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Morocco and Spain and/or Portugal

Replies: 14 - Last Post: Nov 9, 2012 7:18 AM Last Post By: anillos_de_satu...

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im_AQ_bb

im_AQ_bb avatar

Nov 6, 2012 9:46 AM
Posts:  6

Morocco and Spain and/or Portugal

Hey I booked a ticket to Casablanca for two weeks in mid to late January. I was thinking about heading over to Spain or Portugal. What is the best/cheapest way of getting to these places? I'm interested in Grenada and Seville, but are there more town-and-country locations that are worth checking out? I'm from New York so I am not necessarily looking for a bustling city experience; something more low-key is ideal.

Also, is Gibraltar worth checking out for more than a day?

anillos_de_saturno

anillos_de_saturno avatar

Nov 6, 2012 11:19 AM
Posts:  5,637

1

With only two weeks, I would stick to Morocco.

If you insist in visiting Spain, Ryanair has direct flights from Marrakech to Sevilla. You can easily go from Sevilla to Granada (BTW, note spelling) overland by either train or bus. If you plan to visit the North of Morocco, you can take a ferry from Tangier MED to Algeciras and a train (or, if you prefer, a bus) from Algeciras to Granada. There are also buses from Algeciras to Sevilla... It all depends on what's your departure point in Morocco and your arrival one in Spain (and the time you have to travel between them).

khamlia

khamlia avatar

Nov 6, 2012 11:29 AM
Posts:  1,606

2

Gibraltar - you can stay there over night, 2 days, it is nice place. ha and you can shop tax free there

But as anillos write, I would stick to Morocco too and enjoyed the country :) it is wonderful there. Even if Spain is nice too and if so go also to Cordoba, mosque there is magnificent.
But Morocco is different.

rmkmonk

rmkmonk avatar

Nov 7, 2012 9:29 AM
Posts:  20

3

Re the question about Portugal: getting to Portugal from Spain along the coast is a bit of an exercise, because there is no railway, but there is a bus / coach from Sevilla to Lagos which departs from Sevilla's Plaza de Armas bus station, which of course is nowhere near the Santa Justa bus station at which you will have arrived from Algeciras! You need to leave 45 minutes to get between bus station by Sevilla city bus, and then ideally you should arrive at Plaza de Armas at least an hour before the bus departs as the queues can be very long and you may not get a ticket!

This website is good for this kind of information:

http://sd2cx1.webring.org/l/rd?ring=ustravel;id=247;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ealgarvebus%2Einfo%2F

However, bearing in mind your time constraints, give Portugal a miss this time.

I know Gibraltar very well, having stayed there with a friend, and although one has to visit the place just to say you've been there and get duty free (NB, only get cigarettes or alcohol as everything else is cheaper in the UK), one day is more than enough. I recommend the Star Bar in Parliament Lane, off Main Street, for a reasonable bite to eat.

If you go to Gibraltar, then jst over the border in La Linea there are some really nice bars and cafes in calle de los Carboneras.

If you go to Granada and want to see the Alhambra (which you would), there's no point in going unless you have booked many days in advance your entry ticket because you won't be able to get in if you try booking on the day. I have been disappointed twice like this.

Seville is the perfect place for a couple of days visit, and has the advantage of being easily reached from Algeciras by bus. Cordoba is also interesting, but in my opinion, not as vibrant as Sevilla.

Back to Morocco: I recently went from Tangier Med to Algeciras, which is a bit of a hassle as you have to wait for the bus from a random roundabout in Tangier Ville to take you to the Port of Tanger Med, about 50 kms away. It's supposed to be free, but if they can screw you for 25 dirhams they will!

If you really want to get away from it all, particularly bearing in mind the time of year, you might think of Essaouira in Morocco, or Zahara de los Atunes on the Atlantic coast of Spain, but there might not be a lot open!

