Madrid Spain to Granada Spain
 

My son is going to Granada Spain to study beginning Aug 27. He flys into Madrid Airport, we found a train from Madrid Atocha to Granada, with only 2 hours between landing in Madrid and the train leaving for Granada. Based on what I read in some of the responses, that may not be enough time. What is the best way to get from the airport to Atocha train station. He is 19 and traveling alone, sounds like there are specific places to find a taxi that are better than others.
Thanks for any info

There is no way he'll get to Atocha to get the train that departs two hours after his flight lands, even if the flight is on time, he'll have to clear immigration (if he is flying from outside of the Schengen zone) and claim his luggage.
Have you checked the price of flights from MAD to Granada? Try Iberia, SpanAir and Vueling. Sometimes you can get good prices if you book in advance.

Leave 3/4 hours between flight/train but be prepared to buy a new ticket if they flight is late. Same goes for flight to Granada. If your US flight arrives late, and new flight is on separate ticket, you will have to buy a new one.

If you DO buy an air ticket, try to go with a company that leaves from the same terminal as anything going in or out of T4 to another terminal will take you another 30 minutes or so changing time.

If he has never been to Madrid, he could overnight in the city and continue the next day.

I like to go into the city on the easy BUS for1Euro. It leaves you at the very beginning of Madrid Salamanca district, and from there a taxi to Atocha is quick and much cheaper than from the airport.

He also will have no change, as on the metro.

You should also look into bus travel from Madrid to Granada.
I understand that there are far more busses every day on this route than trains. It actually takes less time, also. I can't give you specifics or timetables but specifics are probably available from guidebooks like Lonely Planet or Frommers. I would look into it through the Granada section of each guidebook. We will probably take the bus in October after our 3 day stay in Madrid.

Pat

I think your son could possibly make the train that leaves 2 hours after landing but it would be extremely tight. If he attempted this he's probably need to take a taxi in order to make it on time. I've made trains within 1.5 hours of landing (plane landing an hour late) but it was extremely stressful and I also knew exactly how to navigate the Madrid airport and Atocha train station.

It would be better if he could take a later train or bus (or even fly) as suggested - just to be sure he makes his connection to Granada. The bus doesn't take any longer than the train and there are even a few supra (deluxe services) bus each day.

You can pre-buy whatever bus/train you THINK will coincide well with your schedule, as long as you won't be too horribly upset/ inconvenienced time-wise and economically should your flight leave late and not get in when scheduled to.

Thanks for all the info, we did look at the bus schedule, there are many buses going to Granada and that may be the best idea. There are only 2 trains, and one is kind of late. He could just stay in Madrid the first nite and then make the trip the next day. He's not worried about anything, but it sounds like madness to me.
Thanks again