Atocha, Madrid

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Who says train stations have to be ugly? Not the Spaniards!

Atocha is beautiful. It's full of gorgeous wrought iron, a jungle of tropical trees, restaurants and art work!

You could have a lovely lunch here. Or..... get there earlier than necessary for your train trip and check it out. Or check it out while renting your car(s), like we did.

Atocha is the rail complex in central Madrid that houses the Cercanias hub for trains to the nearby suburb and region as well as the Puerta de Atocha for the AVE trains to the rest of Spain.

The most striking feature, and it is indeed quite lovely as you come in the cavern like station,,,,
is the very nice arrangement of trees and vegetation. It's like a mini park and certainly makes it very relaxing. There is a good selection of shops to spend your time while you wait for your train.

services available are:
left luggage
restaurants/bar
travel agents/tour operators
ticketing etc

I loved this District unfortunately I have only been during the day as I have later found out that it has a great night life.
The Athoca District is great for shopping perhaps much better than other places such as Gran Via since the street is narrow and more quiet yet with a great selection of shops.
This district also offers nice coffee shops and restaurants.
I will definetely check out the night life in this district next time I visit Madrid.
Please check the directions below to find out how close is this district to the centre of Madrid and how to reach it.

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I recognised this building on sight as where we had caught a train to Alicante in September 1993.We only had an hour in Madrid travelling from the airport to the rail station, our first experience of Spain.

This time several days in Madrid and to my surprise our hotel was only a 5 minute walk from this now refurbished building. We had to go inside to see what had gone on. Trains are still operating from here, however that is about all that has not changed. It is a very modern place with shops, cafes and restaurants, nice resting areas with palms etc etc.

Well worth visiting.

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Atocha is not just a train station, it is tropical garden with small lakes and turtles. The building was projected by architects cooperating with Gustave Eiffel in 19. century. Recently there are many shops, restaurants and cafés. It doesnt have to be so boring to wait for the train in such a nice place.

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Atocha Station is very close to our hotel (Rafaelhoteles). It is the largest and the most used railway station in Madrid. I thought the actual outside building is quite impressive. The interior with large Palm trees and ferns almost feel and look like tropical garden.

Atocha Station is old railway station. It was inaugurated on 9 February 1851. Unfortunately it had major catastrophe during her career. It was largely destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1892. In 11 March 2004 it was target by al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell bombings.

Today the Atocha railway station is served by two Madrid Metro stations, Atocha and Atocha Renfe, primarily serving commuter trains, intercity and regional trains from the south, and the AVE high speed trains from Barcelona and Seville. The office open everyday from 6.30am to 9.00pm

Atocha station isn't just any station. We got as far as taking a picture from the outside with a view to coming back to actually look inside., Atocha station is from the 19th Century and is constructed of Iron and Glass. There, is I have read a botanical garden inside.

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If you're staying in Madrid long enough, chances are you'll end up at the Atocha Station at some point to go on a day-trip. Even if you aren't, I still think it's worth going inside to check out the city's biggest train station. The oldest part of the station dates back to 1892. It was in use for about 100 years, until the new terminal opened. Instead of destroying the old building, authorities smartly turned it into an indoor tropical garden, complete with palm trees, turtles and fishies! It's a pretty nice place to go for coffee on a rainy day :o)

On a different note, outside the station is where you'll find the glass cylinder that was erected as a memorial to the 191 victims of the March 11, 2004 attacks. It is a simple structure in which can be found the messages of condolences that were left at the station in the days following the tragedy.