Getting to and from the Airport
A few people have asked about getting to and from Madrid-Barajas airport either late at night or early in the morning, which prompted me to do a bit of research into the matter. Here’s information about getting to and from Toledo:
TRAIN: There’s a high speed train (30 minutes) that runs between Madrid-Atocha station and Toledo. Renfe is the Spanish train company. I checked the schedule and it looks like there are trains until 10pm on weekdays, and 12am on weekends.
BUS: My first trip to Toledo back when I was a student in Spain (little did I know the connection I’d end up having with the place!) was on a bus. The bus station is walking distance from the old town, it’s cheaper than the train, and there are a lot of times all day long (5 or 6 am ’til midnight). The bus station in Madrid is “Estación Sur”, just south of Atocha. To get there take the subway from the airport (Line 8) until it ends at NUEVOS MINISTERIOS. Change to line 6. Take it so that the first station is REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA, and exit on the ninth stop (MENDEZ ALVARO). (Don’t worry if you take it the wrong way, since line 6 is a circular one and will also get to PACÍFICO, only after 19 stops). (Thanks to Tino and Vicente for this information-see the comment to this post). Try this website or this one for bus schedules.
TAXI: I read that a taxi costs about 90 Euros, so it’s expensive. But if you’re getting in late and can find someone else who is too, perhaps you could share a taxi? Otherwise, if you don’t have hotel arrangements yet, and have a really late or early flight, consider staying at a hotel near the airport (we’re going to ask our friend whose wife is a flight attendant there for a recommendation).
RENTAL CAR: Parking’s really hard in Toledo, and it’s easy to get around without a car, so we don’t recommend renting a car if you can help it. But if you’ve got bigger plans and want a car, we recommend trying the company we’re renting my family’s car from–they’ve got good prices (my family is staying outside the city of Toledo)
More info? We’ll put it here as we think of it, but feel free to post comments and give each other tips. Also, see this travel site with handy information (in English) compiled from a conference that took place in Toledo.
And most recently–look at Vicente de Prada’s comment, an old friend of Juanjo’s. Thank you Vicente! This information is much more detailed and helpful than what I put in this post!