Spain → Spain · 505 km apart
Barcelona to Madrid
Take the Train — 2h 25m, from €19, 2–3 an hour
Take the train. Three operators — Renfe's AVE, plus the cheaper iryo and Ouigo — run the same high-speed line in about two and a half hours, city centre to city centre, and competition has pushed advance fares well under €40. Flying looks faster on paper at 80 minutes in the air, but El Prat and Barajas both sit well outside town and you lose the difference twice over. The coach is under half the train's price and roughly three times the journey.
Every way to make the trip
Ouigo and iryo undercut Renfe on the same track. Book ahead: walk-up AVE fares run to €95 in tourist class.
Gate to gate. Add two airport transfers and security and the train wins door to door.
Cheapest option by a wide margin, and an overnight service if you want to skip a hotel night.
Times are the fastest scheduled service for each mode; flights are gate to gate, before airport time. Fares are typical advance-booking ranges, not quotes. Checked 5 September 2026. Distance is straight-line — rail and road are longer.
Prefer to drive?
Compare car hire at either end. Returning the car in the other city usually adds a one-way fee — check it before you book.
Check live fares
The cheapest fare our own price crawler has recorded on this pair is $29. It is a price we saw, not one on offer now.
A travel eSIM gets you online the moment you land in Spain — data plans start at $4 — no roaming bill, no queue for a local SIM, and nothing to swap in and out of your phone. Install it before you fly.
Both ends of the trip
Travelling the other way? The comparison is the same — Madrid to Barcelona runs on the same services, and both directions are covered above.