Madrid to Lisbon by train...

Incredibly, there is now no direct train between Madrid & Lisbon, two adjacent EU capitals.  The overnight sleeper train Trenhotel Lusitania was temporarily suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Renfe (Spanish Railways) then used this as an excuse to discontinue it permanently.  New fast lines are under construction in both Spain & Portugal, we may yet see a Madrid-Lisbon high-speed train from 2024.  But in the meantime, you can travel the 737 km (458 miles) between Madrid & Lisbon using a 3-train combo with 2 bookings and 3 tickets, not fast, but a comfortable, interesting and scenic ride.  Feedback or photos if you take this route would be appreciated.

  Train times

  How much does it cost?

  How to buy tickets

  Route map

  What's the journey like?

Timetable 2023

From 9 October CP doubles its Badajoz-Entroncamento cross-border regional service from one train to two per day, allowing 2 Madrid-Lisbon services on most days as shown below.  On the early morning departure from Madrid you take a Spanish intercity train from Madrid Atocha Cercanias to Badajoz, then a Portuguese regional train to Entroncamento and a Portuguese Intercity train to Lisbon.  On the late morning departure, you take a Spanish Media Distancia train from Madrid to Merida & a connecting one from Merida to Badajoz, then a Portuguese regional train to Abrantes & a Portuguese Intercity train to Lisbon.

SIC = Spanish Intercity train, an articulated air-conditioned Talgo train hauled by a separate locomotive.  It has standard & comfort class with power sockets at all seats and a cafe-bar, reservation compulsory.

MD-MD = Media Distancia express train between Madrid & Merida & another between Merida & Badajoz.  2nd class only, limited catering.  You also need to change trains at Merida if you use this option.

R = Portuguese regional train, a single-coach Allan railcar, built in 1954-55 but completely modernised in 2000 and fully air-conditioned.  2nd class only, there is no catering, so bring your own food & drink.  There are no seat reservations, you sit where you like.

IC = Portuguese Intercity train, reservation compulsory, 1st & 2nd class, cafe-bar.

Tip:  There's a cafe at Badajoz station which you can use between trains.

Tip:  Spanish time is 1 hour ahead of Portuguese time, all the times shown above are local time.  Badajoz is in Spain so all Badajoz times are Spanish time.

Tip:  Westbound, don't worry about tight connections at Entroncamento or Abrantes, Portuguese IC and R trains are designed to connect and the onward train may be held if there's a delay.

Tip:  Eastbound, I recommend taking the earlier of the two services if you have important eastward connections from Madrid next day.  Connections at Badajoz are not guaranteed, but the Portuguese local train usually keeps good time with slack in the schedule and I believe the 10-minute connection into the 17:36 IC to Madrid is intended to work.  Although Badajoz is a good town for an overnight stop if not!  Feedback appreciated.

How much does it cost?

• Madrid to Badajoz or vice versa costs €34.10 whether you book in advance or buy on the day.

• Badajoz to Entroncamento or vice versa costs €12.30.  Fixed price, cannot sell out.

• Entroncamento to Lisbon or vice versa costs €13 in 2nd class or €17 in 1st class.  If you book in advance at www.cp.pt, fares start at €6 in 2nd class or €12.50 in 1st class.

How to buy tickets

The easy way to buy tickets is using Omio.com, this is currently the only ticket website that links to both the Spanish and Portuguese ticketing systems so you can buy both tickets in one place, in plain English, in €, £ or $.  However, it cannot book the whole trip as one transaction, you need to split the booking as shown below:

Westbound from Madrid to Lisbon...

• Step 1, go to Omio.com and book the morning train from Madrid to Badajoz.

  Booking normally open 60 days ahead, but sometimes less than that.  You print your own ticket.

• Step 2, use Omio.com again to book from Badajoz to Lisbon - Santa Apolonia. 

  Booking normally open 60 days ahead.  You print your own ticket.

  Tip:  You'll see more than 1 option in the search results.  I'd go for the option involving the regional train from Badajoz plus a premium Alfa Pendular train to Lisbon (with time for a coffee in Entroncamento), but by all means choose the option involving the regional train from Badajoz plus another regional train, it won't be as swish but you'll get to Lisbon 20 minutes earlier.

Eastbound from Lisbon to Madrid...

• Step 1, use Omio.com to book from Lisbon - Santa Apolonia to Badajoz.

  Booking normally open 60 days ahead.  You print your own ticket.

  Tip:  You'll see more than 1 option in the search results.  I'd go for the 08:15 Intercity + regional train to Badajoz.

• Step 2, go to Omio.com and book the afternoon train from Badajoz to Madrid

  Booking normally open 60 days ahead, but sometimes less than that.  You print your own ticket.

How to buy tickets, another way...

Westbound from Madrid to Lisbon...

• Step 1, book the train from Madrid to Badajoz at the Spanish Railways website www.renfe.com (quite fiddly, in €, can reject some overseas credit cards) or at www.thetrainline.com or www.raileurope.com (in €, £ or $, small booking fee).  The latter are much easier to use!

  Booking should open 60 days ahead but often less than that, so don't be impatient.  You print your own ticket.

