Madrid has six principal roads of access to the city from national highway N-I to N-VI (the 'N' corresponds to Carretera Nacional, National Highway). It also has two roads that bypass the city, the inner road is known as the M-30 and the exterior as M-40.

N-I (Carretera de Burgos or the Burgos Highway)

Also know as the 'Autovía del Norte' (North Roadway), it connects Madrid with Burgos and from there, one can go towards Cantabria or the Basque Country. It is the road to take in order to arrive to France via Irún. Plus, it is the route to arrive to the ports from where the ferries to the British Isles leave.

N-II (Carretera de Barcelona)

This is a highway that goes directly to Barcelona and the Costa Brava (the Rugged Coast), via Guadalajara, Zaragoza, crossing the Desert of the Monegros and passing near Lérida (Lleida). Also, it connects with the South of France via La Junquera.

N-III (Carretera de Valencia)

This road may be taken for travel to Cuenca, Albacete, Murcia, to the Mediterranean coastal cities of Alicante (Costa Blanca, the White Coast), Valencia and Castellón (Costa del Azahar, Orange Blossom Coast).

N-IV (Carretera de Andalucía)

The N-IV is the route the crosses through the following cities: Ciudad Real, Jaén, Córdoba, Sevilla, Granada, Almería, Málaga, Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Tarifa, as well as the tourist spots of the Costa del Sol (the Sun Coast) and the Costa Cálida (the Hot Coast). The route also takes you to Gibraltar and the ferries to Morocco.

N-V (Carretera de Extremadura)

Take this road to arrive to Talavera, Trujillo, Cáceres, Mérida, and Badajoz and to Lisbon and the Algarbe (Southern Portugal). It is also a good alternative route to go to the west of Andalucía.

N-VI (Carretera de La Coruña)

The N-VI links Madrid with El Escorial, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Valladolid, Zamora, León, and the cities of Galicia and Asturias, as well as the north of Portugal.