Means of transportation

The underground and public transport

After the fall of Franco’s dictatorship in the 1980s, the city has undergone a long, huge renovation process, one of the best results of which is its transport system. You won’t feel the need for a car in Madrid: the underground takes you everywhere in the city in less than half an hour, all the stations are new, the trains are new, there are 12 lines that cover the whole city. Probably due to the incredible night life of the city, it is one of the few underground systems in Europe that runs until 2am, with trains every 15 minutes after midnight on most lines (not one per hour!). The bus system works very well too. For more info, visit www.metromadrid.es.

By car

Traffic in Madrid is wild, as in many other Southern European cities, and finding a parking place can turn into an ordeal. So, in spite of the fact that renting a car is relatively cheap,it’s not really worth the trouble. Not even if you want to stay out at night, since if you are going to miss the 2am underground train, then it is very likely that you’ll stay out until the first train the next morning.

On foot

Once you have reached the centre of the city, where many of the interesting things are, going around on foot is a good idea, since the historical centre is not so big.