City to city
Madrid to Lisbon by train
Madrid-Puerta de Atocha → Santa Apolónia
- Fastest
- ≈ 13h 20m
- Typical
- ≈ 19h 11m
- Direct trains
- No
- Fewest changes
- 3
- Operators
- Renfe Cercanias, RENFE OPERADORA, CP - Comboios de Portugal
Trains link Madrid (Madrid-Puerta de Atocha) and Lisbon (Santa Apolónia) in about 13h 20m at best, with at least 3 changes along the way.
How long does the train from Madrid to Lisbon take?
The fastest trains cover Madrid to Lisbon in about 13h 20m; a typical journey takes around 19h 11m.
Is there a direct train from Madrid to Lisbon?
Usually not; expect at least 3 changes on this journey.
Is the train or a flight faster from Madrid to Lisbon?
A typical flight works out roughly 15h 20m quicker door to door (about 4h 10m against 19h 30m by train, once airport time is counted) — but the train emits about 3× less CO₂e, even on conservative official emission factors.
- Train, door to door
- ≈ 19h 30m
- Flight, door to door
- ≈ 4h 10m (est.)
- CO₂e per passenger
- ~21 kg train · ~68 kg plane
Flight time and emissions are transparent estimates, not airline schedules — method, factors and all 109 compared pairs on Train vs plane in Europe.
Legendary routes through Madrid or Lisbon
- AVE Madrid → Barcelona
- AVE Madrid → Seville
- Alfa Pendular Lisbon → Braga
- AVE Madrid → Valencia
More trains from Madrid
- Madrid → Zaragoza ≈ 1h 35m · direct
- Madrid → Córdoba ≈ 1h 44m · direct
- Madrid → Valencia ≈ 2h 01m · direct
- Madrid → Seville ≈ 2h 39m · direct
- Madrid → Málaga ≈ 2h 46m · direct
- Madrid → Barcelona ≈ 3h 02m · direct
More train routes in Spain · Portugal.
Journey figures are typical values sampled from public European schedule data; exact times vary by day. Always check the operator when booking.