Fastest€49.84
- Renfe Feve RF687406:462h 23m09:09Madrid Puerta de AtochaSantander
Door to door 3h 7mCO2 11.2 kgChanges 0Refundable
Madrid to Santander train
Trains from Madrid to Santander start at €44.34 and take 3h 7m at their fastest.
The Trains from Madrid to Santander starts at €44.34 and takes 3h 7m door to door, run by 1 operator over 339 km, with around 10 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 3h 7mDoor to door
- 2h 23mMoving
- €44.34From
- 11.2 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 | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Renfe Feve | €39.94 | 3h 5m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power outlets, Wi-Fi |
That is the traveling done. What happens after you walk out into Santander is not something we sell.
Looking for somewhere to stay in Santander?
Filter by neighborhood and by nightly price, and the map tells you what is a walk and what is a cab.
Search Santander on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Madrid to Santander
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €39.6790 days
- €30.5960 days
- €34.9545 days
- €37.9030 days
- €43.2121 days
- €54.4214 days
- €64.457 days
- €68.583 days
- €81.561 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €30.59.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 167 percent. The most expensive point is €81.56, 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.
- €49.70Sun
- €40.85Mon
- €40.85Tue
- €43.80Wed
- €54.42Thu
- €49.11Fri
- €49.70Sat
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
Santander
Rail
- Santander
- Santander Estación
- Santander railway station
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
- 78% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 22% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 339 km against 339 km in a straight line, a detour of 2 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Gasteiz / Vitoria, Valladolid, Burgos, Bilbao. The gap between arriving and leaving is 69 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 14 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.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Madrid at 06:46 and the last at 19:27, across 10 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 | 3h 7m | 2h 23m | 44m | €44.34 | 11.2 kg | 10 |
| Flight | 4h 2m | 52m | 3h 10m | €40.85 | 85.9 kg | 8 |
Questions about Madrid to Santander
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 Santander take?
The Train from Madrid to Santander takes 3h 7m door to door, of which 2h 23m is spent moving. The route runs 339 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 Santander cost?
The Train from Madrid to Santander starts at €44.34 for one passenger, checked on September 28, 2026. A typical fare is €50.39. 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 Santander?
1 operators run the Train from Madrid to Santander: Renfe Feve. Between them they file around 10 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 Santander use?
The Train from Madrid to Santander leaves from Madrid Puerta de Atocha and arrives at Santander. 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 Santander?
Traveling from Madrid to Santander by Flight costs €40.85 and takes 4h 2m door to door, against 3h 7m 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 Santander?
Fares for the Train from Madrid to Santander bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €30.59. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 167 percent, measured on September 28, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Madrid to Santander produce?
The Train from Madrid to Santander produces about 11.2 kg of CO2 per passenger over 339 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 Santander?
Operators on the Train from Madrid to Santander publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 3h 7m 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 Santander on September 10, 2026: 339 km of route against 339 km in a straight line, 10 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €44.34, and 3h 7m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
Santander to Madrid trainCompare every mode from Madrid to SantanderMadrid to Santander flightA Coruña to Santander trainAlbacete to Santander trainAlcalá de Henares to Santander trainAlcorcón to Santander trainAlgorta to Santander trainBadalona to Santander trainBarakaldo to Santander trainBarcelona to Santander trainBasauri to Santander trainBilbao to Santander trainBraga to Santander trainBurgos to Santander train
Being on the water gives Santander a set of days out that do not start at a station. We do not sell those either.
Anything to book in Santander before you go?
The tickets worth having in advance, because the line at the door is usually the whole morning.
See Santander 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.