How to get from Barcelona to Madrid

Checked 2026-09-05

This is a board, not an offer: it says what runs on this route at all. Nothing here is booked, and no price was checked for a particular day — the ranges are what a ticket usually costs.

Take the AVE high-speed train — dense daily schedule, ~2.5h city center to city center, and three operators keep fares competitive; flying only pays off for onward international connections.

By air

Direct flight · Iberia, Vueling, LEVEL

4 h 20 mindaily€40 — €180

Flight itself is only about 1h20, but door-to-door add airport transfer and check-in buffer both ends; dozens of daily departures with Iberia and Vueling.

By train

High-speed AVE · Renfe AVE, Ouigo, Iryo

2 h 40 mindaily€18 — €120

30-50+ departures a day roughly every half hour to 40 minutes; fastest nonstop is about 2h25, some stopping services closer to 3h. Three competing operators keep off-peak fares low.

By bus

Intercity coach · ALSA

7 h 30 mindaily€15 — €40

Around 30-40 daily departures; fastest direct services run about 7h20, some routings with more stops take longer.

By car

Self-drive or intercity taxi

6 h 30 mindaily

About 620 km via the A-2/AP-2 inland route through Zaragoza; roughly 6-6.5h including one rest stop, longer with traffic around either city.

Could not find out: No confirmed overnight/sleeper train currently runs this route (Renfe's Trenhotel service was discontinued); exact current bus/flight fares fluctuate seasonally and were not independently verified against a live fare source.

Plan this trip with a date

Qiksy Route runs on your own Claude subscription and finds live seats, hotels and transfers for the days you name.