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Route

Bilbao to Madrid

2 ways to get from Bilbao to Madrid

Bilbaoany addressMadridany address
Regional train
4h 31 published
From
from €18 by regional train
Distance
395.1 km by road
Operators
Renfe
Frequency
~2 regional train a day
  • Transfer ~4h 27 est. drive
  • Regional train 4h 31
BilbaoMadrid
  • Transfer~4h 27 est.
    any addressany address
  • Regional train4h 31
    Bilbao-AbandoMadrid-Chamartín
Drawn from the connection data on this page — not an illustration.

Journey times, operators and connections for the routes we cover. You book with the operator; we show you who runs it and how long it takes.

Options by mode

Journey times and carriers on this route.

Transfer~4h 27 est. drive
Bilbaoany addressMadridany address

door to door

Private road transfer — availability and price depend on the provider; this is not an offer

Before you land

The parts people get wrong. Each one links to where we checked it.

  • Easy to get wrong

    Bilbao-Madrid is not an AVE service -- it runs as Alvia, using variable-gauge trains that reach 250 km/h on the new high-speed track as far as Valladolid, then switch to slower, curvier conventional track for the rest of the way into Bilbao, which is why the roughly 4h30 journey time is longer than a similar-distance AVE corridor.

    bilbaosecreto.com · checked 2026-09-07

  • Hours

    Only 2 direct Alvia trains a day run this corridor between Bilbao-Abando and Madrid-Chamartín -- a much thinner schedule than the AVE corridors out of Madrid, worth checking well ahead rather than assuming a train every hour.

    bilbaosecreto.com · checked 2026-09-07