For most travellers the high speed Alvia train services will be the logical choice for a journey by train from Madrid to Burgos, but if you will be using a Eurail or InterRail pass, the slower MD trains are money savers.
Final Destination:
AVE trains = Buros
Alvia trains Bilbao/San Sebastian/Irun*
*These Alvia trains heading to these destinations are joined together for the journey between Madrid and Burgos.
So if you see any of these destinations on the departure screens at Madrid-Chamartin station, the info will also apply to the train heading to Burgos.
A choice of train services:
These Alvia trains are faster than the alternative MD trains from Madrid to Burgos; and if you are booking in advance online, they're usually cheaper too.
So despite being less frequent, they're the logical choice for Madrid to Burgos train journeys.
Monday - Friday: 5 x trains per day
Saturday: 3 x trains
Sunday: 5 x trains
Book early and save: Yes - if you take these Alvia trains.
If you're booking no more than a couple of days ahead, the discounted 'Promo' tickets for these Alvia trains can still be cheaper than tickets for the alternative slower MD trains.
Online bookings open: up to 6 months ahead of the travel date - depending on the time of year.
The online booking window can be shorter between late July and early October.
Also book in advance if you want to travel on any departure, on this route tickets for the most popular departures can sell out completely, a couple of days ahead.
These trains are usually scheduled to depart from Madrid-Chamartin at:
If these departure times don't suit, another option for Madrid to Burgos train journeys is to take an AVE train to Valadolid and then connect there for an MD train on to Burgos.
However, those journey options are now more than an hour longer and they tend to be more expensive than taking these direct trains.
Seat Reservations:
Seats will automatically be assigned when booking tickets for this journey.
Rail Pass Users:
Rail pass users can avoid the higher rail pass reservations fees payable on these Alvia trains, by targeting those slower MD trains for a journey from Madrid to Burgos; though those MD trains still require a reservation.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
Trainline | * | |
Renfe | * |
Now that the high speed line route between Vallodolid and Burgis is fully open, the journey time has come down by around 40 minutes!
This journey has become faster, and slightly more frequent too, now that the high speed line has extended from Venta de Banos, a town to the north of Valladolid, to Burgos.
As a result, apart from the station calls, the entire journey is at high-speed.
Final Destination: Irun or San Sebastian or Vitoria
up to 3 x trains per day
Book early and save: No
Tickets aren't discounted for this journey by MD trains, so you will pay the same price as the that charged online, if you book last minute at the station.
Online bookings open: 2 months ahead of the travel date
However, in contrast to making the journey by these MD trains, tickets are discounted for those alternative, much faster Alvia trains.
So if you're booking online just a couple of days ahead, you can usually save by taking the Alvia trains.
Rail Pass Users:
If you will travelling this route with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you can save around €6 by taking these trains and not the Alvia trains.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
Renfe | * |
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.