• Step 2, book the trains from Badajoz to Lisbon at the Portuguese Railways website www.cp.pt.

  Booking usually opens 60 days ahead.  You print your own ticket.

  When registering on www.cp.pt, it won't accept UK-style postcodes with letters in, so enter your postcode as 123456, it makes no difference.

• Alternatively, you can buy the Madrid-Badajoz ticket at the station in Madrid, there are usually places available even on the day, although all seats are reserved so the train can sell out at busy times such as Christmas & other holiday periods.

  Then just board the railcar from Badajoz to Entroncamento and pay the conductor, this is not a problem.  The railcar is never full, there are always seats, you sit where you like, it can't sell out.  Easy!  Incidentally, the ticket office in Badajoz is run by Spanish Railways and cannot sell tickets for this train as it's run by Portuguese Railways.

  You can then buy the onward ticket from Entroncamento to Lisbon at the station when you get to Entroncamento, also not a problem.

Eastbound from Lisbon to Madrid...

• Step 1, book the trains from Lisbon to Badajoz at the Portuguese Railways website www.cp.pt.

  Booking usually opens 60 days ahead.  You print your own ticket.

• Step 2, book the train from Badajoz to Madrid at the Spanish Railways website www.renfe.com (quite fiddly, in €, can reject some overseas credit cards).  It's easier to use www.thetrainline.com or www.raileurope.com (in €, £ or $, small booking fee).

  Booking should open 60 days ahead but sometimes less than that.  You print your own ticket.

• Alternatively, you can buy a ticket at the station in Lisbon either on the day or a day or two ahead.

  Then you can buy a Badajoz-Madrid ticket at the station in Badajoz, there are usually places available even on the day, although all seats are reserved so the train can sell out at busy times such as Christmas & other holiday periods.

Interrail & Eurail passes

• All these trains are covered by Interrail & Eurail passes as they're run by national operators Renfe & CP. 

• You need a reservation for the Spanish Madrid-Badajoz train.  You cannot make this online.  Make this at the station in Madrid or Lisbon (CP has the Renfe ticketing system installed at Lisbon Santa Apolonia ticket office), there are usually seats available even on the day although Spanish trains do sometimes get full, so book ahead if you can.  Alternatively, you can make reservations in advance by emailing andy@railtravelcentre.com, he can arrange passholder reservations in Spain, if necessary even at short-notice.  He'll reduce his normal handling fee if you quote 'seat61' in your email.  Remember to tell him if your pass is 1st or 2nd class.

• No reservation is needed for the Badajoz-Entroncamento regional train, just hop on and find any empty seat. 

• A seat reservation is required for the Entroncamento-Lisbon train, this cannot be made online or indeed at stations outside Portugal, so just make it on arrival in Entroncamento at the station, there are plenty of trains on this section so there are always places.

Route map

Click for larger map.  Highlighted = Madrid-Lisbon route.  Green = scenic sections.  Red = high-speed line

Reproduced with kind permission of the European Rail Timetable people.  Buy a copy of the European Rail Map at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu.

Madrid Atocha to Lisbon Santa Apolonia is 737 km (458 miles) by train via this route.

What's the journey like?

Step 1, Madrid to Badajoz

This is the modern air-conditioned Intercity train between Madrid & Badajoz, at Badajoz.  Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

1st & 2nd class seats on the modern air-conditioned Intercity train to Badajoz.  Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

Wonderful arid scenery on the Spanish plateau between Madrid & Badajoz.  Photo courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

Step 2, Badajoz to Entroncamento

It's an here change at Badajoz.  Above, the express from Madrid to Badajoz is on the left, the single-car Allan Railcar from Badajoz to Entroncamento is in the centre.  On this particular day it was unusually formed of 3 single-cars coupled together.  Photo courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

The single-coach Allan railcar from Badajoz to Entroncamento.  It's comfortable and looks modern, but in fact dates from 1954-55.  2nd class only.  Bring your own food & drink.  Photos courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com (left) & @AscotPhill

Castle, seen from the Badajoz to Entroncamento railcar..  Photo courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

The railcar pauses at wayside stations such as Elvas, with lovely tiling.  Courtesy of DiscoverByRail.com.

Step 3, Entroncamento to Lisbon

Westbound, there are two possible connections, an earlier but slower regional train which admittedly gets you to Lisbon 20 minutes earlier, or a later but faster connection by Alfa Pendular train like the one shown below.  I'd have a cup of coffee or a beer in Entroncamento and take the swisher train!  Eastbound, the Lisbon to Entroncamento connection is by Intercity train.

Alfa Pendular trains reach 220 km/h (136 mph) between Lisbon & Porto.  Courtesy of www.youtube.com/c/nonstopeurotrip.

1st class leather seats on an Alfa Pendular train, arranged 2+1 across the car width.  Photo courtesy of @rexybexy

Lisbon Santa Apolonia station. Click for city map

For the city centre, you want Lisbon Santa Apolonia station, the train's terminus.  If you're heading to Faro & the Algarve, these trains start at Lisbon Oriente station so change there.  Trains from Lisbon to Porto usually leave from Santa Apolonia and also call at Oriente.

Lisbon's central Santa Apolonia station.  Photos courtesy of Ian Moffat.

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