Fastest€40.49
- Renfe Feve RF649412:472h 15m15:02Madrid Puerta de AtochaBilbao Abando
Door to door 2h 59mCO2 10.7 kgChanges 0Refundable
Madrid to Bilbao train
Trains from Madrid to Bilbao start at €41.59 and take 2h 59m at their fastest.
The Trains from Madrid to Bilbao starts at €41.59 and takes 2h 59m door to door, run by 2 operators over 323 km, with around 24 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 2h 59mDoor to door
- 2h 15mMoving
- €41.59From
- 10.7 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 28, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Rail operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest |
|---|---|---|
 Renfe | €35.54 | 2h 58m |
 Renfe Feve | €34.99 | 2h 59m |
The train gets you into Bilbao. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
Where to stay in Bilbao
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
Search Bilbao on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
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When to book Madrid to Bilbao
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €19.9890 days
- €13.3860 days
- €13.3845 days
- €15.0330 days
- €18.3321 days
- €22.1814 days
- €27.137 days
- €27.133 days
- €38.131 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €13.38.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 185 percent. The most expensive point is €38.13, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €21.63Sun
- €18.88Mon
- €18.88Tue
- €19.98Wed
- €24.38Thu
- €22.18Fri
- €23.28Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Madrid
Rail
- Madrid Puerta de Atocha
- Madrid Atocha
- Estación del Norte, Madrid
Bilbao
Rail
- Bilbao Abando
- Aranguren Apeadero
- Bilbao-Abando
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 323 km against 323 km in a straight line, a detour of 1 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Madrid at 06:44 and the last at 21:19, across 24 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Trains against the other ways to make this journey
The same corridor, door to door, with every mode that runs it.
| Mode | Door to door | Moving | At the ends | From | CO2 | Per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Train | 2h 59m | 2h 15m | 44m | €41.59 | 10.7 kg | 24 |
| Flight | 4h | 50m | 3h 10m | €39.67 | 81.9 kg | 40 |
| Coach | 5h | 4h 16m | 44m | €18.88 | 8.7 kg | 36 |
Questions about Madrid to Bilbao
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 the Train from Madrid to Bilbao take?
The Train from Madrid to Bilbao takes 2h 59m door to door, of which 2h 15m is spent moving. The route runs 323 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.
How much does the Train from Madrid to Bilbao cost?
The Train from Madrid to Bilbao starts at €41.59 for one passenger, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare is €42.97. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Train from Madrid to Bilbao?
2 operators run the Train from Madrid to Bilbao: Renfe, Renfe Feve. Between them they file around 24 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.
Which terminal does the Train from Madrid to Bilbao use?
The Train from Madrid to Bilbao leaves from Madrid Puerta de Atocha and arrives at Bilbao Abando. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.
Is the Train the best way from Madrid to Bilbao?
Traveling from Madrid to Bilbao by Flight costs €39.67 and takes 4h door to door, against 2h 59m by Train. Which is better depends on whether the money or the hours matter more on this trip. The comparison table on this page shows every mode side by side.
When should I book the Train from Madrid to Bilbao?
Fares for the Train from Madrid to Bilbao bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €13.38. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 185 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Madrid to Bilbao produce?
The Train from Madrid to Bilbao produces about 10.7 kg of CO2 per passenger over 323 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Train from Madrid to Bilbao?
Operators on the Train from Madrid to Bilbao publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 2 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 2h 59m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Madrid to Bilbao on September 11, 2026: 323 km of route against 323 km in a straight line, 24 services a day, 2 operators, a cheapest fare of €41.59, and 2h 59m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
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Plenty of what is worth seeing sits outside Bilbao and elsewhere in Spain. None of it is ours to sell.
Things to do in Bilbao
Day trips that leave Bilbao in the morning and cover a good part of Spain by evening.
See Bilbao on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.