Accessing UPM's Montegancedo Campus
Getting to UPM's Montegancedo Campus and to the School of Computer Science (Facultad de Informática)
The Montegancedo Campus of the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid - UPM) is located on the M-40 ring, about 10 km to the west of the city center, and close to the residential town of Boadilla del Monte. The campus currently houses the four buildings of the School of Computer Science (Facultad de Informática - FIM), as well as sports facilities.
- Accessing the Montegancedo campus by taxi: Give the taxi
driver the instructions for accessing
the montegancedo campus in Spanish and this map. You
should know that since the Facultad is just outside of the Madrid
downtown area, the taxi will double the price from the point where you
cross the end of the downtown area (in order to also pay for the
return trip to that point). This point will be marked by a signal at
the side of the road. I.e. if from Aluche (or wherever) to the sign
the counter shows X pesetas, and from the sign to the University it
shows X+Y, the total amount should be X + 2*Y. Most new taxis have
meter which do this automatically, but other drivers will do it by
hand.
- Accessing the Montegancedo campus by subway/bus: There is
unfortunately no subway station within walking distance to campus, so
a subway/bus or subway/taxi combination must be used. From downtown
Madrid or the airport:
- Take the subway (the ``Metro'' in Madrid) to Aluche. Aluche is on Line 10 and Line 5 - you can find maps and directions on the Madrid Metro pages.
- From Aluche, take bus number 591, marked "Aluche-Facultad
de Informática". The bus stop is beneath the subway station
(this station is elevated over the ground). You will see a series of
buses (most of them are green) just underneath the station - make sure
you take the right one. Note that there is no signpost for number
591. It stops in the last lane by the concrete wall. You will usually
find a good number of students waiting for the bus who will most
likely speak English. You do not need to count stops: just pay the
driver and stay on the bus until the last stop (it only makes two or
three stops). The bus leaves at least every half an hour (more
frquently at busy times), but note that this bus only runs when there
are lectures. If in doubt, you can find the bus timetable and
schedules for other buses here
(click on "horario autobuses"). If you cannot confirm that the
bus will be running, or get bored waiting for it, take a taxi from
Aluche (this is a relatively short distance and is not too expensive)
- see above for taxi instructions.
- Accessing the Montegancedo campus by car:
From downtown Madrid: You can find a map here (and an aerial photograph here).
- Take the N-V / A5 out (freeway to Portugal, direction "Talavera"). The N-V / A5 can be reached from the "Plaza de España" area, or simply by following the M-30 (the first ring road around Madrid) around to the southwest until you find it. Follow the N-V / A5 until you reach the M-40 (second ring around Madrid) and take a right into the M-40, to go north (i.e., towards the N-VI / A6). Exit the M-40 at exit number 36 (road "M-511 to Boadilla"), and follow the signs to "Facultad de Informática".
- Alternatively, take the N-VI / A6 out (freeway to La Coruña) until you reach the M-40 (second ring around Madrid) and take a left into the M-40, to go west (i.e., towards the N-V / A5). Exit the M-40 at exit number 38, and follow the service road and the signs to "Facultad de Informática".
From the airport: the fastest and easiest thing is to take the M-40 all the way around the south of Madrid. Upon exiting the airport follow indications for M-40 south (direction N-III / A-3, N-IV / A4, N-V / A5, etc.). In normal traffic conditions it should take less than 30 minutes (but be careful with rush hours).
- Take the bus to Aluche, and the subway from there. The bus stop is in the parking lot between the large green building and the white building (between blocks 4 and 5 -- hey you can even see a bus arriving at the stop in the aerial photograph!).
- Fastest, specially if you are going to the airport: ask for a taxi by phone - main problem here is explaining to the taxi company where you are, please ask one of us for help. The people at reception can also help, modulo language problems. You can get to the airport (outside rush hour) in 30 minutes.
- Take the "Urbanizacion" buses to Campamento or Plaza de España (ask anyone where to catch them), take the subway from there.
- Easiest thing when available: catch a ride back with someone leaving the department to some subway station. A very popular method...