Oct 28 – 30, 2015
Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC
Europe/Madrid timezone

How to come

The Windows on Quantum Gravity workshop will take place at the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) in the campus of the Universidad Autónoma.

Getting from the airport to the city center

The simplest way is to take a taxi. A ride costs about €25 and takes about 20 minutes. Otherwise, you can do the following (about 1 hour):

  • By metro, when arriving at terminal 1,2,3,4:
    - follow the metro signs 
    - Metro 8 direction Nuevos Ministerios and tranfer there to the appropriate line (see map).
  • By train, when arriving at terminal 1,2,3,4:
    - follow the cercanias signs in terminal 4 . If arriving at a different terminal, take the free shuttle bus runningbetween the different terminals.
    - All trains stop at Atocha station close to most of the recommended hotels and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Notice that these trains only run every 30 mins. 

Means of transportation

  • Metro:
    Madrid has an extensive and convenient metro system (see map). Tickets can be bought at stations either from a machine (accepting cash, including notes, bank and credit cards) and usually also from a ticket office. A single trip includes any number of transfers. Buy either a single which costs between €1,50 and €2,00 or a 10 trip card (10 viajes) for €12,20, the latter is also valid for the local EMT buses. Trains typically run from 6am to 1:30am.
    Airport Supplement: There is a €3,00 surcharge for trips from and to the airport subway stations: the easiest thing to do is to buy a combined fare+supplement ticket (Billete Sencillo Metro+Suplemento Aeropuerto) which costs between €4,50 and €5,00 and can be bought at any subway station. Should you forget to pay the supplement, then you can buy a supplement ticket (Billete Suplemento Aeropuerto) at the machines located near the exit of the airport's subway stations.
  • Cercanías Renfe:
    Local trains, running regularly withing the province of Madrid (see map). The tickets look very much like the metro tickets, but are NOT the same. Tickets can be bought at stations either from a machine (accepting cash, including notes, bank and credit cards) or from a ticket office. There is a zone system, most of the center is in zone 0, the university in B1, the third zone. Single tickets (for 3 zones) are €1,80 and 10 trip cards (Bonotren) €13,45.
  • Taxi:
    Taxis are numerous and for European standards, reasonably priced. A ride from the airport to the center from 6am to 10pm, costs between €25,- and €30,- (incl. the airport supplement), to Chamartín is slightly cheaper. Supplements: from/to airport €5,25, from trainstations €2,75.
  • Bus:
    There are two type of buses, the local ones of the EMT (red or blue) and the Interurbanos (green). For the EMT buses you can buy a single in the bus for €1,50 or use the 10trip metroticket. The interurbanos use separate tickets, which can be bought on the bus. Most bus drivers don't like notes bigger than €5.

The IFT at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

The Workshop will take place at the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT).

The location of the Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT) in Google Maps.

The IFT is number 41 in the map below. The red line indicates the walking route (around 20 min.) from the train stationCantoblanco Universidad (number 27 in the map).

A higher resolution map of the Campus can be found here . The Instituto de Física Teórica (IFT), is the number 42 on this other map. The train station Cantoblanco Universidad is number 27.

Getting to IFT from the airport

The simplest way is to take a taxi. A ride costs about €25 and takes about 20 minutes. Otherwise, you can do the following (about 1 hour):

  • By metro & train, arriving at terminal 1-4:
    - follow the metro signs 
    - Metro 8 direction Nuevos Ministerios. Change at Nuevos Ministerios.
    - Take a Cercanías train to Colmenar Viejo or Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes (C4).
    - Get off at Cantoblanco Universidad station.
  • By bus, arriving at terminal 1-3:
    - Take the free shuttle bus running between the different terminals.
    - Get out at terminal 4 and follow the instructions below.
  • By bus, arriving at terminal 4:
    - Take bus 827, running every 20 minutes (single €1,8 approx ).
    - Get off at Universidad Autónoma stop.
Getting there from the center
  • Take a Cercanías train
    - Take either a train to Colmenar Viejo or Alcobendas-San Sebastián de los Reyes (C4).
    - Get off at Cantoblanco Universidad station.