Transportation in Spain: The Best Way to Get Around Spain

Transportation in Spain is fantastic. It’s cheap, frequent and all-encompassing, making it perfect for getting around while on vacation

There’s no doubt about it – transportation in Spain is fantastic. It’s cheap, frequent and covers pretty much everywhere you could ever want to go in the country, making it perfect for getting around while on vacation, even if you’re on a tight budget.

Transportation in Spain

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Metro

Madrid has the best metro transportation in Spain, closely followed by Barcelona. Bilbao, Seville, Valencia and Zaragoza also have metro systems, but they’re much more limited.

  • Buy tickets from counters and vending machines within the metro stations or from newspaper kiosks.
  • Single tickets cost around €1.50 ($1.70).
  • If you’re going to be traveling a lot, you’ll save money by buying a set of 10 tickets, valid for 10 different journeys across the metro and bus modes of transportation in Spain. This is known as a Metrobús in Madrid (€12.20 / $13.80) and a T-10 in Barcelona (€10.30 / $11.70).
  • Anyone who’s going to be traveling around Spain for a long time will be best off buying a monthly or seasonal metro pass which comes with an even bigger discount.
Photo by Steven Lasry on Unsplash

Bus

All towns, cities and villages across Spain have bus services ranging from fantastic in major cities to reasonable in remote villages.

  • Buy tickets directly on the bus or in advance from newspaper kiosks.
  • Single tickets cost €1-€2 ($1.10-$2.20)
  • Just like on the metro, if you’re going to be traveling a lot, you’ll benefit from buying a Metrobús in Madrid or a T-10 in Barcelona.
  • Buses run from 6am until midnight during the week and sometimes up to 2am.
  • In major cities, a night bus service (known as Búhos in Madrid and Nitbusos in Barcelona) is offered on the most popular lines which run even later into the night.
Image credit: Flickr | Socramv | CC 2.0

Transportation in Spain: Taxi

Taxi ranks are in abundance throughout Spain and you’ll find them outside common places where you’d need one (think train and bus stations, shopping malls, supermarkets, etc) as well as generally all over the place in larger cities. You can also phone for radio taxis or hail one on the street if it’s showing a green light or a Libre sign, meaning it’s available.

  • Between 7am and 10pm during the weekday, taxi prices start at €2.40 ($2.70), with an extra €1.05 ($1.20) charge for every kilometer.
  • Between 10pm and 7am, on weekends and on holidays, taxi prices start at €2.90 ($3.40), with an extra €1.20 ($1.35) charge for every kilometer.
  • Extra charges are applied for: going to/from the airport/seaport, traveling with luggage and calling a radio taxi.
  • A taxi across town in a major city costs around €10 ($11.30).
  • *A taxi from the center of Madrid/Barcelona to the nearest airport costs a flat €30 ($34) with luggage.

Uber in Spain

Although local taxi drivers are strongly against it, Uber is in Spain. But its service is limited. Just like anywhere else in the world, Uber provides a safe, reliable and affordable way to get around the country. To use Uber in Madrid, just request your cab via the app like you normally would at home. Use our exclusive discount link and you’ll get a free Uber ride (up to $20)!

The network of transportation in Spain is one of the best in Europe and there’s practically nowhere you can’t reach by hopping on the metro, bus, taxi or Uber. It’s so efficient and easy to use that we almost added it onto our list of reasons to visit Spain!

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