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!
Vicente de Prada said,
April 8, 2008 at 10:15 am
Although nobody is asking help from “the localsâ€, let me give you some more information about going from Madrid to Toledo.
In my opinion, the easiest and most comfortable way should be the high speed train (el AVE). It leaves from ATOCHA STATION, which is on the south side of Madrid. There are about 12 daily trains from 6,50 AM to 9,50 PM. You can look the schedule at:
http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/index.jsp?page=hjhir130.jsp&O=MADRI&D=92102&AF=2008&MF=MM&DF=DD&SF=NaN&ID=s
To go from the AIRPORT to ATOCHA you have basically 3 options.
1.- By taxi. It takes from 20 minutes to half an hour. You can take the taxi at the airport terminal. On peak hours you can expect to find long lines. Madrid’s taxis have a meter that runs on distance and time. Basically the fare runs like this:
– There is an initial charge (“bajada de banderaâ€) of
1,95€ (from 6AM to 10PM)
2,15€ (from 10PM to 6AM)
2,95€ (Saturdays from 10PM, all day Sundays and holidays)
– The charge for distance/time is:
0,92€/Km (from 6AM to 10PM)
1,06€/Km (from 10PM to 6AM)
1,06€ (Sundays and holydays – from 6AM to 10PM)
1,10€ (Sundays and holydays – from 10PM to 6AM)
– There is a surcharge of 5,25€ if you get on the taxi at the airport.
– Luggage travels free as long as it fits in the trunk or the “Baca†(the roof?)
2.- By subway (Metro). There is a subway station right at the airport (running hours are from 6AM to 2AM). The price of the ticket is 2€ and you can make one journey from one point to another of Madrid, changing lines (“trasbordandoâ€) as many times as you need. The commute from the AIRPORT to ATOCHA station should be something like this:
– Take line 8 at the AIRPORT until it ends at NUEVOS MINISTERIOS.
– Change to line 6. Take it so that the first station is REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA, and exit on the eighth stop (PACÃFICO). (Don’t worry if you take it the wrong way, since line 6 is a circular one and will also get to PACÃFICO, only after 20 stops).
– Change to line 1. Take it so that the first station is MENÉNDEZ PELAYO, and exit on the second stop (ATOCHA RENFE).
You can find a pdf map of the Metro at:
http://www.metromadrid.es/acc_resources/pdfs/Plano_Metro_2008.pdf
The Metro would be my second choice. I’m not an expert on this subject since I haven’t used the Metro in the last two years or so. However I’ve made the journey from the airport to my home and these trains are the most modern you can find. There is plenty of space for the luggage (only on line 8. This is not so on the other Metro lines).
3.- By Bus. There is a bus line that takes you from the AIRPORT to the plaza de Colón, at the center of Madrid. From there you can take another bus down the Paseo de la Castellana to ATOCHA STATION. There are several lines that do this leg of the trip. However, buses are not prepared to take bags (except for the bus from the airport to Plaza de Colón) and getting on the bus with your bags could be tricky.
If your bags have wheels you can even walk to the station (it’s approximately 1,5 km away), passing along the Plaza de Cibeles, where Real Madrid celebrates their victories, and the Museo del Prado.
On the other hand think on the jet lag after a zillion hours of travel and the 9 hour time change ….. If I was you I would take the taxi.
The taxi is undoubtedly the best way to make this journey, but it’s also the most expensive.
The Metro would be my second choice. It’s the cheapest. Line 8 has the newest trains with plenty of space for your luggage (This is not so on the other Metro lines).
I’ve never used the bus fir this trip, so I can’t talk for or against it.
As I already told Juanjo, I’m available if anybody needs any help in Madrid
Kim said,
May 29, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Vicente, Thanks for the helpful information. Would you recommend purchasing train tickets in advance? If so, how far in advance?
Vicente said,
June 1, 2008 at 2:18 am
Kim.
I’ve been checking on the RENFE site and it seems that I could buy tickets today for any train for the next week, which seems to indicate that people don’t make reservations for such a short trip.
On the trip to Toledo I’d go for NOT making a reservation. If there are no tickets when you get to Atocha the only trouble would be waiting for the next train. or going to the bus station, that is not that far away from Atocha. On the other hand if you have reservations and your plane gets late to Madrid, you would have to exchange your train ticket (which is not much trouble either, since you can do it up to 5 minutes before the scheduled departure).
As for the return trip to Madrid, I would recommend that (since you’ll be on a schedule to get to the airport on time) when you buy the ticket at Atocha for Toledo, you buy also the return ticket. (besides is cheaper to buy it that way).
On the other hand, as an update to my prior post, my sister Isabel took a look at the blog and I got some criticism, on the Metro recommendations. She recommends to take line 10 on the Nuevos Ministerios (instead of line 6) and get off at the Tribunal station (3 stations), and there change again to line 1 thet gets you to Atocha (5 stations). Besides, she says that the change to line 10 at Nuevos Ministerios is easier, since the platforms for lines 8 and 10 are very close by.
She also thinks that there might be a direct train that connects Nuevos Ministerios to Atocha with only one stop at Colón station.
I’ll try check this week in person, since Nuevos Ministerios is close to my office.
I’ll also keep checking the level of occupancy on the RENFE site during the week.