2 hours from Madrid Barajas Airport to Madrid Chamartin is enough?

[Este]

My flight arrives at 14.35 at terminal T2, do I have enough time to catch the AVE train to Oviedo from Chamartin station at 16.37? I think 2 hours is enough for bus transport between terminals T2 and T4 and train (cercenias)?

 

[VNwalking]

I wouldn't try it. But then I never run for anything and have a low tolerance for missing a connection.

Assuming you haven't checked your pack and you know exactly where you're going, there is still customs/immigration, wait for the bus, get to T4, wait for the train, get to Chamartin, find your platform...

Last time I did that in April it took about an hour plus from outside customs to Chamartin. Longer than expected, by a lot.

 

[Pilgrim9]

IME the time lapse between airplane landing, getting through the immigration cattle chutes, waiting for checked-luggage disgorgement, getting through customs, and me exiting an international airport with my luggage, is generally 2+ hours. A large portion of that is waiting for my checked luggage to appear on the belt.

Your times might differ.

 

[Vacajoe]

All depends on how many international flights are arriving at that time, how many border officers are working, if you are seated at the back of the plane and get stuck behind 300+ other travelers, how many of those travelers are EU vs not, if you are EU or not, if your plane is late or early, etc. In short, maybe?

Personally, I hate the stress of tight connections and would rather take a later train or bus (or even stay the night) then worry from now until reaching that transport that I’ll be late. You don’t want to start a Camino exhausted, rushing through a foreign airport, and possibly ending up in a city without a plan or a room because your flight was delayed 30 minutes.

 

[trecile]

My flight arrives at 14.35 at terminal T2

Your flight is scheduled to arrive at 14:35, that doesn't mean that it will arrive then. I would schedule a later train to avoid the stress of rushing to get to the station in two hours.

 

[CWBuff]

Agree with all above. To be fair I never did what you are attempting to do but I am in solid agreement about tight connections especially when coming from overseas.
My favorite MO in situations like this (no matter where I land) is to take the rest of that day off and start a-new tomorrow morning.

Good luck and Buen Camino!

 

[peregrina2000]

My flight arrives at 14.35 at terminal T2, do I have enough time to catch the AVE train to Oviedo from Chamartin station at 16.37? I think 2 hours is enough for bus transport between terminals T2 and T4 and train (cercenias)?

This is such a frequent question (but that won’t stop me from giving an opinion), and you can be sure that you will get opinions on both sides. That’s because it’s impossible to know whether you will make it till the day you try. You’ve got a good idea about what you need to do to get there. Hopefully you are not checking luggage.

Just for fun, I’ve tried to lay out every segment — from getting off the plane in T2 to arriving at Chamartín. If you think about it this way, step by step, you can see that 2 hours is in the “maybe” category, while 3 would be pretty safe.

Get off plane (depends on how far back you are, and the differences may be as much as 15 - 30 minutes minutes from front to back).

Get to immigration (depends on how close your landing gate is to immigration) (5-10 minutes)

Go through immigration (depends on how many other planes have just landed and how big they are). (5-?????? minutes)

Get luggage (hopefully you can omit this step)

Get on bus from T2 to T4 (run every five minutes during day and evening and every 20 minutes overnight; trip itself reliably takes about 20 minutes). (25-30 minutes)

Get off bus and down to Cercanías - (5 minutes plus buying ticket may be confusing if you’re a first timer).

Get on Cercanías and get to Chamartín - trains run every 15 minutes and take about 12 minutes.

Get from Cercanías to waiting room where they will announce the track number for your train to Oviedo. 2 minutes.

If all goes well, you can make it. To give you hope, my record time from getting off the plane to drinking a coffee in Chamartín was 40 minutes, in 2022 (but I always land in T4 so you would have to add time from T2):

I got off the plane at 6:35 and by 7:15 I had been through immigration, taken the train to the main terminal T4, gone through the vaccination check, taken the commuter train to the Chamartin train station, and was drinking my first cafe con leche.

When I connect from Barajas to a train station, typically buy a ticket with a comfortable transfer time, but make sure that I can change it to an earlier train if I am lucky.

 

[Marbe2]

Here is an option. It will take circa 20-30minutes for a taxi to go from the Airport to Chamartin…Unless there is a traffic jam. Pay the 30 euros if time is a factor.

Also you will need to put your backpack or suitcase through security screening at Chamartin so allow a few minutes for that as well.

I have actually come through in the morning, breezed through luggage pick up and been at Chamartin via taxi within an hour after landing. I never plan on less than 2 hours after landing. Sometimes I buy a cheaper second ticket in advance should I miss my first train. One never knows when flights will be on time so cutting it close is always a risk.

