Madrid Transportation Tips by mindcrime

biggest in Spain Barajas airport Review

The Barajas airport is located 12km away from the city center. There are 4 terminals. The 4th terminal is a beautiful new terminal, a bit further from the others and usually the airlines I use go there. There is a free shuttle bus between T1,T2,T3 and T4.

How to go to the center:
-taxi. I never used one but it’s useful when there is no bus or metro. The cost is about 25 euros to Puerta del Sol.
-bus. There is bus that takes you to Colon square for 2,50 euros 4:30am-02:00am but also local buses that go to Avenida de America bus/metro station.
-metro. The best and cheapest option. 6:00am-01:30am. Take the pink line(N.9) and change at Mar De Cristan for the brown line(N.4) or at Nuevos Ministerios for the blue (N.10) or grey(N.6) line.

The metro ticket costs 1 euro but the best options is the metrocard that costs 6.70euro for 10 trips (metro or bus). Have in mind that going/coming to/from you have to validate an extra ticket that also costs 1euro. I took the metrocard from the machines and the menu is in English so there was no problem using the touch screen. I always travel light so I don’t have any problem with escalators, many changing lines but if you have a lot of things maybe it’s not the ideal transfer for you.

If you use Iberia for oversea flights go to the “Madrid Amigo” desk (T4). Usually, because they offer free transfer/accommodation for those who have to wait the night there for their transit flight.

Mode: TO

Phone: 902353570

Type: Airplane

How to move around Getting around Review

At www.ctm-madrid.es you can find many info (in English too) about the public transportation and a great option with a recommended path between two points of Madrid, including metro, bus, trains etc You just put the name of the street or the name of the attraction!!

metro
I think the Metro network of Madrid is very useful and probably the most convenient way to move around the city. The only problem is that sometimes you need to change line more than once so you loose some time. The metro runs daily 06:00-01:30 and the ticket costs 1euro. I always buy a metrocard which costs 6.70euro and gives you 10 rides (every time you validate it there is a marking at the back). There are also 1day passes for 4euros, 2days(7euros), 3days(10euros), 5 and 7 days. http://www.metromadrid.es
There are 11 lines, each one has different color and number so it’s easy to check the map (free maps provided at the stations). Just check the direction of the train, usually written at the front panel of the train or somewhere on the platform. You can easily buy your tickets/metrocards from machines with touch screens (with menu in Spanish/English/german).

walking
Although the metro is very useful for some spots the center of the city can be easily done by walking. Madrid is a big city, with traffic, pollution and kind of dirty but it’s the only way to “see” a new city. Take a good map, make a plan of the sights you want to visit and follow your itinerary. What I always love in Madrid is the Tapa bars in every corner where you can drink your beer and eat something light before continue. Some times we stop in so many of them that there’s no need for lunch till late at night! :)

Car/buses
I don’t think it’s a good idea to rent a car in Madrid because of the traffic. The metro runs 6:00-1:30am and the local buses till 23:30. After that hour there are 20 night buses departing from Cibeles square. And there are also many taxis of course, they are painted white with a red stripe, If you the lam on top lighted just raise your hand.

Bikes
I noticed some bike rental shops around but for the same reason (traffic) I was afraid to use any but I guess it will be nice in less busy streets or at Retiro Park. The cost is about 12-15 euros per day.
BIKE SPAIN TOURS is at Plaza de la Villa 1 (Sol/Opera metro stations), tel:+34 915590653
TRIXI MADRID is at Calle de los Jardines 12 (Sol/Gran Via metro stations) tel:+34 915231547
OTERO is at calle Segovia 18, tel:+34 915473225
One of the funniest moments was back in 2005 when a bike protest took place in Madrid. I was in Gran Via and I saw hundred of naked bikers protesting for letting the cycles allowed in the metro!

Tourist buses
Another way to see Madrid is to take a tourist bus(pic 1). There are three of them Red(historical madrid), Blue(modern city) and Green(monumental Madrid). The tour is audio guided (in several languages). It costs 16euros for a day or 21e for 2 days and you can ride them as much as you want. Check their site at www.madridvision.es for discounts.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Other