Day Trip to Tangier, Morocco

Any one know of a reliable and value for money day trip to Morocco form Costa del Sol.

Any advice on this or what to look for when in Morocco much appreclated.

Trips are made by Ferrys from Algeciras and Tarifa. There are organised tours, which I highly recommend as locals can be really difficult if go on your own.

Please contatc us if you need more info on this, we live in Algeciras and will be certainly pleased to help you with this.

Best regards,

Maria

Morocco is not everyone's cup of tea.  I've been a couple of times now and absolutely love it.  Despite only being 35 minutes away by ferry from Tarifa, you are literally entering a whole different world.  Nothing quite prepares you for getting off the ferry at Tangiers - the sounds, smells, the touts harassing you and the general madness.

Morocco is a fascinating mix of Spain, France and Africa.  In particular, there's a lot of Spain in Morocco (that really should be there is a lot of Morocco in Spain if you know your Spanish history) in terms of the architecture, the patterned tiles/mosaics and a lot of Moroccans look Spanish.

The people are very friendly and chatty and they all seem to speak several languages fluently.  Not sure how they do it.

You need to have your wits about you when you are there though.  There's all sorts of touts trying to get you in to taxis, hotels, carpet shops etc.  Ignore them, especially the carpet shop touts as you will get the hard sell and end up with an expensive rug. Not sure how old you are but if you are younger, you will almost certainly be offered drugs. 

Just remember, Morocco is definitely not Europe!

My advice is not to go by an organised bus / ferry trip, I do not think you will enjoy it because you will be hassled by salesmen (I use the term broadly) wanting to sell you everything from carpets to candles or street hawkers wanting pictures of you with a snake round your neck or some other creature and that happens wherever the bus stops! If you want to see Tangiers go off the tourist track, go by ferry on your own, stay in a hotel for a night or 2 and rnjoy the real Tangiers..... then you will want to return again and again 

I've been to Tangier a few times, as we further inland. For a day trip to Tangier the shortest crossing on the fast boat from Tarifa (~30min), though you can also sail from Algeciras (1.5hrs). Make sure you get the right ferry. Some ferries from Algeciras run to Tangier Med, a new ferry port which is in the middle of nowhere half way between Tangier and Ceuta. FRS Iberia run a fast ferry from Tarifa to Tangier, and Balearia from Algerciras to Tangier proper.

Arrving in Tangier main port you are right in the town itself, which centres around the harbour. It's easy to explore by foot so you dont really need  an organised tour, and it's a nice place just to wander around, rather than visit any "must do" sites. The old Hotel Continental is a wonderful old-world European colonial style hotel near the old Medina at Rue Dar el-Baroud, a short walk from the port. It's well worth seeing and perhaps stopping for a drink.

I guess the city is an aquired taste, and if it's your first time in Morocco it's pretty manic and overwhelming, perhaps a bit intimidating. But ignore the touts, stick by the rule that anything that seems to be good to be true definitely is, then you won't come too unstuck, and will get to see a really interesting, lively town that can be a fun place for a day out. If it gets a bit much just head into one of the western hotels for a drink on their terrances, and if you want to go back home, it might feel exotic and far away, but it's just a case of jumping on the ferry.

Thanks for all your replies so far, seems like an ''interesting place'', and may take a bit more thought but the positives seem to out way the negatives so we will look into a bit more and hope to take a trip there when we are out again in September.

Is there any shopping without feeling under pressure or hassled, we probably would like to look at what is available without the hassle. 

Cheers for now.

 H.

Can anybody advise of the costs of crossing as a foot passenger, against taking a car across?

Hi Fultond its free to go and a 100 euros to get back, no seriously its about 50-60 euros return.

See here for the only ferry, do one day excursions to 65 e on 35min fast ferry from Trafia

http://www.frs.es/es/excursiones/ofertas/excursion-a-tanger-1-dia.html