The best weekend trips from Madrid

When you come to our school to learn Spanish, you come to Madrid, the capital of Spain. It´s the most populated city in the country and, as you probably already know, the sunniest capital of Europe. Madrid city has plenty of monuments and activities for everyone, you can visit the best museums in Spain or spend the night partying. But if you are planning to visit other places in Spain, being in Madrid is already an advantage to travel. That’s why on this occasion I´m going to write about the best weekend trips from Madrid.

Madrid is in the very center of the country and since it was stablished as capital, more than 500 years ago, it has been the principal node of the means of transport of Spain. The result is that nowadays the main roads and high-speed railways radiate from Madrid to the rest of the country, so travelling to almost anywhere of Spain from Madrid is quite easy, there are many options and ways to get both to the coast in every direction, and to the cities closer to Madrid. But before starting your trip, go to Puerta del Sol and take a picture of the Km. 0, the starting point of the 6 radial highways and the reference for the numeration of the streets in the capital: the first number of any given street in the city is the closest to this place, the Km. 0.

Now let´s go over the means of transport in Madrid.

If you are travelling by train, the main stations in Madrid are Atocha and Chamartin. You may get to both of them via metro, Atocha is in Line 1 and Chamartín in Line 10, or via city bus, check EMT website to know which buses are the best choice for you. Atocha and Chamartín are the origin or destination of many long and medium distance trains, as well as commuter service. Spanish high-speed rail, AVE by its initials in Spanish, the longest of its type in Europe and second longest in the world after China´s, can get you to many destinations in a very short time and with a varied range of prices, depending mainly on how much time in advance you buy your tickets and the season. Always check out for discounts, either for students or special promotions. By train some of the best weekend trips from Madrid are Barcelona or Seville in 2 and a half hours from 90€ (that´s the price for a Friday to Sunday trip, if you can travel during the week, is cheaper), or to Valencia in 1 hour 50 minutes from 55€. If you prefer the north, a ticket to Santiago de Compostela, with a 3 hour trip, can be as cheap as 60€. Or closer, get to Segovia in 20 minutes for 13€ or to Toledo in 30 minutes for 11€.

A cheap option to travel is getting a bus. The main bus station for long distance buses is the Estación Sur, its metro station is called Mendez Álvaro in Line 6, however, it’s probably better to start checking out the websites of the main bus companies and they will refer you to the appropriate station once you get your ticket. Other bus stations are: Intercambiador of Avenida de América, Intercambiador of Moncloa, Príncipe Pío, all of them reachable via metro. (Intercambiador means that it’s a big station where you can change from/to metro, bus, or train).

A ticket to Barcelona is just 22€ and you can get a night bus and take advantage of your time, the trip by bus takes about 7:30 hours. One ticket to Granada in Andalusia, in a 5 hour trip, is 20€. If you want to go to Bilbao, there are buses that takes 4 hours to get there for 45€. Toledo or Segovia are one hour away from Madrid via bus and you can find tickets as cheap as 4,2€. These are just a few options of some of the best weekend trips from Madrid by bus.

Last but not least, Madrid Airport whose whole name is Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, is the second largest airport in Europe, by size, and the sixth busiest airport. There are many flights to other capitals in Spain as well as many international destinations. You can get to the airport by metro, line 8, commuter train, bus, or taxi.

Visit the Canary Islands in a 2 hours and a half flight from 85€ or go to Ibiza in a little more than 1 hour for 150€, of course the prices may vary depending on the season and whether you buy your ticket with enough time in advance. If you schedule your trip in advance, you may get a return flight to Barcelona, for a weekend, for just 65€. With this many options, there´s no excuse to travel a bit when you are in Madrid. Choose a destination in line with your interests: Spain is not such a big country, which is a good thing when planning for a weekend trip, but we are proud to have a little bit of everything. Nature, culture, great food, even not so warm climate in the north, if that´s your preference… Pick a destination and enjoy your time here!