I haven't been to Casablanca, but all I met in Morocco warned me off the place! You can get a train from Casablanca to Marrakech (worth a day or two, no more) and Tangier. If you wanted to go down to Agadir, then it's a bus journey, as indeed is it from Essaouira to Marrakech, where you can get the night sleeper train to Tangier.

rmkmonk

rmkmonk avatar

Nov 7, 2012 9:32 AM
Posts:  20

4

I forgot to add that if you did the ferry to Spain, you might think of sailing from Tangier Ville to Tarifa, where there is supposed to be a free transit to Algeciras. This saves the bother of going to Tanger Med, and you'd get the bonus of looking around Tangier!

rmkmonk

rmkmonk avatar

Nov 7, 2012 9:46 AM
Posts:  20

5

Or, if you skipped Gibraltar, you could get a bus from Tarifa along the old coast road to Jerez and Seville!

anillos_de_saturno

anillos_de_saturno avatar

Nov 7, 2012 11:03 AM
Posts:  5,637

6

there is a bus / coach from Sevilla to Lagos which departs from Sevilla's Plaza de Armas bus station, which of course is nowhere near the Santa Justa bus station at which you will have arrived from Algeciras!

I doubt the OP would arrive by train to Sevilla from Algeciras as they aren't direct trains and making the route changing trains would mean a detour and won't be cheap. One of the direct buses from Algeciras to Sevilla would probably be the best bet for the OP.

khamlia

khamlia avatar

Nov 7, 2012 12:34 PM
Posts:  1,606

7

Even if here it is Moroccan forum I will defend Gilbraltar. It is nice place, but I looked at interesting places as Europa point, upper rock, St Michael's cave, Siege tunnels etc. and it was funny only to take a promenade there down in the town. But not visit so many bars :)
And Cordoba is nice little town, yes more quiet than Sevilla, but ...
About Morocco, there are more nice places to visit than just Tangier and Casablanca and Agadir :)

IntrepidGee

IntrepidGee avatar

Nov 7, 2012 3:21 PM
Posts:  323

8

Can also take the ferry from Ceuta to Algeciras, easy to get to Ceuta from Tetouan.

im_AQ_bb

im_AQ_bb avatar

Nov 8, 2012 9:34 AM
Posts:  6

9

Thanks guys for all your help. I changed my plans so now I am flying into Granada then I wil head over to Seville. From there is the best way to get to Tangier by taking a bus from Seville to Algeciras to Tarifa then via a ferry?

anillos_de_saturno

anillos_de_saturno avatar

Nov 8, 2012 9:45 AM
Posts:  5,637

10

From Sevilla, the best way would be to take a bus to Algeciras (with Linesur) or to Tarifa (with TGComes) and the ferry to Tangier. Ferries out of Algeciras arrive at the new Tangier MED airport far away of the city of Tangier. Out of Tarifa, you could take a ferry to the port in the city of Tangier itself.

However, with only 2 weeks, I would stick to one country. Either Morocco (if you fly there as you planned) or Spain (if you fly there as you plan now).

im_AQ_bb

im_AQ_bb avatar

Nov 8, 2012 12:22 PM
Posts:  6

11

Im meeting a friend in Casablanca which is where my return flight to New York is leaving out of. But thank you for all your help. Algeciras to Tarifa then onto Tangier. I did some research and there is a bus that leaves Tangier for Casablanca Does anyone know if that bus station is close to the ferry station?

rmkmonk

rmkmonk avatar

Nov 8, 2012 1:16 PM
Posts:  20

12

Apologies, saturno is right the other bus station in Seville is Prado San Sebastian,

IntrepidGee

IntrepidGee avatar

Nov 8, 2012 2:15 PM
Posts:  323

13

To get to Tarifa from Sevilla, you can also take a train or bus to Cadiz and then take the bus to Tarifa from there. The train and bus stations are next to each other. Obviously works in the opposite direction as well. Cadiz is a smaller town worth a visit, the oldest port in Europe (3000 years).

No such luck in Tangier, however. The train station is fairly close to the ferry port (5 min taxi ride for one euro) but the bus station is not.

As somebody above mentions, you could fly from Marrakesh to Sevilla, assuming you buy your ticket timely and don't fall for any of those RyanAir gimmicks, it would be cheaper than a train/ferry/bus combo.

You didn't ask, but if you need a economical hotel in Casablanca I can recommend the Hotel Guynemer in the Art Deco district.

anillos_de_saturno

anillos_de_saturno avatar

Nov 9, 2012 7:18 AM
Posts:  5,637

14

There are also trains from Tangier to Casablanca. Take a look at the web of the train company for more info.
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