If we stay near the Prado Museum in Madrid, how do we best get to the airport fora flight that leaves at 7:30 am?
Would it be better for us to spend the night before our flight at a hotel close to the airport near the Barajas metro? I read somewhere that the train station between Barajas metro to the airport is permanently closed and that you need to take a bus from the Barajas metro area to the airport. Which is true?
No need to spend the night in an airport hotel. Taxi's are plentiful and as I recall the trip is about 35 Euro. You can book one in advance on line or your hotel can arrange it.
I used Sun Transfers last year for quite a few airport transfer, including one from Madrid city center to the airport at around 5am. Each experience was awesome! I highly recommend!
But I agree with what was said above. Enjoy your final night in the city center (the area around Prado is awesome!) as it's not a struggle to get to the airport that early in the morning. I would allow a good half an hour to 45 minutes travel time.
From the Prado area, the best option is the Airport Express bus. It is 5 euros, and stops at Atocha Station and Cibeles before heading out to the airport. The trip takes about 25 minutes, maybe. And I am in Spain now and can tell you the metro to the airport is not closed.
Will the Airport Express bus leave that early? If our flight leaves at 7:30 a.m., I figure they are going to tell us we need to be there two hrs before so that would be getting on the bus around 5 am. (And they may tell us to be there three hrs. Earlier than the flight). How early do you think we need to get to the airport? I hate getting there any earlier than I have to and we will not have any checked luggage.
On a personal note, we moved from Bloomington, IL to Florida nine years ago.
If you do want to take a taxi, it is a fixed fee of €30 from the center (a large defined area which includes the Prado), and no tipping is required beyond this. I'd leave at 5 PM for that 7:30 AM flight; at that early hour, the ride to the airport shouldn't be impeded by traffic.
If you want to take the bus, at that hour it goes from Plaza de la Cibeles (near the Prado), not from Atocha station. It's €5 per person, and at that hour runs every 35 minutes. Here are details from the official website; scroll down to "Línea Exprés (line 203)": http://www.aena.es/en/madrid-barajas-airport/city-buses.html
The train from Atocha doesn't leave until 6:02 AM; I would feel that is too tight for a 7:30 departure, as Madrid's airport is huge, so just getting to the airport train station could still mean lots more time getting to your check in (LOTS more if you are not leaving from Terminal 4, where the train goes). The website does say that during the closure of Metro line 8 (maybe that's the closure you read about), the train from Atocha is running more often. Details here: http://www.aena.es/en/madrid-barajas-airport/train.html
Note that terminals 1, 2, and 3 are connected, and terminal 4 and 4S are connected, but these two "complexes" are separate from each other. Be sure you know where your departure is from to avoid wasting time.
Just last week we took the taxi from Plaza Mayor to the airport and encountered no problems for a flat fee of 30 Euros.
