How far is the railway station from Madrid Aiport and what is the fastest way to get there please ? Am landing at Madrid airport in the late afternoon and wonder if I should rush to the railway station of catch the domestic flight instead. Planning to travel in August but the Iberia website doesn't seem to have the flight schedule for Aug yet
Hi, Ern,
I see five flights per day from Madrid to OVD on a random day in August -- 7:35, 11:40, 3:35, 15:45, 22:00. The last one might be the only one you can catch with your arrival into Madrid. At the Asturias airport, there is a bus as late as 11:20, which you in theory can catch, but if the flight is late, you would have have to take a cab into Oviedo. People are booking summer travel now, so though the flight times might change a little, I think you can rely on the times that are showing.
The train station for trains to Oviedo from Madrid is Chamartin (there are several stations in Madrid, so you have to know where you are going). It's about a 12 minute ride on a very fast commuter rail line from the airport. The commuter trains are called Cercanías and they are fabulous. From the airport, you have to get the train in T4, which is the new Iberia terminal, where only Iberia and its partners can land (they are American, British Airways, and a few more, it's the One World Alliance). All other airlines land in T1-3, which means taking an intra-airport bus to T4. They run very frequently and take about 10 minutes. But the Cercanías trains only run twice an hour from the airport.
RENFE doesn't release train tickets for sale until about 3 months (?) before the trip. You can get an idea of times though by looking at current schedules. I see a bunch of trains, (for a late afternoon arrival to Madrid, it is currently showing 5 pm, 5:30 pm and 6:30 pm), so you have to figure out if those would work for you.
Madrid also has an excellent metro system, which connects the airport to the train station as well. It will take longer and will require a change in Nuevos Ministerios, I think, but will also get you there. And if you arrive in T1-3, it may be easier.
My default Camino travel is to book a domestic flight from Madrid to my starting point, as part of my international ticket. Then I make my return ticket from Santiago-- there is an early morning flight that arrives in time for all of the US-bound flights. As others have said, it usually add very little to my overall cost, is most hassle-free, and if I miss the connection, the airlines has to figure out how to get me there. That is not the case if you miss a connection that is a separate ticket. But it sounds like you may already have that international ticket.
Anyway, hope this isn't too much information, but I know you want to get yourself to the starting point. Worse thing that happens is that you spend the first night in Madrid and catch a train or bus the next morning to Oviedo.