Madrid to Lisbon distance

Madrid to Lisbon by road

The fastest driving route is 627 km (389 mi) long and takes about 6 hr 45 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on the A-5 (397 km), the A6 (158 km), and the A2 (56.3 km).

Of the 627 km, 411 km are in Spain and 213 km are in Portugal. That’s an average of 93 km/h (58 mph). Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) recommends a break every two hours or 200 km: with 3 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 7 hr 45 min. The time is OSRM’s estimate with OpenStreetMap data: no traffic and speeds somewhat below the limits, so real trips can differ.

Straight-line distance and bearing

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Madrid and Lisbon are 505 km (314 mi) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 24% longer: for every 100 km in a straight line you drive 124. That’s a normal detour between two cities. Of the 10 cross-border pairs in this series, it ranks 7th for detour (the average is 31%).

From Madrid, Lisbon lies to the west (bearing 250°), and from Lisbon, Madrid lies to the northeast. The straight line reaches Lisbon on a bearing of 246°: on a sphere the bearing keeps changing along the way, which is why the shortest route looks slightly curved on a flat map.

Halfway between Madrid and Lisbon

Halfway along the straight line, 253 km (157 mi) from each city, is the point 39.6042° N, 6.4541° W. It falls near Casar de Cáceres (Cáceres, pop. 4,511), 5.7 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Cáceres (pop. 96,651), 16.0 km away.

By road, the halfway point is 313 km (195 mi) from each city, near Santa Amalia (Badajoz, pop. 3,881), 6.3 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Don Benito (Badajoz, pop. 37,986), 20.5 km away. The two midpoints are 72.6 km apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time difference and flight

Lisbon is 1 hour behind Madrid all year (Western European Time versus Central European Time): when it’s 12:00 in Madrid, it’s 11:00 in Lisbon.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 10 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 505 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Madrid has 3.5 million people (INE population register, January 1, 2025) and Lisbon 517,802 people (GeoNames).