Public Transport in Madrid: All You Need to Know

Is this your first time in Madrid and you’re not sure how to get around the city using public transport? In this post, you’ll find out the best way to get anywhere in the city while saving time and money.

Types of public transport in Madrid

Bus

You can get almost anywhere in Madrid by bus. Buses run from 6:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (the time the last bus leaves from each end of the line). There are two kinds: city buses (blue), for getting around Madrid itself, and intercity buses (green), for travelling to towns on the outskirts of Madrid.

Using the bus in Madrid is very easy: just raise your hand to stop it. Once on board, you can tap your travel card on the reader next to the driver, pay in cash (notes larger than €5 are not accepted) or pay by contactless bank card. A single ticket costs €1.50. Some seats are reserved for elderly people and pregnant women, so don’t sit in them unless you want a telling-off from the locals! You’ll recognise them by their white sticker and their different colour (green instead of blue).

Free buses in Madrid

There are two buses you can take for free to get around the city centre: lines 001 and 002. They stop on some of the main streets, such as Atocha, Paseo del Prado and Gran Vía, and you don’t have to pay for the journey, which is really handy in summer to escape the heat and avoid walking along the busiest streets at rush hour! You can catch the 001 at Atocha Station, where many bus lines stop.

Sightseeing bus tour

If you want to see the city’s main sights quickly and comfortably, you can buy a ticket for the sightseeing bus. It’s an open-top double-decker bus with an audio guide available in many languages. You can choose a one- or two-day ticket and visit Madrid’s best-known landmarks, such as the Royal Palace, the Prado Museum, the Cibeles Fountain and Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu stadium. There are two routes, lasting around 65 and 80 minutes. The bus runs from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. from March to October, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from November to February. An adult ticket costs €23 for one day or €27 for two days.

Metro

The metro is probably the fastest way to get around Madrid, and a single ticket costs the same as on the bus: €1.50 per journey within Zone A, however many stations you travel. As you can see on the section of the metro map below, each line has its own colour. The white circles mark stations where several lines meet and you can change trains. Some stations also connect to bus and train services; in Spain these hubs are called intercambiadores. You may already know the Atocha interchange, where you can take a bus, the metro or a train all in one place. 😉

You buy your ticket from the machines in the station before you start your journey, and unlike in some other European cities, you don’t need to validate it again when you leave. The metro runs from 6:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. (the last trains leave at 1:30 a.m.).

Cercanías

Cercanías are commuter trains that connect the towns around Madrid with the city centre (hence the name, from cerca, “near”). Cercanías trains, run by Renfe, work just like the metro, except that they cover longer distances, so they can cost more, and you have to pass your ticket through the barrier both when you go in and when you come out. They run from 5:30 a.m. to midnight and have their own network map, separate from the metro’s. You can see it below or here:

Electric bikes and electric scooters

Finally, in Madrid you can also get around by bike or electric scooter. Both are electric, which comes in very handy on Madrid’s steep slopes. There are two types of bikes available for hire: those from private companies and the city’s public bikes. Public bikes can be rented at BiciMAD docking stations, which are shown in the BiciMAD app and on the city’s website.

For both scooters and bikes, you need to register in a mobile app. To use Madrid’s public bikes, you have two options: buy an annual pass, or pay as you go for one, three or five days. With the pay-as-you-go option, a €150 deposit is held on your bank card; at the end of the period you get the deposit back and are charged for what you’ve used. In the app you can choose where you want to pick up your bike and reserve it. At the station, you’ll see bikes with a green light, a blue light or no light at all: green means the bike is available, blue means it’s already reserved, and no light means it’s out of service.

To return the bike, wait for the light to turn red, then push the bike into the dock and close the lock on the rear wheel. The light will turn green and you’ll hear a beep, so you know the bike has been returned.

Electric scooters can be booked through the apps of the private companies that run them, such as Uber, Bolt, Lime and Wind. Just follow each company’s steps: sign up, reserve your scooter with a credit card or PayPal, and enjoy the ride! Remember: in Madrid you must wear a helmet when riding an electric scooter or bike, and you have to ride on the road, alongside buses and cars. Keep this in mind if you don’t want to get a fine. 😉

Madrid public transport tickets: which one should you buy?

Metro and bus tickets

A single ticket for the metro or bus in Madrid costs €1.50 for any journey within Zone A. You can buy it at metro stations, at any estanco (tobacconist’s) or from the driver on the bus. If you’re travelling to or from the airport by metro, there’s a €3 supplement (in this post we explain the cheapest ways to get there).

If you’re going to make several journeys, the 10-journey ticket is much better value: it costs €7.30 and can be used on the metro and on EMT city buses, however near or far you go, as long as you stay within Zone A (the central zone, not the surrounding areas).

There’s also a tourist travel pass, which is personal and non-transferable and gives you unlimited travel by metro, bus and Cercanías trains within the zone you choose. It costs €10.30 for one day in Zone A (see the table below for other durations). You can buy it at the airport, at metro stations and at estancos, and the metro staff will be happy to help you.

Tourist travel pass prices by number of days (adults):

*The Zone T tourist pass covers the entire Renfe Cercanías, metro and bus network in the Region of Madrid.

Children, young people, people with disabilities and people over 65 are entitled to reduced fares. If you’re between 15 and 25, we strongly recommend the monthly youth travel card (Abono Joven): it covers all zones and currently costs just €10 a month.

Renfe Cercanías tickets

To travel on Cercanías, you can buy a single ticket by choosing your departure and destination stations on the machine’s screen, or a return ticket, which is cheaper than buying two singles. Note: with a return ticket, you have to make the return journey within two hours of buying it. Prices depend on how many zones you travel through; you can check the fare zones on this map.

You can also buy a 10-journey bonotren, priced by zone, for all Madrid Cercanías lines except the C-9 (the line up to the Sierra de Guadarrama). Several people can use it at the same time, as long as they’re all travelling between the same two stations.

If you take the train every day, the best option is the Renfe Cercanías monthly pass: throughout 2026 it costs a flat €20 a month for all zones (€10 for young people with the youth discount code), and you can buy it on the Renfe app or website.

And that’s it! We hope this post has helped you choose the travel card that suits you best. If you’re planning to spend a while in Madrid, why not join our Spanish courses in Madrid? We have courses for all levels, even if you’re a complete beginner: just come along and we’ll teach you. You’ll be chatting with native speakers in just a few weeks. 🚀