Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid runs about 6 times a day, with the first departure around 06:44 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays between €41.59 and €54.24, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 3h 31m over 405 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 2 operators and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€41.59 to €54.24
- 145%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Donostia / San Sebastian
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:44First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 6Services per day
- 33%Run direct
Renfe runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid on Bookaway
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Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €82.29Tue15
- about €87.24Wed16
- about €100.44Thu17
- about €83.39Fri18
- about €83.94Sat19
- about €80.09Sun20
- about €56.44Mon21
- about €56.44Tue22
- about €53.14Wed23
- about €77.89Thu24
- about €64.69Fri25
- about €66.89Sat26
- about €64.14Sun27
- about €41.59Mon28
- about €42.14Tue29
- about €51.49Wed30
- about €60.29Thu1
- about €57.54Fri2
- about €50.94Sat3
- about €49.84Sun4
- about €44.34Mon5
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Madrid. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Madrid for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Madrid Puerta de Atocha and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
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When to book Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €47.6490 days
- €45.4460 days
- €44.8945 days
- €41.0430 days
- €44.3421 days
- €41.5914 days
- €56.447 days
- €100.443 days
- €82.291 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €41.04.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 145 percent. The most expensive point is €100.44, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
405 km
352 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs south-west.
Who lives at each end
185,357 → 3,255,944
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 33% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 67% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 405 km against 352 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Gasteiz / Vitoria, Logroño, Pamplona, Burgos. The gap between arriving and leaving is 48 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 19 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Madrid is large, and the road in from MAD can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in Madrid
Settled in advance, so the ride into Madrid costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from MAD with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Madrid Puerta de Atocha
Most of the points near Madrid Puerta de Atocha open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Madrid on StasherOr try Bounce
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Questions about Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
The fastest journey from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid takes 3h 31m door to door, of which 2h 48m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 3h 42m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
The cheapest fare from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid is €41.59, as of September 14, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €70.47. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
The cheapest way from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid is by train, at €41.59 for one passenger on September 28, 2026. That journey takes 3h 32m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
Fares from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €41.04. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 145 percent, measured on September 14, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid, at €44.34. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 14, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
February is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid, at €34.44 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
2 operators sell services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid across 1 mode: Renfe, Renfe Feve. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
33 percent of the services we sell from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid are direct. The rest connect at Gasteiz / Vitoria, Logroño, Pamplona, Burgos, with about 48 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid use?
Services from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid by train leave from Hernani and arrive at Madrid Puerta de Atocha. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid?
2 of the 2 operators we sell from Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Donostia / San Sebastian to Madrid on September 14, 2026: 405 km of route against 352 km in a straight line, 6 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €41.59, and 3h 31m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Madrid is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of Madrid and across Spain
Day trips that leave Madrid in the morning and cover a good part of Spain by evening.
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The two ends, compared
Donostia / San Sebastian reaches 98 places in 4 countries on services we hold, over distances from 15 to 874 km. Madrid reaches 252 places in 81 countries, from 162 to 10,762 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Donostia / San Sebastian
- 98Places you can leave for
- 4Countries
- 8Operators
Arriving in Madrid
Leaving Madrid
- 252Places you can leave for
- 81Countries
- 106Operators