How to get from Madrid Airport to Segovia

Traveling From Madrid-Barajas Airport to Segovia Via Highspeed Rail

By far the fastest and most exciting way to get from Madrid-Barajas Airport to Segovia is by highspeed rail. We highly recommend utilizing this option not only because it’ll save you about an hour over a car or bus, but also because Spain’s train network is second to none and definitely worth getting to know.

While Spain is a relatively large European country, the investments the government has made in its national train system over the past few decades have made the vast country incredibly accessible. When paired with the cheap, frequent, and efficient public municipal transportation systems, Spain is one of the easiest countries in the world to navigate without a car.

To access the high speed train known as the AVE (or sometimes the AVANT, or ALVIA), you’ll need to navigate from the Airport to Madrid’s Chamartín Train Station. Once you find your bags at the luggage carousel, you can get there via taxi, the metro, or a direct commuter train line run by RENFE (AVE’s parent company). In this blog post we’ll discuss the commuter train option.  

If you are not currently in Terminal 4 at the airport, find your way to a airport shuttle and make your way there and go down to the first floor. Just follow the signs for RENFE that lead to these double doors .

Before heading through however, you’ll need to buy a ticket to the Chamartín Train Station. You can buy a one way ticket using the automated machines or you can speak to a human just behind the other set of sliding glass doors. They can also help you buy your highspeed rail ticket at the same time.

Once you have your ticket, proceed through the sliding glass doors. The train you’ll be riding to get to Chamartin is a double decker and is operated by Renfe. Depending on timing, you may be riding a RENFE train on either the C-1 or C-10 rail lines coming into Termainal 4.

The train stops are quite brief so be sure to quickly climb aboard with your luggage. There are also multiple stops between the Airport and Chamartín, so be sure to keep an eye/ear out for yours when it comes up (officially called: Estacion de Madrid-Chamartin-Clara Campoamor).

 Once you arrive at the Chamartín Train Station, it will be similar to arriving at another airport. You can buy a ticket to Segovia at the ticket office or you buy an electonic ticket online www.renfe.com if you did not previously buy one with your commuter train ticket from the airport.

 When you arrive into the station, you will go up an escalator or elevator. Then begin to look for a baggage security area (this will likely be towards your left when you exit the escalator). Pay no attention to any of the other arrival screens…just keep going until you hit the security screening area. There is only one security screening area in this building..so if you see it go ahead and move through.

Not all train rides require sending your baggage through a scanner, but this one does. As a note, you must also take off your jacket and send that through as well, however there is no need to remove your shoes or you yourself walk through a metal detector.  

Once through the security screening, you will see an electronic board with green lettering indicating the train departures… This will be found on the farthest wall opposite the security screening area. Go there and look for the train number that is listed on your ticket (it will also say Segovia Guiomar beside it as well as the departure time). There is the possibility they will have already named which platform (or “Via” in Spanish) the train will be departing from. If they have, its likely a good idea to go ahead and make your way to that platform. If they have not, keep your eye on the board and take a seat until closer to the time of departure. Be sure to make it to the train on time as they leave promptly at the time indicated.  

Once on the train, sit back and relax. In about 27 minutes you will have flew under the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains and will have arrived peacefully into Segovia. But, don’t get too comfortable…it is easy to be rocked to sleep with the hum of the train. The stop in Segovia is quick, so you’ll need to be on your feet and ready to get off the train!

 The highspeed rail station is located outside the actual town of Segovia, so you will need to catch one of the frequent busses that transports passengers from the trainstation in to town. This is where you will need to consult Google Maps to determine which bus makes more sense for you to take in order to arrive closer to your accomodation. Walk outside of the train station and you’ll see a bus stop straight ahead. Again, consult Google Maps and look for either bus 11 or 12 depending on which it says will drop you off closer to where you are staying.

Once you’ve made that determination, you’ll need 2 euros per person and (at the time we visited in December 2022, a mask). Once on the bus, note the stop at which you’ll need to get off. Press one of the buttons on the wall or poles of the bus to indicate that you’d like to get off at that stop when it starts to get close.

 Whew! You’ve made it! An airplane, two trains, and a bus. While this may seem overwhelming, take each leg of the journey step by step and remind yourself that you have an amazing destination ahead of you. Just consider each transport a sightseeing vehicle. At the same time, be sure to take in how efficient and clean each of the modes of transportation is. It really is impressive!