Transfers at Madrid

[Bmalan]

This is my first Camino! Hence some bad planning... on 11 May, I land in Madrid (from Lisbon) at Terminal 2, at 15h30, and have to get a bus to Astorga. My only two options are taking the bus at T4, which leaves at 16h45, or the bus from Estacion Sur, which leaves at 17h45. Either way, I arrive in Astorga 21h45 which is already late, so I really have no other travel option. Will 1h15 be enough for me to get from T2 to T4 and onto the airport bus, or would it be better to grab a taxi to Estacion Sur for the 17h45 bus (for which I have 2h45)? I have tried to search in previous threads... please help!

 

[peregrina2000]

This is my first Camino! Hence some bad planning... on 11 May, I land in Madrid (from Lisbon) at Terminal 2, at 15h30, and have to get a bus to Astorga. My only two options are taking the bus at T4, which leaves at 16h45, or the bus from Estacion Sur, which leaves at 17h45. Either way, I arrive in Astorga 21h45 which is already late, so I really have no other travel option. Will 1h15 be enough for me to get from T2 to T4 and onto the airport bus, or would it be better to grab a taxi to Estacion Sur for the 17h45 bus (for which I have 2h45)? I have tried to search in previous threads... please help!

Hi, Bmalan,
Welcome to the forum. First thing, know that it is totally normal to have pre-Camino nerves, jitters and anxiety, so if you weren't worrying about this you would be worrying about something else.

If you arrive on time, and if you are not checking luggage (that would be a priority of mine), you should have plenty of time to make it over to T4. The buses run very frequently and take about 10 minutes, if memory serves. A few years ago, on a non-Camino trip, our flight into T4 arrived too late to make our connection, and the Iberia people rebooked us on an EasyJet flight leaving out of T2 about an hour and twenty minutes later. We also had to go pick up our checked luggage at T4 and then take the bus, check in for our flight in T2, get through security, and to the gate. We made it with time to spare. Just to say that if you are on time you should make it fine.

The fact that both buses arrive at the same time leads me to believe it is the same bus with a stop at both places. And one last comment --9:45 pm is not late in Spain. People are just starting to think about going out to dinner at that time, so you will find lots of people and activity in the streets. So, don't worry, things will work out! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Givesome]

Hi BMalan See the schedules of the Madrid airport terminal shuttle here: http://www.aeropuertomadrid-barajas.com/transportation/connections-between-terminals.htm

You arrive at T2 on 15h30 and according the schedule there is a bus every 5 minutes between terminals.

 

[Jan_D]

According to the information on the Gronze website the albergue closes at 11pm over the summer (and 10pm the rest of the year - I'm assuming May counts as summer?) The private albergue closes at 10:30pm. You can't reserve at either. You should be ok, but you might want to make sure you know the exact route you need to take from the bus depot to your accommodation once in Astorga, as they tend to be quite strict about curfews.