I will be arriving at Barajas Airport in Madrid and taking the Expres Aeropuerto bus to Atocha Station which I understand only goes as far as Plaza de Cibeles. How far is Plaza de Cibeles from Atocha Station and what is the best way to get to the station.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The bus goes all the way to Atocha station at all times of day except 23:30-6:00. See the location on Google maps if you need to travel that late.
Posted by
Washington DC
28082 posts
Unless you're arriving quite late, the bus does go to Atocha.
Maps.google.com will allow you to see the route and distance if you are arriving late and your bus stops at Plaza de Cibeles. It's just about exactly 1 mile, a straight shot down Paseo del Prado. Google provides some information on bus options, all of which seem to involve a substantial amount of walking, to the point that I think it would be simpler just to walk the entire distance. If you want to maximize time indoors and your trip falls within the period when the subway (Metro) is open--6 AM to 1:30 AM--you can take Line 2 from Banco de España (near the Plaza--you'll see it on the Google map) to Sol and transfer to Line 1 toward Atocha (end of line: Congosto). This might well take longer than walking, but you'd be protected from the weather. The Metro is easy to use, but I don't know how easy it is to avoid stairs.
If you are heading for a train at Atocha, the Renfe Cercanias Metro station is probably your best bet, though it's on the opposite of the station from the fast trains. If you are heading for a hotel near Atocha, there's a good chance the similarly-named Atocha Metro station would be better.
If you are able to take the bus all the way to Atocha and are staying at a hotel in that area, have a map with you; trying to navigate from the bus drop-off spot can be a bit confusing.
Posted by
California 🦋
5294 posts
We took the C 1 Line, Cercanias train, from Terminal 4 to Puerta de Atocha Station.
If you will be transferring to an AVE train on the same day, your Cercanias ticket will be free
- You may read about it here: http://www.aeropuertomadrid-barajas.com/transportation/madrid-airport-bytrain.htm
You may check Cercanias train schedules here: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/madrid/
The Cercanias train runs every 30 minutes from the Barajas Airport, & travel time to Atocha is only 25 minutes.
Make sure you choose the following when looking up schedules on above website:
- Departure point: Aeropuerto T4
- Destination: Atocha
Choose a date no more than 2 weeks in advance to see schedules for this route.