Madrid to Toulouse distance

Madrid to Toulouse by road

The fastest driving route is 798 km (496 mi) long and takes about 8 hr 40 min without stops or traffic. It runs mostly on the A64 (287 km), the A-1 (258 km), and the AP-1 (196 km).

Of the 798 km, 468 km are in Spain and 331 km are in France. That’s an average of 92 km/h (57 mph). Spain’s traffic authority (DGT) recommends a break every two hours or 200 km: with 4 stops of 20 minutes, the trip takes about 10 hr. 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 Toulouse are 553 km (344 mi) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”.

The road is 44% longer: for every 100 km in a straight line you drive 144. That’s a big detour: the fastest route strays quite far from the straight line. Of the 34 Spain–Europe driving pairs in this series, it ranks 6th for detour (the average is 31%).

From Madrid, Toulouse lies to the northeast (bearing 49°), and from Toulouse, Madrid lies to the southwest. The straight line reaches Toulouse on a bearing of 52°: 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 Toulouse

Halfway along the straight line, 277 km (172 mi) from each city, is the point 42.0406° N, 1.1883° W. It falls near Ejea de los Caballeros (Zaragoza, pop. 17,129), 10.4 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Tudela (Navarre, pop. 38,903), 34.7 km away.

By road, the halfway point is 399 km (248 mi) from each city, near Soraluze-Placencia de las Armas (Gipuzkoa, pop. 3,857), 1.5 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Eibar (Gipuzkoa, pop. 27,484), 3.7 km away. The two midpoints are 163 km apart: if you want to meet halfway, the one on the road is the useful one.

Time zone and flight

Madrid and Toulouse share the same time all year: both are on Central European Time.

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 10 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 553 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 Toulouse 511,684 people (GeoNames).