Madrid Estación Sur bus station
Madrid Estación Sur bus station
The Estación Sur bus station is Madrid’s main bus station. While its official name is Estación Sur de Autobuses, it is also known as Méndez Álvaro, the neighborhood where it is located. Madrileños use both names so don’t get confused.
The Estación Sur bus station is located to the south-east of the city center, on Calle Méndez Álvaro, 83 and not very far from Atocha train station. It was inaugurated in 1997.
It offers regular services to destinations all over Spain (Barcelona, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Málaga, Seville, Valencia), plus several international routes to the rest of Europe and Morocco.
Alternatively, you may be interested in reading about getting to Madrid by bus.
Estación Sur bus station: practical information
The bus station opens Monday to Sunday from 6:30 to 1:30 of the following day.
The bus station serves mainly routes to the south, east and northwest. The two most important bus companies in Spain are Alsa and Avanza but there are also many regional and smaller companies operating from here (Saimar, Daibus, Aisa, Cevesa, and Socibus).
But it’s also a large Cercanías trains station hub, where four lines connect. Additionally, Estación Sur has a Metro station.
You can safely leave your stuff at the baggage consignment. It opens from 6:30 to 23:30.
How to purchase your bus tickets
All companies have tickets offices, and the major ones do offer ticket machines as well.
But the easiest and most comfortable option is to purchase your tickets at the bus companies websites (e.g. Alsa and Avanza). Alternatively, you can use Movelia, a very useful tool including most of the smaller bus companies.
Getting to/from Estación Sur bus station
The bus station is also an intercambiador de transporte, or public transportation hub. It includes the Metro, city buses, Cercanías trains, interurban buses, interregional buses and international buses.
Metro
There is a Metro station inside the premises, Méndez Álvaro, on line 6 (grey).
Unfortunately, there are no Metro direct routes from Atocha, Chamartín or Barajas airport. Therefore if you have lots of luggage it might be preferable to use an alternative.
Obviously, you can also get there taking the Madrid city buses (lines 8, 102, 113, 148, 152, 156, N11).
Cercanías
The best way to reach Estación Sur is to use the Cercanías train, line C-1 (light blue).
Additionally, Cercanías lines C-5 (yellow), C-7 (red) and C-10 (light green) also stop at Estación Sur.
Car rental
If you are considering renting a car you won’t find any car rental office at the Estación Sur bus station.
However, my favorite choice to get the best cheap car rental rates is to book your rental car from home before setting a foot in Madrid.
The cabs are located in front of all the bus station main entrance. You will have to pay a surcharge for travelling from the bus station.
Madrid receives a lot of foreigners every year and taxi drivers know it. Taxis at Estación Sur generally have a very bad reputation.
Please, make sure you know the exact address you are going to. Do some research in advance and spend some time in front of a map to get an idea of your route. If you can, provide some directions to the driver. At the end of the trip check the final fare and the change you receive!
I definitely don’t recommend taking a cab at Estación Sur. Unless you are in a hurry or you have no other means of transport, avoid taking a taxi!
Your own car
Estación Sur bus station is located in one of the main avenues of the city center so it’s pretty easy to find it.
There is only one car park located below the main building (floor -2).
How to go from Estación Sur bus station to Madrid Airport
Estación Sur is very well connected with Barajas airport.
If you need to go from Estación Sur to Barajas airport you have three options:
- You can take a Cercanías train on line C-1 (light blue). Despite this is a much faster option remember that the airport train station is located in Terminal 4 (T4). So if your flight departs from Terminal 1 or 2 (T1 or T2) you will need to catch the free shuttle bus connecting them to Terminal 4 (T4).
- You could also use the subway, but you need to change lines (line 6 > line 8), so it’s not very handy if you are carrying lots of luggage.
- Or you can catch the 102 bus and get off at Atocha train station. There, you can catch the Barajas airport express bus running from 6:00 to 23:30 (between 23:30 and 6:00 terminus is at Plaza de Cibeles) all year round with only two stops on the route. The bus stops at Terminals 1, 2 and 4 (T1, T2 and T4).
For more information, have a look at how to exit the airport and how to get to the airport.
How to go from Estación Sur bus station to Atocha train station
Atocha is the city’s most important train station.
To get there from Estación Sur, the easiest and fastest way is to catch a Cercanías train using lines C-1 (light blue), C-5 (yellow) and C-10 (light green).
Alternatively, you can use the Metro. You need to use line 1 (light blue), get off at Pacífico and then use line 6 (grey).
Finally, you can also get there by bus.
Exit Estación Sur bus station and walk to Calle Méndez Álvaro. There is a bus stop near the bus station, on the right hand sidewalk. Catching the 102 bus is pretty straightforward.
How to go from Estación Sur bus station to Chamartín train station
Chamartín is the second most important train station of Madrid.
To get there from Estación Sur, the easiest and fastest way is to catch a Cercanías train using lines C-1 (light blue) and C-10 (light green).
Alternatively, you can use the Metro. You need to use line 1 (light blue), get off at Nuevos Ministerios and then use line 10 (dark blue).
Although you can also get there by bus, I don’t recommend it because it takes too long.
How to go from Estación Sur bus station to Avenida de América bus station
If you need to go from Estación Sur to Avenida de América use the Metro. Line 6 (grey) links both stations in less than 20 minutes. So it’s a no brainer.
This article is part of a complete tutorial about bus travel to Madrid where you can read all the information you need to organize your bus trip.