Considering the downtown area and the outskirts, in Madrid we can count four millions and a half inhabitants and most of them use the public or private transport to go around the city. Every day there are more and more people using the Metro of Madrid that in the last month reached the record number of 59 millions trips and it proves that this means of transport is vital for any Madrilenian. If you are new in the city and don’t want to get stifled by the huge human waive, follow the tips of this post.
Before anything else, you’d better understand that Metro de Madrid and Cercanías Renfe (trains) are organised in different zones, from the center to the outskirts. Each pass only allows you to move inside the zone what you paid for and its inner zones.Therefore, travelling to an outer zone station from your origin will force you to pay another ticket. You can easily see how the different zones are organized on a Metro map.
Depending on how many days you are going to stay or the reason you came to Madrid, we distinguish between:
Coming as a tourist
For all of you Metro de Madrid offers a Touristic Pass that you can purchase as soon as you land to Barajas airport, at terminals 2, 4 or at any metro station.
The pass includes unlimited trips with Metro, Cercanías Renfe and buses during the days you choose – you can choose 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 days – and for the zones you need: zone A includes the city centre and the airport; zone T allows you to travel through the whole transport net, also to Toledo and Guadalajara. You can see the fares according to zones and days here. If you are going to stay more than a week, you will be able to recharge the card.
Coming as a student or worker
In the event of staying for a long period of time in Madrid, you can choose among a great variety of offers, depending on your use of the public transport. If as a worker or student you need to travel daily to your job or university, you should purchase a Personal Card that you can request giving your personal information on the website www.tarjetatransportepublico.es. On this card you will be able to charge each kind of pass you need, like for example a monthly pass. You can also charge a single trip if on a single occasion you need to go to a zone that is not included in your pass.
If you are younger than 26 the best choice is the Youth Pass. With this card the monthly pass only costs 20€ and you can travel wherever you want in the whole net of transports of the Madrid region.
Once you get your pass, don’t forget to go out without a metro map and, if you get lost, ask any ticket inspector or any passengers for information. Surely they will be kind and try to help you whether you speak Spanish or not. Of course if you speak Spanish it would be everything easier! If you want to learn Spanish in Spaneasy, you can reach us very easily hoping off at Sol station, as we are located right in Madrid city center.
If you have recently arrived to Madrid tell us on the comments below how you survived to your first Metro trips.
Fun things to do in Madrid
Fun activities you can do in Madrid with friends or by yourself if you are all bored or you just want to forget for a few hours of your work or studies.