Day Trip to Tangier, Morocco

With the ease of a day-trip from Spain, Tangier is the perfect place to visit on a budget! While staying in Malaga, Spain we chose to take a day trip to Tangier, Morocco. Morocco is everything I expected and more! Before going to Morocco, we made sure to research the customs so that we were respectful of the culture. I have summarized them into a nice list for you here, along with a list of what I wore and where to buy my outfit.

Getting to Tangier (from Spain)

Tangier is located in northwestern Morocco and is separated from Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar. We stayed in Malaga, so we had to take a 2 hour bus ride in order to get to Tarifa. Tarifa is the southernmost point of Spain, where you will meet in order to take a ferry across. The ferry is about an hour ride, but it is super luxurious! Plus, you get a passport stamp on the ferry which we all love to collect (I hate when I go somewhere awesome and don’t get a stamp!). We chose to pay for a group tour ($95 but not available Mondays), so we simply followed the directions of our tour guide. I highly recommend a tour guide because they are going to know how to best work with the locals.

What is Included?

We loved being a part of a group! It made everything so much more simple!
Just contact me and I can book it for you! It was $95 and included:

• Bus travel: round trip to/from Malaga to Port of Tarifa
• Boat travel: round trip to/from Port of Tarifa to Tangier
• Bus travel: to/from the port throughout Tangier
• Food: aka the best lunch you will ever have
• Tour Guide! This alone is worth the price in my opinion

What is NOT Included?

• Drinks at the restaurant, which are about $1-$3.
• Camel rides, which are $5 and you go only in a very small circle
• Souvenirs, which vary in price. Don’t forget to negotiate! I got a purse listed for 100 euro, and I only paid $21 USD.

What to Expect

Morocco was everything I had dreamed and more! I can not tell you how much I loved it. However, there were a ton of bad reviews on the tour group so I decided to dig a little deeper to get to the root of the “issues”.

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The Top Complaints I Noticed (and why you should care)

1. The travel time (bus/ferry) took up too much of my day, we only got to spend a few hours in Tangier!
   Yes, this is true. Please go in knowing that there will be a long-ish bus ride from wherever you are in Spain. Malaga was the furthest stop on the bus and it took us about 2 hours each way, followed by a 1 hour ferry ride. Though it was 6 hours of travel round trip, it was well worth it for a day trip. Remember that you are going to an entirely different continent so it is not as simple to get to as it would be just to go to a different country in the EU. Also, I loved the travel time because it gave me a chance to nap after a long day!
2. They forced us to sit through a ton of sales pitches!
   Yes, there are 3 sales pitches to sit through. I did my research (just like you!) and knew to expect this. It was terribly boring, especially because I was not planning on purchasing anything. I took this with a grain of salt. I was getting a chance to rest indoors after a lot of walking in the heat, and I was still learning about Moroccan culture.
3. There were people constantly in our personal space trying to sell us things!
   Yes, true again. Though it needs to be said that this is customary in the area. Of course the area has a different culture, remember that this is what you paid to experience.

Things to Note

I thought Morocco was amazing, but if a busy/crowded city with a marketplace culture is not for you, that is fine! Skip Morocco instead of expecting it to be something it is not. All of the bad reviews I read were people that were upset about the culture itself, rather than the tour guide/group. Remember to read my post on why it is important to be respectful of the culture! I would absolutely do this trip again, and hope to explore even more of the country soon!

Total Spent: $123.06 USD

**This is at the current Euro -> USD exchange rate of 1.12 per 1 USD

• $95 for the tour guide/group
• $22.45 for the purse (20 euro)
• $5.61 for a candy bar and coffee for the ferry ride home (5 euro)