By plane

Main article: Madrid–Barajas Airport

1 Madrid Barajas International Airport (MAD IATA). All commercial flights into Madrid use this airport, which is 13 km north-east of the city. There are direct flights from most major cities in Spain and across Europe, several from the Americas as well as a few African and Asian connections. There are two terminal complexes, widely separated: Terminals 1, 2 & 3, and Terminals T4 & T4S. To transfer between them land-side use the free shuttle bus. It runs 24 hours, every 5 min daytime, and takes 10 min between T1 and T4. You can also take it just between T1, T2 and T3, but it's as quick to walk. Between T4 and T4S, use the automated train. The metro also connects the two complexes but you'd have to buy a ticket for €3. There are other transfers air-side for connecting passengers, enquire at the airline transfer desk, but they will probably involve collecting your checked bags in the hall and lumping them onto an internal navette to the other complex. All the terminals have the usual full range of passenger facilities land- and air-side. (updated May 2018)

Madrid has two smaller airfields, Torrejón and Cuatro Vientos, but they have no commercial flights.

To and from the airport

During the day, Metro a popular best way to reach city centre. Line 8 (pink) runs from Nuevos Ministerios to Terminals 1,2&3, Barajas town (no airport here, don't get off!) and T4. It runs from 06:00 to 01:30, taking 15 min from city to T123 and another 5 min to T4. The single fare is €5. See "Get around" for other ticket options.

The Cercanías (renfe) regional train service C-1 & C-10 lines run between T4 and Atocha, without needing to change trains or paying the metro airport supplement. Tickets are issued on a "+ renfe & tú" reusable card. You can transfer between T4 and other terminals on the free inter-terminal bus.

If taxis are your thing, there is always an armada of them readily available. There is a fixed fare of €33 for trips between the airport and central Madrid (defined as any point in Madrid inside the M-30 expressway).

Buses between city centre and airport are:

Exprés Aeropuerto bus 203 runs from Atocha (& Cibeles) to T1,2 & T4, 06:00-23:30 every 15-20 min, taking 30 min.

Bus 200 runs from Avenida de America transport hub to T1,2 & T4 (but T3 only city-bound, not outbound), 05:00-23:30 every 10-20 min.

At night bus N27 runs every 35 min from Cibeles to T1,2 & T4 and is the only public transport option.

Direct buses elsewhere include:

Bus 101 from Canillejas transport hub (Canillejas 5 ,) east edge of the city, to T1,2 (T3 only city-bound, not outbound).

Bus 822 from Coslada and San Fernando de Henares, just south of the airport, to T1.

Bus 824 from Alcalá de Henares and Torrejón to the east, to T1,2.

Bus 827 & 828 from the Autonomous University and Alcobendas, to T4.

Avanza buses run to T1 from Avila and Salamanca.

Alsa buses run to T4 from Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valladolid, León, Murcia, Alicante, Gijón, Oviedo, Lugo, Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Burgos, Vitoria, San Sebastián, Santander, Bilbao, Logroño and Pamplona.

Socibus run to T1 from Andalusia, e.g. Córdoba, Cádiz, Jerez and Sevilla.

By train

The state-owned rail company renfe (☏ +34 902-240-202) and low cost operators ouigo, iryo & avlo (now bookable from the main renfe website) operate trains to Madrid. Frequent long-distance trains connect Madrid and Alicante (2 hr 30 min), Barcelona (2 hr 40 min), Bilbao (6 hr), Córdoba (2 hr), Malaga (2 hr 30 min), Salamanca (2 hr 30 min), Santiago de Compostela (6 hr), Seville (2 hr 20 min), Valencia (2 hr) and Zaragoza (1 hr 15 min).

The overnight train from Lisbon was suspended in 2020, perhaps indefinitely. Travel from Portugal now involves changing at Merida and Badajoz.

There is a direct daytime train from Marseille, taking 8 hours. Madrid can be reached from Paris and other cities in France and beyond also by changing in Barcelona. However for the French Atlantic coast (e.g. Bayonne and Bordeaux) it is quicker to travel via Hendaye.

Madrid has two mainline railway stations, Atocha and Chamartín, both with extensive Metro and local Cercanías train connections. To transfer between them, take Metro line 1 (€1.50 or 1 journey, 30–40 min) or Cercanías lines C-3 and C-4 (€1.35, 15 min).

All rail stations are operated by the national rail infrastructure company ADIF, you can check train running times & platforms there and on their app. Remember local Cercanías trains are listed separately to longer distance ones.

Most mainline trains run from:

2 Puerta de Atocha (Estación de Atocha). 1 km south of city centre, it's divided into two main sections, "Madrid Puerta de Atocha Almudena Grandes" for mainline and Madrid Atocha Cercanías local and regional trains. The mainline part is set inside the towering old station building, where the former track area has been converted into a retail & food mall, along with a tropical garden with a pond full of small turtles. The Cercanías part, adjacent, has a memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack of 11 March 2004. Although both parts require tickets from passengers to access the platforms, the mainline part also has airport-style security screening checkpoints for departing passengers so make sure you arrive at the station well ahead of your train’s departure time to reduce the risk of missing it due to long security queues. Knives longer than 6 cm are not allowed onboard, will be confiscated and maybe destroyed. This especially applies for train to Barcelona. (updated Jun 2024)

3 Madrid Chamartín Clara Campoamor. This station is 4 km north of city centre on Metro lines 1 and 10 . Chamartín has more direct services than Atocha for north-west cities such as Bilbao, Leon, Santiago and Salamanca. This is a very large station, allow extra time. Facilities at this station include a tourist information centre, post office, hotel, car hire, shops and luggage storage. (updated Jun 2024)

By bus

Madrid has several bus stations, but long-distance routes all use either Estación Sur southside, or Avenida de América northside. These buses may also call at the airport.

International buses, and those headed south of Madrid, run from 4 Estación Sur de Autobuses (C/ de Méndez Álvaro, 3, ☏ +34 914 684 200) which is 1 km southeast of Atocha. Routes include Lisbon (3 per day, 8 hr, by Avanza), Milan (twice a day, 26 hr, by Alsa) and Paris (daily, 16 hr, by Flixbus). The metro stop is Méndez Álvaro on line 6 . It also has a Cercanias train halt. The building is quite old, but adequate, with several bus company ticket offices, a retail corridor with a couple of cafes, and toilets.

Buses to the north, e.g. Barcelona and Bilbao, run from 5 Estación de Avenida de América (Avda de América, 9), 2 km northeast of the centre. It's a big transport hub on metro lines 4 , 6 , 7 , and 9 . It's not on a Cercanias line.