trip with liqueur tasting | Not checked | Tiqets €59 | Supplier shown as "Julia Travel" on Tiqets |
| Girona full day (10 h) | From €49 | GetYourGuide from €49; Tiqets €49 | Same price; Tiqets lets you cancel up to 48 h before |
| Fast-track guided Sagrada Família (1.5 h) | €75 on the product page (€90 on the homepage card) | Not found on our platforms | The official ticket with a guided tour is €30 on sagradafamilia.org |
| Familia Torres winery with tapas | €125 | GetYourGuide €125; Tiqets €125 | Same everywhere |
| PortAventura (plus Ferrari Land) with transport | €79 | Tiqets €69 (PortAventura Park + transport) | Not the same ticket, and the Tiqets one cannot be cancelled |
Julià prices read on its product pages; platform prices from GetYourGuide and Tiqets on the day of the review. Platforms change prices often. The Familia Torres product on GetYourGuide matches Julià's in title and price, but the platform does not name the supplier.
04 —
The good and the bad
The good
- The price benchmark. Montserrat from €62 with the rack railway, Black Madonna, a four-liqueur tasting and the Espai Audiovisual is hard to beat with transport included.
- Lots of departures. Morning and afternoon Montserrat trips, Girona daily and a network of its own offices in town.
- Well-liked guides. The most common praise on Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide names individual guides who made the day.
- A track record. A coach group with more than 90 years behind it, a named company and a presence on all the big platforms.
- Radio headsets. Day trips and Sagrada Família use earpieces, which helps in big groups and during the basilica's quiet hour.
The bad
- Big groups. Up to 30 people per guide at Sagrada Família; on coach trips several reviewers say it is hard to hear even with headsets.
- Bilingual departures. On many departures the guide switches between Spanish and English, so each group gets half the commentary.
- Voucher mistakes. Wrong dates or meeting points show up in complaints, mostly on bookings made through third parties.
- Strict about lateness. Arrive late and you lose the visit; some reviewers say they paid a fee to rebook.
- Slow after-sales. Late email replies, and refunds Julià sends back to whichever reseller you booked with.
05 —
Fine print
- Cancellation: free up to 24 hours before; under 24 hours or a no-show costs 100%, per its product pages. On Tiqets it depends on the product: Montserrat 24 h, Girona 48 h, PortAventura non-refundable.
- Weather and terrain: Montserrat is about 50 km away and in the mountains; wear good shoes and bring a layer. Entry to the basilica itself is free: you pay for transport, the rack railway and Black Madonna access.
- Escolania choir: the add-on to hear the boys' choir only runs in term time, not in summer.
- Children: at Sagrada Família staff may ask for proof of age before applying the child rate.
- Accessibility: the product pages don't cover it. Montserrat involves walking and slopes; ask before booking if you have reduced mobility.
- Sagrada Família: no towers, a dress code and a single ticket for the whole group. Since 2 February 2026 the basilica has a 9:00–10:00 quiet hour with earphones compulsory.
- Group size: the basilica requires a Generalitat-accredited guide for parties of 10 or more and sells group tickets for 10 to 30 people; Julià's 30-per-guide cap fits that band. A small-group version caps at 15.
06 —
Traps and how to avoid them
Check the departure language. If you want the full commentary in English, look for a single-language departure when booking; otherwise expect a guide who repeats each stop in two languages.
Two different meeting points. Day trips leave from Estació del Nord (Alí Bei 80, opposite platform 19); Sagrada Família tours from C/ Sardenya 311. Standard products have no hotel pickup. Read your voucher the night before.
The homepage price is not the product price. The Sagrada Família tour showed €90 on the homepage and €75 on its product page. Only pay once you see the price at the final step.
Booked elsewhere? Claim there. Julià passes refund requests back to the reseller. Keep the platform's confirmation and contact its customer service first.
Same trip, different name. Julià appears as Gray Line on GetYourGuide, its boats are sold as This is Med or City Sailing, and other brands resell its Montserrat trip. Check who operates before you pay twice.
Barcelona City Tour is not the Bus Turístic. The Julià–Moventis bus and TMB's Bus Turístic are separate lines, and a ticket for one is not valid on the other.
07 —
How to book for less
Montserrat: compare before going direct. The same morning tour starts at €62 on juliatravel.com, €52.80 on GetYourGuide and €56.20 on Tiqets. Open all three with your date and pick the option that includes the same things; on the platforms your booking also lives in an app with support in English.
Girona: the channel doesn't matter. It is €49 on Julià's site, on GetYourGuide and on Tiqets; choose by the cancellation policy that suits you.
Sagrada Família: do the maths. Julià's tour is €75; the official ticket with a guided tour is €30 on the basilica's website. If the official guide is enough for you, buy it there; we explain how in our Sagrada Família guide.
Wine and liqueurs. The Familia Torres visit is €125 everywhere, and the afternoon Montserrat trip is €59 on Tiqets. For every option outside the city, start with our day-trips guide and our Montserrat guide.
08 —
Alternatives
For a small group without paying private-tour prices, look at Explore Catalunya; for a pickup from your hotel or cruise ship, Barcelona Day Tours. To reach Montserrat on your own with an official ticket, there is the Catalunya Bus Turístic.
09 —
Frequently asked questions
Is Julià Travel legit?
Yes. It is the tourism division of Grupo Julià, a coach company founded in Barcelona in 1933, and trades as Julià Travel, S.L.U. Its trips have thousands of reviews: 4.4 on Tripadvisor and 4.6 for its GetYourGuide Montserrat tour. Complaints centre on big groups, bilingual departures and refunds on bookings made elsewhere.
Where does the Julià Montserrat tour leave from?
From its office inside Estació del Nord, Carrer d'Alí Bei 80, ground floor, opposite platform 19. Hotel pickup is not included. The nearest metro is Arc de Triomf (L1).
Can I cancel a Julià day trip?
On Julià's site, free up to 24 hours before; after that, or for a no-show, you pay 100%. If you booked on a platform, its own policy applies: on Tiqets, for example, Girona can be cancelled up to 48 hours before and PortAventura cannot be cancelled.
Is Julià cheaper on GetYourGuide than on its own site?
For Montserrat, the starting price was lower on GetYourGuide (€52.80) and Tiqets (€56.20) than on Julià's site (€62) on the day we checked. Girona and Familia Torres cost the same. Always compare the same option and date.
Julià, Explore Catalunya or Barcelona Day Tours for Montserrat?
Julià is the budget big-coach option with the rack railway (€62). Explore Catalunya runs a small-group half day (up to about 16 people) for €60. Barcelona Day Tours costs €85 with a hotel or port pickup and groups of 4 to 12.
Do Julià guides speak English?
Yes. Montserrat runs in Spanish and English, but many departures are bilingual and the guide alternates between the two. If you want the full commentary in English, look for a single-language departure when you book.
Is Barcelona City Tour run by Julià?
Yes. The Barcelona City Tour sightseeing bus is run by a Grupo Julià and Moventis joint venture under a 12-year concession awarded in 2024. It is not TMB's Bus Turístic, and tickets are not interchangeable.
Heading to Montserrat? Compare Julià's tour
The same morning tour with the rack railway and the Black Madonna: check your date on GetYourGuide and compare it with Julià's website.
See dates and price