{"id":5268,"date":"2023-09-08T10:24:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T10:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escuela-hablamos.com\/?p=5268"},"modified":"2023-09-08T10:27:09","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T10:27:09","slug":"getting-around-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escuela-hablamos.com\/ko\/getting-around-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting around in Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, you\u2019ve made the decision to come and learn Spanish in Madrid. Great choice!<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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The city has so much to offer, and, being one of the biggest cities in Europe, it has an excellent red de transporte <\/b>(<\/i>transport network<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> to help you moverse por la ciudad <\/b>(<\/i>move around the city<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. This blog will guide you through the different transport options available here and teach you some useful vocab so you don\u2019t perderse <\/b>(<\/i>get lost<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> while you\u2019re out and about exploring!<\/p>\n

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Types of transport vocabulary<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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First of all, let\u2019s take a look at some basic vocabulario <\/b>(<\/i>vocabulary<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. Here are the different types of transport you can take in Madrid:<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Espa\u00f1ol<\/td>\nIngl\u00e9s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
el autob\u00fas \/ el bus<\/td>\nthe bus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
el tren de cercan\u00edas<\/td>\nthe local train<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
el metro<\/td>\nthe underground\/subway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un taxi<\/td>\na taxi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un veh\u00edculo de transporte con conductor (VTC)<\/td>\na vehicle for hire (meaning Uber, Cabify, etc here in Spain)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un patinete el\u00e9ctrico<\/td>\nan electric scooter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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As you can see, there are muchas opciones <\/b>(<\/i>many options<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> to choose from. Madrile\u00f1os <\/b>(<\/i>People from Madrid<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> love their public transport, but many people also opt to drive around the city too. We wouldn\u2019t recommend it for a temporary visit to the capital as there\u2019s lots of tr\u00e1fico <\/b>(<\/i>traffic<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and you must also make sure you\u2019re carnet de conducir <\/b>(<\/i>driving licence<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> is valid to use in Spain. It\u2019s always best to check things like this on the website of the Direcci\u00f3n General de Tr\u00e1fico<\/span><\/a> (DGT) which is the government body in charge of regulating the roads in the country.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s take a look at the different <\/b>types of transport and how to use them while you\u2019re studying Spanish<\/b><\/span><\/a> in Madrid.<\/p>\n

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El autob\u00fas<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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There are over 200 l\u00edneas de autob\u00fas <\/b>(<\/i>bus lines<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> in the capital which serve the whole city from north to south, east to west. Our local public bus company is the EMT<\/b> and they provide an almost 24-hour service. In the day, you can catch any of the numbered routes from 1 to 191, and by night the bus nocturno <\/b>(<\/i>night bus<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> runs on 27 routes which cover most of Madrid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can buy un billete sencillo <\/b>(<\/i>a single ticket<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> for just \u20ac1.50 which allows you to coger <\/b>(<\/i>take<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> any bus from the beginning to the end of the route. Bargain! There are also several abonos <\/b>(<\/i>passes<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> available such as the Bus+Bus <\/b>which gives you 10 bus trips with un transbordo <\/b>(<\/i>a change<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> of line per journey for \u20ac18.30, or the Metrobus <\/b>that provides 10 trips on either the bus or the underground for \u20ac12.20 but it does require a special tarjeta <\/b>(<\/i>card<\/i><\/b>) <\/i>that you have to buy first. We\u2019ll explain more about that later.<\/p>\n

Day routes run from 6am to 1130pm in the week, and from 7am to 11pm at weekends. After this, the nocturnos <\/b>(<\/i>night buses<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> take over but all the same tickets are still valid on these. The bus is always a great way to explorar <\/b>(<\/i>explore<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> any new city you go to live in, and Madrid is no exception. We\u2019d definitely suggest you find your local paradas <\/b>(<\/i>bus stops<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> when you\u2019ve moved here to start your Spanish course<\/b><\/span><\/a> <\/b>and have a good look around your new home!<\/p>\n

