Best way to get from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid?

[Sharni]

Hi, I'm not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but I can't seem to find any details which surprises me because I would have thought there would be a few people going from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid (which makes me think I am missing it :? )

I have a flight booked from Madrid to Paris which leaves Madrid at 5.00pm on a Saturday. My question is what is the best way to get to the Marid airport from Santiago de Compostela?

Thanking you for your patience

 

[lindamac]

The best and quickest option is to fly from Santiago to Madrid, Ryanair is pretty cheap and has a few flights each day.

 

[sillydoll]

If you scoll down to the SEARCH bar at the bottom of the Forum page and type in "Santiago to Madrid" you will find a few pages with old posts asking the same question.

Besides flying you can also take on overnight, Hotel Tren (which you must book if you want a bed) aor you could go by bus.

 

[Whalleyranger]

Ryanair (used to, don't know if they still do) have a flight which leaves SCQ at around 11.30 to land at MAD an hour later which will give you plenty of time to check-in to your 5pm flight. Remember though that if the Ryanair flight is delayed or cancelled, neither airline will take any responsibility for your onward connection. I did this last year, when connecting from Ryanair to Easyjet in Madrid. I'd left myself 7 hours in Madrid so I was fine with the 90 minute delay, but the man next to me on the flight almost definitely missed his onward flight as he'd only left himself two hours to connect.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

SANTIAGO COMPOSTELA 07:00
A CORUÑA/LA CORUÑA 08:00 08:00
LUGO 09:15 09:15
PONFERRADA 10:30 10:40
MADRID ESTACION SUR 14:45 15:00
AEROPUERTO MADRID-BARAJAS T4 15:30

The fare is about 60 Euro.

 

[camino07]

I flew with Spanair from Santiago to Madrid last September and had plenty of time to collect my backpack ,catch the bus to Terminal 4 and then the minitrain to the check in desk for my Australian flight. I had been so worried as I only had 2 hrs to connect. However there was no flight delay.
On my inward journey,due to a 1 hr delay I missed my Lisbon flight ,had to pay for another flight myself and to crown it all my backpack got left in Madrid. Not a good start to my Portuguese Camino but luckily my pack arrived next day. I will make sure I have a few extra hours to connect this year.

 

[daesdaemar]

Best way by far is to fly if you get a good fare.

 

[+@^^]

depends....
if you want sedate and scenic
then take the day TALGO train
Euro 42
8 hours (?)
it covers the VDLP route as far as Ourense
its got a snax carriage so you can walk about and grab a cafe colo and jammon sarmie
and watch the world go by

 

[Anniesantiago]

If you're not in a hurry, I'd check with the bus schedules and/or train.
The countryside is lovely and the trains and buses in Spain are VERY comfie.
I took a bus from Santiago to Sevilla and really enjoyed the ride.

 

[camino07]

Thanks Falcon and Tam for this info. I am thinking about taking the train instead of flying to Madrid this trip, to see the scenery.My question is can I wait until Santiago to book or should I book in advance before leaving home.
I would prefer not to be tied to a specific day until I finish my CF.
Can any of you wonderful people recommend a cheapish hotel/Hostal in Madrid for a night or two?
Also is the station an easy walk from the Cathedral or would I need transport?
Cheers
Heather

 

[Anniesantiago]

Heather, when I was in Madrid, I just walked down the main street and looked up above my head. There were plenty of signs for habitaciones.
I think we paid $25 for a double ensuite.

 

[AJ]

If you're not in a hurry, I'd check with the bus schedules and/or train.
The countryside is lovely and the trains and buses in Spain are VERY comfie.
I took a bus from Santiago to Sevilla and really enjoyed the ride.

I took the train two years ago and enjoyed it. I can't remember the fare, but I don't think there was much change out of 50 Euro. I think it took about 10 hours. There is an overnight train with sleeping cars too.

