Madrid is a modern, vibrant city, offering many services for citizens and tourists. Have a look at our guide to discover the transportation system (the subway, mostly) - Metro de Madrid - and don’t miss any tips to get the most out of the facilities in Madrid, while exploring each neighborhood!

Those who decide to live in Madrid, may be quite happy to find out that this city has several lines and different types of transportation around Madrid (inside the M-30 highway) and the surrounding communities. Some of these services work 24/7, while others stop at very late night, but still the city always offers other alternative options to get where you need on time and safely! Moreover, an important plus is that the public transport in Madrid is fast, affordable, clean and well maintained. With 13 different lines, Metro de Madrid definitely is one of the things that locals and tourists appreciate the most about this city!

Read our article to discover more about Metro de Madrid, the many ticket options and how to get your personalised transport card.

Ticket and prices for the Metro de Madrid

When approaching the ticket machines, you’ll have several options and might be a little bit tough to pick one without knowing the areas of the city and the transportation services.

First of all, you need to know that you can get all over the areas inside the M-30 highway using the same integrated ticket for Metro de Madrid and for bus. 

There also are other available options (Cercanías - Renfe trains), but they’re rather used to reach further distances, like the airport or the many suburbs. 

Well, how to choose your ticket? Depending on the period you’re staying in Madrid, you can decide to buy mid and long-term tickets or short-term options.

Anyway, our tip is to take a couple days to evaluate if you really use the public transport service or your itineraries are walkable: if you live in the centre of Madrid and your university or workplace also are located in the city centre, probably you won’t really need a monthly card.

Monthly transportation card in Madrid

If you’re moving to Madrid for a period of time longer than 1 month, you may need a monthly transport pass, called “Abono”. 

How does the Abono work? It’s valid for 30 days and gives you full access to all the public transport services: Metro de Madrid, bus and Cercanía trains.

There are two types of monthly pass: Abono Joven, the youth card for under 26 of age, which costs 20€ a month and Abono Normal, the standard one for over 26 of age, with a price of 54,60€  for the zone A (more zones included means a higher price).

Our tip is to order your own transport card online, 3 weeks before moving to Madrid. Skip to the end of the article to read how to apply for your personalised card!

Single ticket and 10 trips ticket 

If you’re only visiting Madrid or if you don’t need to use public transport every day, you can opt for a single ticket or, even better, for a multi card: a 10 trips ticket for the Metro de Madrid (and for the buses) that you can use whenever you want to! 

Travel pass for tourists in Madrid

Tourists may want to get the most out of their stay in Madrid and explore every location possible! Therefore, our tip is to get the Madrid tourist travel pass, which includes unlimited journeys throughout the zones A and T (from 1 to 7 days). There are different fares, depending on the zones and the number of days selected.

Order online your transportation card for Metro de Madrid and other services 

You can obtain your personalised card for Metro de Madrid and other transportation services before your arrival in the city; you’d better order it at least a couple weeks before the date of your move in. This is definitely the best way to save money once you arrive in Madrid: instead of paying for other useless fares, you can have your monthly Abono as soon as possible.

Once you fill the form in the Consorcio de Transportes de Madrid webpage, your request will be processed and your card will be sent at the shipping address you indicate within maximum 15 working days.

Here there’s a brief step by step description of the process to follow to get your personal transport card online.

1. Access to the website of Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid (the link leads directly to the section to apply for the personalised card).

2. Select the option “Quiero obtener una Tarjeta Transporte Público” and proceed to the next step, by clicking “Aceptar”.

3. Select your age range, younger or older than 26 of age - and go to the next screen.

4. Select the type of personal document (“pasaporte” is the passport and “DNI no español” stands for your own national ID card). Then type the number of the document and go to the next step.

5. If you want to order your card online, then select “iniciar solicitud on-line”, or you can also get an appointment in person (by “Cita previa”) at one of the offices of CTM and proceed to the next screen.

6. Now you have to insert your personal data and here’s mandatory to give a Spanish address and Spanish number (feel free to use our contact information also as a shipping address, but do not forget to inform us about it, so we can safely collect it for you!).

7. Upload a photo in colours of you (that will go on the card) and a copy of your ID or passport; then accept terms and conditions to skip to the next step.

8. You have to pay a 4€ fee for your card to be issued. Once the process is successfully completed you’ll receive an email.

For any other questions we’re here to help you...and we can’t wait to see you getting around Madrid!