Europe · Capital and largest city of Spain

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.

Every way there

Valencia → Madrid
7109 km · quickest by air, 15h 59m · $1,070–1,660
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Zaragoza → Madrid
274 km · quickest by road, 4h 31m · €32–44
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Bilbao → Madrid
323 km · quickest by air, 4h 4m · €90–140
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

The field note

What is in and around Madrid, ranked by how widely it is written about, how you reach it, and the nearest places where we have researched how people move.

Read the note on Madrid

What Madrid has

YScheduled flightsMadrid (MAD), 14 km
YTrains and coachesTransitous carries 126 timetable feeds for this country, 24 with real-time
NFerriesno crossing within 25 km
YDriving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
NBike and scooter shareno share feed known
NCruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.

40.417°, -3.703°

It had a population of over 3.4 million in the city proper in 2025, and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.8 million. Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), after Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU, after Paris. The municipality covers an area of 605.77 square kilometres (233.89 sq mi). Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about 660 metres (2,170 ft) above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding autonomous community of Madrid, it is the political, economic and cultural centre of the country.

Get in

Getting to Madrid

01
Madrid Barajas International Airport
All commercial flights into Madrid use this airport, which is 13 km north-east of the city.
02
Puerta de Atocha
1 km south of city centre, it's divided into two main sections, "Madrid Puerta de Atocha Almudena Grandes" for mainline and Madrid Atocha Cercanías local and regional trains.
03
Madrid Chamartín Clara Campoamor
This station is 4 km north of city centre on Metro lines 1 and 10.
04
Estación Sur de Autobuses

See

Worth seeing

Madrid is one of the top addresses in the world for art, both contemporary and not-so-contemporary, with Goya's most famous works in the Prado, Picasso's Guernica in the Reina Sofía and countless other works in those two museums and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

01
Museum Triangle
02
Royal Palace
An enormous palace, one of the biggest in Europe, with scorching plains of concrete around it.
03
Plaza Mayor
Perhaps the best known plaza in Madrid, this impressive square is now one of the main stops on any tourist visit.
04
Puerta del Sol
05
Plaza de Cibeles
Large roundabout in the city centre with the neoclassical Cybele Fountain and the imposing eclectic Cybele Palace.

Things to do

Football: the men's national soccer team don't have a fixed stadium, but often play at Bernabéu and Metropolitano stadiums in Madrid. The best known clubs are Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, both based in the Northern Suburbs. They play in La Liga the top tier, and routinely qualify for European tournaments. Other teams include Rayo Vallecano in Vallecas and Getafe in the nearby suburbs, reached by Madrid Metro.

Eat

Where to eat

Dishes popular throughout Spain are also widely served in Madrid. In addition, Madrid has a number of typical regional dishes: Gallinejas and entresijos – Lamb chitterlings fried in its fat. Very traditional and typical from Madrid city. Callos a la madrileña – A hot pot of spicy beef tripe similar to those found in Turkey and the Balkans. Cocido madrileño – Chickpea stew with meat and vegetables.

How locals move