 

[sillydoll]

There are backpacker’s hostels that offer a 4 person dorm for 19 euro or a 6 - 9 bed dorm for 17 euro at Los Amigos Opera.
At Los Amigos Sol you will pay 24 euro for a 4 bed dorm, 21 euro for a 10 bed dorm, 24 euro for a 6 bed with bathroom. Friday and Saturday costs more.
http://www.losamigoshostel.com/b/english/index.htm

Welcome Hostel 90 rooms up to 4 beds single and double. From 13.90€ http://www.hwelcome.com/quienessomos.php?i=eng

 

[camino07]

Thanks everyone for your help. I think I will just go and not book accomodation but I would like a single with ensuite. I don't mind communal sleeping on the Way but not afterwards.
10 hours seems a long time to sit in a train so I may rethink that.
Heather

 

[Deleted member 3000]

For 50.60 Euro:

Station Arrive Depart
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA 13.53 13.55
O CARBALLINO 15.02 15.03
OURENSE 15.24 15.46
A GUDINA 16.50 16.51
PUEBLA DE SANABRIA 17.27 17.28
ZAMORA 18.46 18.47
MEDINA DEL CAMPO 19.37 19.38
SEGOVIA AV 20.31 20.33
MADRID-CHAMARTIN 21.08

 

[vjpulver]

I chose to take the overnight bus from Santiago to Madrid. It took me directly to the airport.

Madrid is accessible from the airport - taxi, buses, etc. so spending the day exploring the Plaza Mayor, Puerto del Sol, etc is an option. The metro is excellent and the city is walkable.

While the bus is not really too comfortable, I found that I enjoyed being among the people rather than with tourists and people who are in a hurry or who are not interested in engaging with life. The lovely encounters I had on the bus are among my favorite memories. For this pilgrim, the bus was a delighful, affordable, practical solution.

FYI: at the airport my plane was delayed and then cancelled, but when the people at the desk saw that I was a pilgrim, I suddenly found myself on a direct flight to my destination in the USA in FIRST CLASS too! Not exactly a Camino miracle, but it was a wonderful end to that 40 days of living of living in spartan conditions and dealing with considerable ambiguity...I felt like I was in heaven when the attendent brought me champagne!

"Ginn"
Peregrina Pulver - Apr/May 2009
Watching the Snow Melt (Finally) in Sunny SC

 

[+@^^]

hi Heather
this is not everybody"s thing...
i booked the train ticket only the day before departure, from a Stiago travel agency (right next door to the baggage lock-up), and there were plenty seats available - you might even be able to just pitch, but i wanted a bit of certainty
easy walk from the Cathedral to the station (15mins max)
i took the train into Madrid/Chamartin station, connected directly and took the metro to Puerta do Sol
i wanted to stay in the old part of Madrid
i stayed at the Victoria hotels (real squeeze-in places, but very central - about half a block off the square) cost relatively expensive at 39 euro
and i was v happy with the hotel's position - the square was a huge hub of activity - worth the extra euros
you make me excited to be there

 

[Sharni]

SANTIAGO COMPOSTELA 07:00
A CORUÑA/LA CORUÑA 08:00 08:00
LUGO 09:15 09:15
PONFERRADA 10:30 10:40
MADRID ESTACION SUR 14:45 15:00
AEROPUERTO MADRID-BARAJAS T4 15:30

The fare is about 60 Euro.

Thanks everyone for your replies,I have been offline for a bit.

Falcon269, is the info quoted above for the train or bus and where did you get it from? I think at this stage I will go by train as i figure it would be faster than bus and more reliable than air (hopefully). Are the train stations easy to find at either end and how do I get from the Madrid station to the Madrid airport? Thanks

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Bus.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Sharni,
The train station in Santiago is an easy walk from the Plaza de Galicia. You can easily find the route on google, and there are municipal buses as well. When I was there in June, there was a lot of construction around the train station. If you're staying far from the Plaza de Galicia, I'd just inquire about buses, the system is a good one.

The train from Santiago arrives in Madrid at Chamartin train station. To get from there to the airport, I'd say the best options are taxi or metro. The metro in Madrid is great but you really have to be careful of pickpockets if you go in a busy time. You will be an obvious non-native, probably, and an easy target with a pack on your back. The metro trip from Chamartin to Barajas Airport will require two changes for the shortest route, or one change on a longer route. Either way it's under a half hour, though. The madrid metro has a very easy to navigate website, showing you stops and transfers, and there's an English version.

Depending on how much in advance you purchase the tickets, the plane price may be competitive. I've flown out of Santiago on numerous occasions and have had no problem with reliability. Just depends on whether you want to quickly tranfer back to the "real world" or whether a chug-a-chug slow journey appeals to you as an easier transition out of being a pilgrim.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[lynnejohn]

Yes I prefer the slower way to leave SDC, as Laurie has suggested. It is indeed a lovely transition - time to reflect and meditate on the previous weeks' journey. Prices I found last night: Overnight bus 43E and train 50E. Very reasonable prices I think, for SDC to Madrid. And as others have pointed out, there is also a discount for booking in advance/online.

