Madrid airport to center - should I take the metro?
Apr 25th, 2001, 12:27 PM
#3
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Dianne, <BR>If you take the metro, you'll need to change lines at least once, probably twice, and only the new short metro line going from Barajas to Mar de Cristal, where you'll make your first change, has luggage racks. The metro station at the airport is quite a loooooong walk from the international arrivals area, and the metro stations in Madrid have long corridors, plenty of steps and escalors (some are quite deep) and are not easy to negotiate when heavy laden with luggage. Plan on a minimun of 45-50 min for the trip from Barajas to a downtown hotel. I do take the metro from the city to Barajas, but only when I have no luggage and am headed to meet/pick up friends. We either return by cab or take the convenient and inexpensive yellow bus that runs from the airport to Plaza Colon. There's also a fairly new AeroCity Shuttle service that takes you directly to your hotel that can be pre-booked. See their info at www.aerocity.com <BR> <BR>As Andrea has told you, the cab fare should run 2,500, perhaps 3,000 at most, depending on the time of day and traffic situation and the location of your downtown hotel. <BR>Hope this helps.
Apr 25th, 2001, 12:39 PM
#4
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Hi Dianne! I agree with the comments by Andrea and Maribel. The walk to the metro at Barajas is long, and there are multiple stairs that you have to go up and down before reaching your final destination. However, if you are a "backpacker" type, it is really easy to do and it is not any more difficult than taking trains throughout Europe and walking with luggage from train stations in small towns to your hotel. We have taken the metro from Barajas to the Sol station (our hotel was nearby) during morning rush hour (at about 8:00 AM) and also during non-rush hours (Sunday at about 10 AM). We each had only one backpack (and not the huge kind), and we did not have any problems. It may have been a bit more difficult during rush hour if we would have had more luggage that could not have been easily accomodated between our legs, but not particularly difficult during non-rush hours. It was cheap, and we were downtown in about 45 minutes.
Apr 25th, 2001, 06:51 PM
#5
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Hello! There's a shuttle that picks you up & takes you to your hotel. We're giving them a try on our upcoming trip. There will be 4 of us & we're paying under $20.00us, It's cheaper if you have pesetas. You can find out about the at: www.aerocity.com I reached them thru their website & made a reservation which was confirmed within 24 hours. Good Luck! Mabella
Apr 25th, 2001, 09:42 PM
#6
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For us not earning the allmighty American dollar and being on a tight budget, the metro was the way to go. A Metrobus ticket which allows 10 trips on the metro cost us 775 peseta. After one goes through the turnstiles, there is no problem with passing the ticket back to your partner to use as well!!
