How to get from Madrid airport to the city center? Unlike other Spanish cities, getting to the center of Madrid after landing at Barajas airport isn’t immediately clear. That’s why I decided to write this guide to help you save time and choose which means of transport to use.
The options for getting between Madrid airport and the city center are numerous and available at all hours of the day and night; in this guide, you’ll find all the relevant details on transport, prices, and stops.
Read also: The most convenient areas to stay in Madrid
Madrid airport terminals
Premise: Madrid airport (Barajas) has 4 different terminals, the first 3 (T1, T2, T3) built in a substantially interconnected area, while terminal 4 (T4), i.e., the airport’s most modern, largest, and busiest terminal, is built in a different area that’s separate and at a certain distance from the others.
For this reason, both for catching your flights (and for calculating the time needed to reach the right terminal) and for figuring out where that train or bus you wanted to take departs from, you always need to check which terminal your flight will depart from or arrive at.
The following map, taken from the Madrid public service website, will help you understand better what I mean (or confuse you even more):
Train
Pros: it’s the cheapest and fastest
Stop: at terminal T4
Times and details: on the Renfe (railway company) or the airport website
Price: €2.60
The train between Madrid airport and the city center is the most practical solution and quite fast (we’re still talking about almost half an hour, given the distance) for getting between the airport and the center roughly between 6 AM and midnight.
Train prices and stops for Madrid airport
If you’re at the airport, you’ll need to be at terminal T4 and follow the signs for the train stop.
If you’re at a different terminal from T4, no problem: you can get there by taking the free shuttle bus that runs cyclically between the 4 terminals approximately every 10 minutes. To board this shuttle, just follow the signs for the bus stops. If, once on the bus, it seems like you’re passing the same terminals several times before reaching T4, don’t worry, you haven’t made a mistake; it’s just the bus that at terminals T1-T2-T3 passes by both departures and arrivals before heading to T4.
To reach the center of Madrid, the two most suitable stops are Recoletos (northeast of the center) or Atocha (southeast).
Tickets can be bought at the two machines located at the entrance to the corridor leading to the platforms. You’ll need to select Atocha as your destination, the fare is always €2.60 (zone 4), and then board trains C1 or possibly C10, which run approximately every 15-20 minutes. You’ll find more details about the line in the links above.
Metro
Pros: the metro network allows you to get closer to your accommodation
Stops: one under terminals T1-T2-T3 and one at T4
Times and details: Line 8 of the Madrid metro (map)
Price: varies approximately between €4 and €6
Getting from the city center to Madrid airport by metro and vice versa is a slightly more inconvenient solution than the others, but it might be the only feasible one depending on where you’re staying in Madrid (if you haven’t booked your accommodation yet, first read the guide to the best areas to stay in Madrid).
Metro price and stops for Madrid airport
In fact, metro line 8, which conveniently passes under all airport terminals (so you just need to follow the signs with the metro symbol to get to the platform), doesn’t reach the center of Madrid, forcing you to get a metro map and study your route, which will require at least 1-2 metro changes to reach the main destinations in central Madrid, obviously extending travel times.
The ticket price isn’t very “practical” either, in the sense that it varies depending on your destination (i.e., it’s equal to the standard Madrid metro fare for the zones crossed plus a fixed airport supplement of €3).
If you’re staying in the eastern part of the center, i.e., near Atocha or Recoletos stations, you should definitely take the train mentioned earlier, while if you’re staying further away, to avoid walking across the entire city center (or taking a taxi), you’ll be better off planning your metro journey.
If you haven’t booked yet, first take a look at the guide to the best areas to stay in Madrid.
On this page, you can find all the Madrid metro maps that will also be useful if you plan to use public transport later to get around the city, and other information about tickets.
Finally, if you’ve already planned to use the metro to get around central Madrid to visit the city, consider getting one of these upon arrival:
- 10-journey tickets (price table here) to which you can add the “airport supplement,” which costs less than a single ticket to/from the airport;
- 1-2-3-4-5-7 day tourist tickets (viewable here), which, however, don’t allow the addition of airport supplements, requiring a separate ticket for the airport.
You may like: What to visit in Madrid: complete map
Bus
Pros: for those who need to get to the airport at night;
Stops: at terminals T1-T2-T4;
Times and details: on the EMT website;
Price: €5
The Express Bus line to and from Madrid airport is a choice that could be particularly useful if you need to leave at night or very early in the morning, as it’s the only means of transport to the airport between midnight and 6 AM when the train service resumes.
Bus price and stop for Madrid airport
The price to get to Madrid airport by bus is €5, and you can view the route details on the EMT website; on the page, look for the box related to the Express bus.
This airport bus has its terminus at Atocha train station during the day, while during night hours, the last stop is at Plaza de Cibeles.
This fact deserves special attention. Plaza de Cibeles has a somewhat peculiar layout, and the stop where you get off when arriving from the airport isn’t the same one from which you depart to return. This information isn’t very clear at the stops themselves and risks wasting some of your time, especially at night.
For this reason, below you see a map with the precise points from which the Express bus to the airport departs and arrives: the yellow dot indicates the departure stop towards Madrid airport (in front of the post office building), while the red one indicates the arrival stop when coming from the airport.
Taxi
The last alternative to reach Madrid airport is a taxi, which costs approximately €30 from the center.
You can clearly call a taxi from almost anywhere, but an experience worth sharing might happen to you if you’re at the Cibeles stop at night waiting for the Express bus mentioned above.
A taxi driver might approach you at the stop, as happened to me, telling you that the bus won’t arrive because the previous service you were waiting for was also canceled (unrealistic information from the way they tell it, since the bus then arrived at its usual time – if only there was a country where taxi drivers didn’t use dirty tricks), and they’ll offer to take you to the airport for €5 per person (like the bus) if there are 4 people to fill the car.
It’s up to you whether to give in to the lie (we did, since the price was the same and time we was tight after losing a lot of time searching for the right stop) or to fight the deception and wait for the bus.
Hassle-free transfer between Madrid airport and city center
Finally, if you have a lot of luggage or don’t want to worry about public transport tickets, you can also consider using a less tricky private transfer service or one with a dedicated driver, both for journeys from the airport and for getting around the city later. Let’s look at some examples:
Transfer service in Madrid: Welcome
WelcomePickups service is a taxi-like transfer service, with a driver waiting for you in the arrivals area of Madrid airport who takes you directly to your destination address in or out of the city (or vice versa). It can also be used for journeys between any two points in Madrid or its surroundings.
This service, besides the convenience of not having to take public transport, saving time, and arriving right at your destination, becomes even more cost-effective than public transport if you’re traveling in groups, as you can then split the cost.
You can check the exact price by entering your departure point and destination here.
TaxiLeader transfer service
Another transfer service similar to the previous one, where you can also read reviews from those who have already traveled and compare prices, is TaxiLeader: the same considerations as the previous one apply… choose the cheapest way 🙂
Now that you know how to get to the airport, it’s also time to see Madrid from above, find good accommodation, and a great flight! Do a search in the box below, which compares all possible flights, highlighting the cheapest and fastest ones:
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