Oh, and yes, be careful - I had my camera stolen on the metro by one of those very clever career criminal groups.

lynne

 

[alipilgrim]

I've recently booked a flight from Santiago - Madrid on Spanair for June for 27 euros.

They fly at different times on different days (ie. my original date only flew at 10:30pm so I changed to the next day for an afternoon flight)

 

[Alan Pearce]

I took the overnight train from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid 3 years ago. We had a sleeper which was fine by me as the beds are 1.75m long and I am 1.7m. My travelling campanion however was much taller so had his feet and some ankle sticking out the end. It was a fine contemplative way to finish the camino, as the train rocked and rattled us back to the real world.

You can buy cheap train tickets on line by going to http://www.renfe.es and I will be doing this soon to buy my ticket from Madrid to Seville for the start of my camino, and then the SDC to Madrid trip at the end. You cannot buy tickets on line more than 2 months in advance. I have just typed in a hypothetical travel date of Feb. 25th, and it shows that tickets for the day train leaving around 2 PM and arriving around 9PM are 20.10 for tourist class and 39.90 for first class. For the same date the overnight train [ leaving around 10.30.PM and arriving around 8AM] has seats for 30.10 [tourist] or 66.60 [first], or beds at 31.30[tourist] , 101.60[first] or 139.90 [not sure what class this is but its out of my league].

Some people say the renfe website is hard to use. I have not bought my tickete yet [too soon] but hopefully will be able to handle it when the time comes. You print the tickets out at home, as I understand it.

Buen camino

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Sharni]

Thanks for the replies, I only have Internet on my phone at the moment so it makes it hard to research these sort of things on the tiny screen I still am unsure what I will do, I have to be at the airport in time for a 5pm flight. Does Madrid only have the one airport? If I get a plane from Santiago de Compostela it will eliminate having to then transfer to the airport from the Bus/train station (and hopefully avoid pickpockets) Anyway our Internet plan renews soon so I will do some looking around. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Canuck]

...139.90 [not sure what class this is but its out of my league]...
Life is joyous.

Hi Alan,

I don't mean to brag about it, but that's the plan I use.
I find it relaxing and rewarding after the long walks.
It includes the private sleeper, dinner and breakfast. It's nice to start dinner with champagne and follow with 5 courses, leading to the unavoidable ''aguardiente'' de hierbas or orujo. 8)
Breakfast is of the same venue.

As you say: Life is joyous...disfruta la vida.
Jean-Marc

 

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Jean-Marc

It is, as you say, wonderful to start dinner with a glass of champagne! My spending decisions on the camino are, by necessity, price-driven, so I shall not be able to follow your custom. But I am so pleased for you that you have found such a good way to reward yourself, and to put a closure to the physical side of your camino. Thanks for posting.

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[Canuck]

Hi Jean-Marc

...I shall not be able to follow your custom...

Thanks Alan,

If by chance we are travelling the same route together some day, you'll be my guess.
Take it as promise and file it with your IOU's.
Cheers,
Jean-Marc

 

[LTfit]

FYI just looked up the price for a Ryanair ticket Santiago to Madrid for August. Pretty cheap as they are quoting E21,99! I assume that the price will go up the closer you get to the date of departure but it is much cheaper than the bus or train. Looks like a good option.

 

[Alan Pearce]

Hi Jean-Marc

It is filed!

Happy Australia Day from a warmish Cowra [41C or 106F].

Alan

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[lynnejohn]

Well, I don't know - I just hypothetically "booked" one of those 21 euro fares on Ryanair and it came to 46.43 euros. (+taxes & fees, online check-in fees, one bag). That makes it about the same price as train or bus, or in some cases even more. I'm a very cynical ex-Ryanair customer though - and I know the faster trip to Madrid might be the best choice for many.
Buen viaje!

lynne

 

[lairdanne]

Best way by far is to fly if you get a good fare.

Try Iberia flights. they have return flights cheaper than one way.That's what my friend and I have done.

 

[Jozi]

What is the name of the local airport in Santiago de Compostela? Also, how far is it from town Centre? I'm sure there must be a shuttle service too.

 

[mspath]

What is the name of the local airport in Santiago de Compostela? Also, how far is it from town Centre? I'm sure there must be a shuttle service too.

Use this official web in English for more info re Lavacolla airport, Santiago de Compostella. Public transport to the airport is also discussed.

http://www.aena.es/en/santiago-airport/index.html