Transportation

Getting to Madrid

There are two ways you can make the 15 kilometer journey from Madrid’s international airport, Barajas, to the centre of the city, you can either go by taxi or take the metro.

Metro

The quickest, easiest and safest way to get into the city is by metro, which is also the best way of getting around once you are in Madrid. A single ticket costs €1.30 but it is generally easier to buy a ten journey ticket which costs just €5.80. Madrid has an integrated ticketing system between the metro system and the buses, and all tickets are valid for the entire duration of your journey regardless of how far you travel on the system.

Taxi

Getting from the airport to the city centre by taxi is one of the convenient ways of getting directly to the door of your accommodation. On average, the journey lasts between 20 and 40 minutes, obviously depending on the traffic, and will cost somewhere in the region of €20. To find an available taxi, look for a car with the “libre” sign during the day or a green light at night. When you get a taxi, the meter will show €1.95, which is the minimum fare.

Getting out of the city

Madrid has two main railway stations that serve the surrounding areas and further a-field, Atocha and Charmartin. It is also possible to take a coach, which run more frequently than the trains and there are various companies providing services to various places outside the city.