For a traveller on a rail pass, the Madrid Railway Museum is one of the cheapest museums in town to walk into: show an InterRail or Eurail pass and the €7 ticket drops to €4. The museum fills the old Delicias station, opened in 1880, with locomotives and carriages parked along its platforms, and it sits two stops from Atocha on Cercanías lines C-1 and C-10. From October to May it opens 9.30am to 3pm on weekdays and until 7pm on Saturdays. Check the date, though: on the second weekend of most months the hall becomes the free Mercado de Motores instead.
The Madrid Railway Museum is a museum of historic trains in the former Delicias station, open to the public since 1984.
How much is the Madrid Railway Museum? A ticket to the Madrid Railway Museum costs €7, or €4 for children aged 4 to 12, over-65s, students and InterRail or Eurail pass holders. Under-4s go in free, and three tickets cost €15. On the second weekend of each month the normal visit closes for the free Mercado de Motores.
Is it worth it on a short trip?
It is worth a morning if you like trains or travel with children. The main hall keeps engines on their original platforms, and seven rooms cover track and signalling, station clocks, model trains and toys, and the Territorio Ferroviario layout in the Sala Mansarda, the largest in Spain according to the Museum. Kids get a free treasure trail with entry, and a second game for ages 6 to 12 costs €1.25.
It is less useful on a weekday afternoon: Monday to Friday it closes at 3pm all year. And nothing on the museum’s own site promises that you can climb aboard the trains.
How do I get there from the airport or Atocha?
Cercanías line C-1 runs from Airport T4 through Chamartín, Nuevos Ministerios and Atocha to Delicias without a change, so you can go straight from a flight to the platforms. A Cercanías single ticket on the C-1 does not carry the €3 airport supplement that the Metro charges, as explained in the Madrid airport Metro supplement.
From the centre, the quickest option is Cercanías from Atocha: Delicias is two stops away, with Méndez Álvaro in between, and the station is less than 500 metres from the museum door. Metro Line 3 to Delicias leaves you about 250 metres away, at Paseo de las Delicias 61. Ticket types and zones are in Madrid Cercanías tickets and Madrid Metro ticket prices.
If the museum has closed for the day, the Madrid Planetarium is about a 1.6 km walk away and reopens from 5pm to 7.45pm, Tuesday to Sunday.
When is it open, and where does lunch fit?
From October to May it opens 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm on Saturdays and holidays and 10am to 3pm on Sundays; from June to September, 10am to 3pm every day. It closes on 25 December, 1 January and 6 January, and the model railway room clears 30 minutes before closing.
Madrid eats later than most visitors expect: lunch is served from about 2pm, so a weekday visit ends just as the city sits down to eat. The museum has its own café-restaurant for a break between halls. The ticket desk takes cash or card.
Which weekend should I avoid, or aim for?
| Dates in autumn 2026 | What is on at Delicias |
|---|---|
| 10-11 October | Mercado de Motores, museum visit closed |
| 16-18 October | Closed for the Brocante event |
| 7-8 November | Mercado de Motores, museum visit closed |
| 12-13 December | Mercado de Motores, museum visit closed |
| 20 December to 5 January | Christmas train programme |
The Mercado de Motores fills the main hall with more than 150 stalls, from crafts to street food, between the locomotives. Entry is free, it runs 11am to 10pm on Saturday and 11am to 9pm on Sunday, and a miniature train runs for children on Saturday from 5pm to 8pm. It is a good Saturday out, but not a museum visit.
The same station is also the starting point of the Strawberry Train to Aranjuez, a heritage day trip in spring and autumn.
How much does a family pay?
The €7 the Museum charges adds up quickly, so the offers matter: two adults and a child aged 8 pay €18 on separate tickets or €15 with the three-ticket offer for one day. Spanish large-family card holders pay €4 per adult and nothing for the children, so two adults and three children pay €8. The desk checks proof for any reduction.
On a wet day it pairs well with the plans in Madrid on a rainy day, and families will find more in free things to do with kids and Madrid Zoo or Faunia.
Madrid Railway Museum questions from visitors
Is the Madrid Railway Museum worth visiting?
For train lovers and families with children aged 4 to 12, yes. The Madrid Railway Museum shows historic locomotives on the platforms of the 1880 Delicias station, plus seven rooms including a large model railway, for €7, or €4 for children and over-65s.
Do InterRail or Eurail passes get a discount at the Madrid Railway Museum?
Yes. Holders of an InterRail or Eurail pass pay the €4 reduced ticket instead of €7, shown at the ticket desk. Children aged 4 to 12, over-65s and students pay the same €4, and under-4s go in free.
Can I take the train from Madrid airport to the Railway Museum?
Yes. Cercanías line C-1 runs from Airport T4 through Chamartín, Nuevos Ministerios and Atocha to Delicias station without a change, and Delicias is less than 500 metres from the museum. The C-1 ticket does not carry the €3 airport supplement that the Metro charges.
What is the Motor Market at the Madrid Railway Museum?
The Mercado de Motores is a free market of more than 150 stalls held among the trains on the second weekend of every month except July and August. On those days the museum’s normal visit is closed. Next dates are 10-11 October, 7-8 November and 12-13 December 2026.
Is there somewhere to eat at the Madrid Railway Museum?
The museum has its own café-restaurant, which helps because on weekdays it closes at 3pm, before most Madrid kitchens get busy with lunch. On Motor Market weekends food trucks set up outside the hall.
Fly into T4, ride the C-1 to Delicias and spend a €4 morning among the engines, unless it is market weekend.