Apart from the local buses, the Madrid area has a huge amount of interurbanos <\/b>(<\/i>regional buses<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> which can take you all over the Comunidad de Madrid <\/b>and beyond. You can use the same abonos <\/b>(<\/i>passes<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> as on the local buses and all the same zones apply as to the metro and local trains which we\u2019ll talk about in the next section.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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El metro<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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The Metro de Madrid <\/b>(<\/i>Madrid subway\/underground<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> is one of the oldest and most extensive in the world. It was inaugurado <\/b>(<\/i>opened<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> on 17 de octubre <\/b>(<\/i>17<\/i><\/b>th<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/span> October<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> 1919 by the then king, Rey Alfonso XIII <\/b>(<\/i>King Alfonso 13<\/i><\/b>th<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/span>)<\/i>. There are 330 estaciones <\/b>(<\/i>stations<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, 12 l\u00edneas <\/b>(<\/i>lines<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and 3 l\u00edneas de metro ligero <\/b>(<\/i>light rail<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> covering not only Madrid but also several of the neighbouring towns and cities. It\u2019s fast, clean and efficient so it\u2019s ideal to get around town in a hurry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like on the buses, un billete sencillo <\/i><\/b>(<\/i>single ticket<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> starts at \u20ac1.50 but can go up to \u20ac2 depending on the route. You need to buy una tarjeta multi <\/b>(<\/i>a multi-card<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> which costs \u20ac2.50 to be able to purchase any metro tickets, but this card never expires and you can load all sorts of different ticket options onto it. Lots of people buy the aforementioned Metrobus<\/b> for \u20ac12.20 to get 10 viajes <\/b>(<\/i>trips<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> on both the underground and any city buses.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning to stay for a long period, you might want to think about buying un abono mensual <\/b>(<\/i>a monthly pass<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. These require photo ID to get, but they allow you unlimited travel across all underground, bus and local train lines within certain zones. Zona A <\/b>(<\/i>Zone A<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> covers the entire <\/b>city of Madrid and costs just \u20ac54,60 per month, or the abono joven <\/b>(<\/i>Young Person\u2019s Pass<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> lets you travel through Zones A-E2 for <\/i>only \u20ac20 if you\u2019re under 26. Zone E2 goes all the way out to the beautiful city of Toledo<\/b> (which you can read about in another blog<\/span><\/a>) so it\u2019s an absolute steal!<\/p>\n

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El tren<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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The train network in Madrid and los alrededores <\/b>(<\/i>the surrounding area<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> is very extensive and has great connections to many of the most important towns and cities nearby. There are several types of trenes <\/b>(<\/i>trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> in Madrid and Spain \u2013 los trenes de cercan\u00edas <\/b>(<\/i>local trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, media o larga distancia <\/b>(<\/i>regional and national trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> and los AVE <\/b>(<\/i>high speed trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>. These have different pricing structures, just like in any country, so you\u2019d need to check which billete <\/b>(<\/i>ticket<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> you need on the website of the national train company, RENFE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to explore Madrid and its local area, the cercan\u00edas <\/b>(<\/i>local trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> are reliable, frequent and cheap. A billete de ida <\/b>(<\/i>one-way ticket<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> for one or two zones costs \u20ac1,70 and goes up from there depending on how many zones you need to cross. There are billetes de ida y vuelta <\/b>(<\/i>return tickets<\/i><\/b>) <\/i>on the local trains but they\u2019re basically two one-way tickets as they cost double. Like on the metro and bus network, you can use your monthly abono <\/b>(<\/i>pass<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> on all local trains. For any media o larga distancia <\/b>(<\/i>regional and national trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> or AVEs <\/b>(<\/i>high speed trains<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> you need a ticket specifically for the train you want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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El taxi o el VTC<\/span><\/h2><\/div>
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Both taxis and private hire cars (e.g. Uber) are very popular in the city. You can parar <\/b>(<\/i>flag down \u2013 literally to stop<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> a white city taxi anywhere by waving at them when you see one in the street. All other types of private hire vehicles must be reservados <\/b>(<\/i>reserved<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> by using that company\u2019s app. Obviously, both of these options are more expensive than catching transporte p\u00fablico <\/b>(<\/i>public transport<\/i><\/b>)<\/i>, but good if you need to get somewhere that\u2019s a bit far from the closest parada <\/b>(<\/i>stop<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> of either a bus, train or underground.<\/p>\n

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Right, now we\u2019ve given you a bit of an overview of how you can desplazarte <\/b>(<\/i>move around<\/i><\/b>)<\/i> while you\u2019re here at Hablamos<\/b> on one of our Spanish courses<\/b><\/span><\/a>, let\u2019s take a look at some useful phrases you might need to use all these forms of transport.<\/p>\n

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Espa\u00f1ol<\/td>\nIngl\u00e9s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfD\u00f3nde est\u00e1 la parada de bus\/metro m\u00e1s cercana?<\/td>\nWhere\u2019s the nearest bus\/subway stop?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfHay una estaci\u00f3n de tren por aqu\u00ed?<\/td>\nIs there a train station near here?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfD\u00f3nde se puede tomar un taxi por aqu\u00ed?<\/td>\nWhere can you get a taxi from around here?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfCu\u00e1nto cuesta un billete de ida\/de ida y vuelta a___?<\/td>\nHow much is a single\/return ticket to___?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quiero un abono mensual para la zona ___ por favor.<\/td>\nI want a monthly pass for zone ___ please.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfEste bus para en\/cerca de ___?<\/td>\nDoes this bus stop in\/near ___?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfEste es el and\u00e9n direcci\u00f3n ___?<\/td>\nIs this the platform for ___?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bfEste tren para en ___?<\/td>\nIs this the train for ___?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Me llevas a ___ por favor<\/td>\nPlease take me to ___<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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That\u2019s all your transport needs sorted, now sign up on one of our language courses<\/span><\/a> and come explore Madrid for yourself!<\/p>\n

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Hablamos – full-on Spanish!<\/mark><\/a><\/span><\/h3><\/div>
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