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Toledo to Madrid

Trying to find the most efficient way to get from Toledo to Madrid. Would like to avoid rental car if possible. Not having luck with scheduling on Rail Europe. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted by
1994 posts

It's about 30 minutes by train, and there are frequent trains all day long. No need to buy the tickets ahead – you can just buy them at the station when you go. Don't look at Rail Europe for schedules – it's a third-party ticket vendor and they only list the tickets that they sell. Look at bahn.com to get the schedule.

Posted by
15784 posts

Or use the Spanish rail site renfe.com There are frequent trains (1/2 hour trip) all day.

Posted by
4535 posts

The train is convenient and frequent. It's schedule is more like a commuter rail schedule. Ticket lines at Atocha can be very long, so either be prepared by showing up early or stop by a day before to buy your ticket. Lines there are usually divided into "tickets for today" and "tickets for a later day."

There is also a bus that is about as frequent. I don't know the details on that but someone here might.

The renfe website is the official Spanish rail website. Rail Europe does not show all schedules and is way overpriced.

Posted by
1178 posts

The train is the way to go!! Get the ticket at the station in Toledo (It is to the left as you enter the front door) one half hour trip, non stop, will end at the Atocha station.

Posted by
348 posts

Definitely go by train. I strongly prefer using cars as much as possible, but took the train from Madrid and back and was glad I did. It's a short bus ride from the train station in Toledo to the Plaza Zacodover. We bought the tickets in advance through Renfe's web site. It was pretty easy and we were able to reserve seats. I don't recall the exact timing of our purchase, but I tried to book very early (Feb or March for a July trip) and had to wait as there was a limit to how far in advance we could book. But we were able to book well in advance of the trip.

Posted by
23626 posts

We used the bus. Great service, about as fast, and very cheap. The bus used to drop you at the plaza on top but now I understand that it is near the train station and you have a long walk up or grab a local bus.