Sit on the Left side of the plane for the best views on flights from Madrid to San Francisco. Left side wins at both ends of the flight. Over the Atlantic and North America the views are largely ocean and cloud, so the departure and arrival windows matter most, and left delivers on both with Madrid's city and mountains at takeoff and the full San Francisco Bay panorama on approach.

During takeoff from Barajas (MAD), sit on the Left side for the best views. Barajas typically departs westbound on runways 32L/32R, meaning a left-side seat faces south toward central Madrid. You get a clear view of the city grid, the Manzanares River valley, and the Sierra de Guadarrama rising to the northwest. The right side faces open Castilian meseta with little of interest. Notable sights include: Sierra de Guadarrama (snow-capped ridge to the northwest), central Madrid urban grid and Casa de Campo park, Manzanares River corridor, Alcalá de Henares sprawl to the east.

When landing at San Francisco International (SFO), sit on the Left side for the best views. SFO's dominant arrival is from the east on runways 28L/28R heading west, which puts the left side facing south toward the San Francisco Peninsula, the bay, and the city. You see the entire bay system, the San Mateo Bridge, and the San Francisco skyline clearly. The right side looks north over open water and the Marin headlands at a less favorable angle. Notable sights include: San Francisco Bay and the San Mateo Bridge, San Francisco city skyline and downtown, San Francisco Peninsula coastline, Oakland and the Bay Bridge visible across the water.

The flight from Barajas (MAD) to San Francisco International (SFO) takes Approximately 11 to 12 hours.

The route tracks northwest from Madrid across the Iberian Peninsula, crosses the Bay of Biscay, then heads over the North Atlantic following a great circle arc that passes south of Greenland and Iceland. Over Canada the route crosses Newfoundland, Quebec, and the Great Lakes region before descending across the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley of California into SFO. Mid-flight is largely open North Atlantic ocean with occasional glimpses of cloud systems and, rarely, the southern tip of Greenland's ice sheet on the northern horizon.