If you are a tourist in Madrid, you will realize that getting around by car in the capital is not a good idea. I explain, this city is a hotbed of cars that circulate uninterrupted 24 hours a day.
It is true that there are certain peak hours where slower traffic is still being made. For this reason and especially because if you come to know the city you will want to see the most important, and some of the best places to visit are in the center, I advise you to use the metro in this case, or failing that and if you are by the center, you can walk from one place to visit another.
The subway in Madrid works quite well and is easily connected at any point where you are. The metro network is composed of 12 lines, each one of a color that connect with different key points of the city. First of all, you must know that to travel by Metro you have to buy a card that you can buy in the machines or ticket offices of the stations and on this card you will be charged for the trips that you need to make.
It is the so-called Tourist Card that you have to ask for and by acquiring it, you will be able to use all the public transports of the Community, with no limit of travel. The only thing to keep in mind is that depending on whether you are going to move around the subway network in area A you will have to take out one type of ticket or another. When you buy the tourist card you have to choose Zone A (it practically coincides with the municipal area of Madrid) or the one in the area (it includes the entire geographical coverage of the Transportation Pass, up to the E2 area) and you can go out to the municipalities of the outskirts of Madrid. Do not forget to take a subway map when you go to buy a ticket next to the ticket office. With the plan, you will have a clear idea of which stop to go down to connect with other lines.
For zone A, which is the most useful ticket, you can visit all the most important things in Madrid by metro. The key stations where you can get off are:
-Sol: this metro station connects with almost all metro lines. It is a point of connection to get to other points of the city but you can also get off and see some of the most important monuments such as: The Plaza Mayor, you can walk to the neighborhood of La Latina, the Congress of Deputies, see the building the Presidency of the Community of Madrid with its famous clock where every year gives way to the new year, among other things.
-Atocha: if you get off at this stop (metro line 1), you can go to the Atocha station next to you if you need to travel by train and make a faster connection. You can also eat a delicious calamari sandwich in the famous Bar-restaurant ‘El Brillante’, without forgetting that next to it you have two of the most important museums in Europe: the Reina Sofía Museum and 5 minutes walk to the Prado Museum.
-Moncloa: this stop is also very used mainly by university students since many colleges are located in that area. If you want to see the nightlife, and enjoy a multitude of bars and places to go out, Moncloa is the stop where you must get off. It is also nice to get off and see the great Air Force General Headquarters, imposing. Also the Arco de la Victoria and the Moncloa Lighthouse that symbolizes very well the essence of the capital: ‘From Madrid to heaven’.
The fact that the Metro de Madrid is one of the best transportation networks in the world is no coincidence. Move around the capital is simple, affordable and the delay of the meters is not long. If you lose a train, do not worry that the next one will take 5 minutes, if it is late at night, the same thing you have to wait a little longer but the good thing is that you have a metro until 1:30 in the morning.
