City to city
Paris to Madrid by train
Gare de Lyon → Madrid-Puerta de Atocha
- Fastest
- ≈ 10h 35m
- Typical
- ≈ 13h 21m
- Direct trains
- No
- Fewest changes
- 1
- Operators
- Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français, RENFE OPERADORA, SNCF VOYAGEURS, Renfe Cercanias
Trains link Paris (Gare de Lyon) and Madrid (Madrid-Puerta de Atocha) in about 10h 35m at best, with at least 1 change along the way.
How long does the train from Paris to Madrid take?
The fastest trains cover Paris to Madrid in about 10h 35m; a typical journey takes around 13h 21m.
Is there a direct train from Paris to Madrid?
Usually not; expect at least 1 change on this journey.
Is the train or a flight faster from Paris to Madrid?
A typical flight works out roughly 8h 45m quicker door to door (about 4h 55m against 13h 40m 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
- ≈ 13h 40m
- Flight, door to door
- ≈ 4h 55m (est.)
- CO₂e per passenger
- ~45 kg train · ~143 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 Paris or Madrid
Sleepers too: night trains from Paris.
More trains from Paris
- Paris → Reims ≈ 46 min · direct
- Paris → Lille ≈ 1h 17m · direct
- Paris → Brussels ≈ 1h 22m · direct
- Paris → Rennes ≈ 1h 30m · direct
- Paris → Nancy ≈ 1h 35m · direct
- Paris → Dijon ≈ 1h 38m · direct
More train routes in United Kingdom · France · Spain.
Journey figures are typical values sampled from public European schedule data; exact times vary by day. Always check the operator when booking.