Salamanca Transportation

Although I am a railfan, I gave up the idea of travelling from Madrid to Salamanca by train, since in 2003 there were only five couples of trains a day and the journey was longer and more expensive than by bus.
So, I took a bus of AUTO RES. Buses leave every hour from the station located in Plaza del Conde de Casal (Conde de Casal stop on metro line 6) and there are two kinds of services:
1) standard buses stop at any village where a passanger needs to get off. Happily, when I travelled from Madrid to Salamanca, no one needed to get off at a village. These buses are not very comfortable but they are cheap. I paid around 9.70 euro.
2) express buses connect Madrid to the destination without any intermediate stop. They are faster and more comfortable than standard buses (you can even watch a film during the journey!) but they are also more expensive: over 13 euro, which is similar to the price of the train.
NB: All this information refers to 2003. Prices may have changed, so check the websites of AUTO RES and RENFE (the Spanish train operator) before deciding.

According to the lastest route maps, bus service could be rather direct. Take Line 1 (Cipreses) and it goes right past the plaza. Here is the route http://www.gruporuiz.com/plantillas/salamanca/verlinea.php?id=1

Salamanca in Castilla y León some 217 kms. northwest of Madrid. From this city, take road A6 that becomes AP6, then, follow the signs.

Some road distances to Salamanca from:
- Madrid: 217 kms.
- Lisbon (Portugal): 472 kms.
- Amsterdam (Holland): 1.762 kms.
- Budapest (Hungary): 2.599 kms.
- Athens (Greece): 3.782 kms.

Checking the website, you can find some more road distances together with the driving times and the best routes.

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ENGLISH
There are several trains per day from the Charmartin station. They take about 2.5 hours and cost under E20 return. On the way you will be passing through some very beautiful scenery with ravines and meadows covered with glacial boulders. Trains used on this route are not terribly comfortable and rather slow in comparison to Talgo and AVE, but they don't cost much. Timetables can be viewed on www.renfe.es. Bus 1 departs train station to the center, or you can walk, it will take you less than 30 min to reach Plaza Mayor: take Paseo de la Estacion, past Plaza de Alamedilla, then Calle Toro.

If you arrive to Madrid Barajas by plane, the easiest way to get to the bus station is by metro. You should take the pink line (8) to "Nuevos Ministerios", and here change train to the grey (circle) line (6) to "Conde de Casal" where the bus station is situated. A oneway ticket for the metro is 1€ (April 2007). Otherwise you can catch a cab in the airport, but this might be more expensive of course!

The two most used ways to getting to or from Salamanca is either by bus or by train. I've only tried the bus and it's easy and not that expensive. The bus leaves from the bus station in Madrid close the metro station "Conde de Casal" (Estacion de autobusses, Auto Res) - in the same building as the hotel "Hotel Claridge" which is very easy to spot! There exists two kinds of tickets - normal or express - (prices April 2007: Normal oneway; 11,25€ Express oneway; 17€) The express lasts around 2½ hour and the normal around 3- 3½. It's absolutely worth spending the extra money - the seats are much more comfortable, there is more space for your legs and the trip is shorter! The normal bus stops in every small village which might be charming but not at 1am. after a long flight to Madrid...

I took the slow, public bus from Madrid, which took two and a half hours and cost me 5 Euros. There are some private companies, such as Auto Res that might get you there a tad faster, but at a higher cost. You can catch a private bus in Madrid at the Auto Res station at Fernandez Shaw 1 which will drop off in Salamanca at Calle La Salud 19.
The roundtrip is 26 Euros (as of Fall of 2004).

If you are getting the train from Madrid get your tickets in advance if you can. The queue to get them prior to departure can be long and can lead to missing your train. Trains from Madrid to Salamanca depart from Madrid Chamartin which you can get to using the Metro. The journey takes a very pleasant 2 1/4 hrs