Spain → Portugal · 423 km apart
Madrid to Porto
Take the Flight — 1h 15m, from €40, ~10 direct a day
This is the Iberian route where the train falls apart. There is no useful direct rail service — getting there by rail means changing via Vigo or Salamanca and losing most of a day — so the real choice is a 75-minute flight or a long coach. Around ten direct flights a day cover it, and fares are often below what the AVE charges for a shorter Spanish hop. Take the coach only if the fare gap matters more than eight hours do.
Every way to make the trip
The only fast option. Porto and Madrid airports both connect to their city centres by metro.
Fastest services run about 8h30; some routings take well over ten hours, so check the specific departure.
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, and across a border it can run to several hundred euros — check it before you book.
Check live fares
The cheapest fare our own price crawler has recorded on this pair is $20. It is a price we saw, not one on offer now.
A regional travel eSIM covers you across the whole trip — no roaming bill and no hunting for a local SIM at each border. Install it before you fly.
Both ends of the trip
Travelling the other way? The comparison is the same — Porto to Madrid runs on the same services, and both directions are covered above.