 

[CWBuff]

Get off plane (depends on how far back you are, and the differences may be as much as 15 - 30 minutes minutes from front to back).

Get to immigration (depends on how close your landing gate is to immigration) (5-10 minutes)

You forgot to insert the MOST IMPORTANT part - a WC\restroom\toilet stop between those two.

If all goes well, you can make it.

Depend on the above insert

 

[henrythedog]

When you get to Chamartin your departure platform will be at the far-end. The right as you stand facing departures.

You’ll have to go through airport-lite security - bags go through a scanner, people don’t - unless you look really dodgy.

There will be a queue.

You really don’t want to be arriving at Chamartin with less than 20 minutes spare before departure. I give it an hour, but then I missed plane once ( out of a few thousand) because of the security queue at Frankfurt and it scarred me for life.

 

[Marbe2]

If s/he is a Polish citizen as a member of a Schengen, EU country, s/he won’t have to worry about customs and passport control.

 

[henrythedog]

If s/he is a Polish citizen as a member of a Schengen, EU country, s/he won’t have to worry about customs and passport control.

Assuming they are flying from Poland, or more precisely, within Schengen.

 

[dick bird]

My flight arrives at 14.35 at terminal T2,

Your flight is scheduled to arrive at 14.35. There is no guarantee it will land on time. I would reduce your stress levels and take a later train or an earlier flight.

 

[tjz]

If you are relatively familiar with MAD and Chamartin and not checking bags, I'd guess you have a 50+% chance with 2 hrs and 90% chance with 3 hrs. I qualify on all three of those, and I still wouldn't roll the dice on anything less than 3 hrs and I prefer 4-5 hrs. Too many chances of something going wrong. If (big if) it's not a busy day, and you have a flexible train ticket, you can maybe try and get an earlier train if everything went well and you get there early. Usually there isn't that option.

I love Madrid, though, and spending a few hours extra in Madrid is always fun for me.

 

[El Cascayal]

Go through immigration (depends on how many other planes have just landed and how big they are). (5-?????? minutes)

Yes, yes, yes! This is definitely the rate limiting reaction. I’ve done it in 5 minutes or in 60+. Whatever you do, avoid the so called fast connection line which usually has way less agents and special needs folks go to the front of the line.
It all depends on your risk tolerance.
Good luck & Buen Camino.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Assuming they are flying from Poland, or more precisely, within Schengen.

It doesn't matter what passport you hold, if you take an intra Schengen flight, there is no immigration or customs.

 

[John Sikora]

Done it a couple of times. 4 is ok, 3 is a maybe, 2 is probably not.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

Ask yourself the purpose of your trip. Might one item be to slow down? Spain is noted for a slower pace of life and walking a Camino is the prime vehicle where those who wish to, take time to reflect. Here is a qualifier;

"If it is quick, does it fit?"

 

[CWBuff]

Ask yourself the purpose of your trip. Might one item be to slow down? Spain is noted for a slower pace of life and walking a Camino is the prime vehicle where those who wish to, take time to reflect. Here is a qualifier;

"If it is quick, does it fit?"

what a great observation!

I think I mentioned this before in one of the posts - there was this couple from Latvia whom I met briefly approaching Portomarin. They were contemplating which route to take (you know the deal - out of 3; the shortest and the most direct one being the most steepest and "treacherous") and obviously i was going to do the same. be it that we all could converse in Russian we started talking and ultimately desided on that most direct approach....
... they were off and running the moment we hit the big Rd and since I stopped at Campá da Liberdade (how could I not - being from Philadelphia area? ) they were long gone by the time I resumed my walk.

Fast forward couple of days and there they were running past me...and past Castro de Castromayor... and when they hurriedly asked my why I stopped (again) and I told them that i was looking at the sign that would take me to the place, dismissed it with wave of the hand and kept on running....

IIRC, they had like 2 weeks to get to SdC from Leon. there were no time to stop and smell the roses

 

[Marbe2]

A

You forgot to insert the MOST IMPORTANT part - a WC\restroom\toilet stop between those two.

Depend on the above insert

You forgot to insert the MOST IMPORTANT part - a WC\restroom\toilet stop between those two.

Depend on the above insert

Actually, we never stop at restroom in the airport if our schedule is tight when landing in Madrid. Anticipatory planning 101! ! - use facilities on the plane before landing, then you can wait again to use the lavatory facilities on the train if you don’t have extra time to spare.

 

[aralgate]

So should you book ahead the train or bus OR wait until you get to the train/ bus station?

 

[henrythedog]

So should you book ahead the train or bus OR wait until you get to the train/ bus station?

If you want a specific long distance train in Spain you would be well advised to book it in advance. That’s several weeks, if not months, in advance.

There tends to be more capacity and possibility of ‘walk up’ tickets with respect to busses.