Madrid Travel Forum

I will be in Madrid in October 2008 with my husband and twin 15 year old daughters.

I'm considering getting us each an Abono Turistico (Tourist travel pass) zone T.

We will be in Madrid from afternoon of 4/10 to midday 8/10. We arrive at Barajas airport and need to get to Metro Anton Martin (and back again on 8/10). We want to visit El Escorial and Toledo as well as Prado, Palacio Real and whatever else we can see of Madrid.

My question is whether the Zone T Abono Turistico will get us to Toledo or not. If not I'll just buy zone A Abonos.

Any opinions on whether the Abono Turistico is a good way to go?

Kristin

I am not too familiar with the Tourist pass. When I go to Madrid I just follow the Metro sign in Barajas and purchase the 10-ride pass (which includes a little extra for the airport terminal) - and use it. When I went to Toledo I went to Renfe and used Cercanias.

From reading the official page, it says something about an "extension" with zone T, but I'm not too clear if T is the extension, or if you have to add something.

If you do not get an exact response on this thread, before you get down to where the metro is, there is a nice Metro office where they could advise you on what to buy, and most of the people speak excellent English. Can't miss the office, it's fairly large - will be to your left before going down.

If you go to Chamartin or Atocha to get the Toledo ticket make sure you allow enough time as sometimes lines can be long - maybe not so in October.

Hi

I believe an AVE train from Madrid to Toledo has recently been introduced. To avoid the train station queues you can buy tickets at the RENFE booth at Barajas airport.

According to this map: http://www.madridcard.es/es/ZonasAT.aspx the zone T won't cover till Toledo. I think I asked Renfe about it and I got an answer, so I'll be back.

Wait, according to this page you can use the zone T touristic pass to take the bus to Toledo but not the Renfe trains: http://www.metromadrid.es/01_billetes_abonos.asp#diez (it's in Spanish only tho). It's almost at the bottom of the page and it goes like this:

"Se puede elegir entre dos zonas: la zona A, que incluye los servicios de Metro y Cercanías-RENFE comprendidos en esta zona, Metro Ligero ML1, y EMT de Madrid; y la zona T, que comprende la totalidad de los servicios de transporte público de la Comunidad de Madrid, incluidos los Metros Ligeros ML2 y ML3, el Tranvía de Parla y los autobuses interurbanos más sus prolongaciones a Guadalajara y Toledo, no siendo válidos en los Servicios Regionales de RENFE Operadora."

Thanks Everyone - especially Mariel!

Mariel - That was also my reading of the passage you quote, but I wasn't sure if my Spanish was good enough to understand it correctly.

Do you think this means that with an Abono Turistico zone T we can get on any bus to Toledo and assume we won't have to pay extra?

Thanks,

Kristin

That's what I understand the information, yes, but I only bought a zone A tourist pass so I'm not 100% sure.

Krisserlis: I e-mailed Metro de Madrid and they answered me (within 15 minutes!) saying that the zone T Tourist Pass covers Toledo and you should take the bus from Méndez Alvaro bus station, which also has a metro station. In Spanish:

"Le indicamos que el abono de zona T sí le permite llegar hasta Toledo. En ambos casos sólo le permite utilizar los servicios de autobús. Para poder llegar a Toledo tendría que dirigirse a la estación sur de autobuses en la estación de Méndez Álvaro. Esperando serle de utilidad,
Centro Interactivo de Atención al Cliente de Metro de Madrid"

We walked around a Madrid and used subway only to get to and from the airport.

On another one of our visits to Madrid since we had only 10 hours to kill we used the double decker bus and zoomed through all the 3 loops getting out for a nice cold cana and something to eat. '
I recommend the double decker bus for someone who never been to Madrid to get a sense of direction and to see how close everything is and that actually there is not much need for a subway to get around.
See my Madrid tips.

I was so into giving you the info about Toledo and zone T passes that I didn't answer the other question. My hubby and I only bought zone A passes because we weren't going to go outside of that zone. Zone A covers Barajas airport so you don't have to pay extra unless time is of the essence. We bought the passes online and picked them up at the tourist office at Terminal 2, located by the exit/entrance of metro line 8 towards Nuevos Ministerios and started using our pass right away. We needed those passes because our hotel wasn't as central as others can be and it worked really well for us.

Thanks again Mariel and everyone else! I really appreciate your advice and assistance!

kristin

By the way, be careful with your belongings in the Metro - this is not only for Madrid but for any other city. Particularly careful in the first transfer - pickpockets thrive in Nuevos Ministerios. You don't see any signs, until your back pack is open. Someone went into my backpack during a transfer when I was returning to Madrid from Santiago ... since I take precautions, they got *nothing* - but use a money pouch for your valuables, and make sure any cameras are not easily accessible.

Didn't you punch them in the face nomad? >:)

Well, I was not sure who the person was. I had gotten in the metro and a lady came and said "le estan robando!" (they're robbing you) ... so the perpetrator was in the train. Since I knew the person was still next to me (the metro doors had closed) I thanked the person and said "ahi no hay nada" (there's nothing there). Both my zippers had gotten opened though, and I never noticed it happening. They actually missed about 14 Euro I had out, but to get the cameras they would have had to lift a few sweat shirts - and my back pack is slash-proof, so they could only get to it from the bottom.

It could have been one of two people, but they were like, "uh!", "ah" ...

oops, i meant to say they could only get to it from the top, as I placed the cameras way in the bottom and "blocked" them with the sweats since I knew I was going in the metro.

If you're planning to take the high speed train to Toledo - or any daytrip for that matter - I'd suggest you purchase your tickets in advance. Not knowing this, I showed up to the Atocha station to buy a ticket for Toledo on the AVE only to discover that they were sold out. I had to wait two hours for the next departure -- and this was during the off-season.

Go nomad! Things like that can certainly ruin one's vacation!