La Estación de Atocha

I hadn't even realised that getting the train to Toledo would mean passing through La Estación de Atocha. I've lived in, or close to, the area of Madrid called Atocha for almost all of my time here and I still hadn't visited this famous landmark. On Saturday morning though, while Annie and I bought our train tickets, I got to have a good look around. The first thing you notice is the fact that there's a tropical garden in the centre!

 

 

Apparently this contains around 500 species of plant...and animal. The terrapin pool is everyone's favourite spot with adults and kids alike lining the barriers to peer down at the piles of sleeping turtles.

 

 

Built in 1851, the station is the biggest, most famous and most important in Madrid. It's here that you can catch any of the high speed AVE trains heading to cities like Barcelona and Sevilla. All the Cercanías lines in the city converge here and Metro line 1 takes passengers from Atocha to the city centre in a matter of minutes.

It really is quite an impressive building and makes a lovely start to any trip to Madrid.

La Estación de Atocha can be found towards the south of the city at:

Pza. Emperador Carlos V, Vestíbulo del Ave, Arganzuela

28012 Madrid

 

P.S: For any fellow David Attenborough fans I give you...terrapin courtship rituals! :)

 

 

 

 

The male "strokes" the female's face by flickering his claws along her cheeks...passionate stuff :P