is Tarifa Safe?

Hello- Is travelling in Tarifa safe? I was told that it is not - is this true? What about driving there? are the roads safe? Another question- what is the easiest and safest way to travel there from Madrid? (Ease and safety beign a priority before the monetary....) thanks so much!!!

Are you for real???

What have you been told???

i've only been told that it was not safe to travel alone -- I think they must have been putting me on.... are the roads safe to drive from Gibralter?

Yes, if you mean free from carjackers and such. The traffic can be a bit much, depending on time of the year.

They were most definitely pulling your leg. Including an occasional benign stoner there is nothing threatening about Tarifa.

Tens of thousands of Spanish women travel alone every day in Spain and emerge unscathed, including those who make the journey from Madrid to Andalucia by whatever means you care to mention. Add them to all the solo women tourists who do likewise and you can see what NavajoRug reacted the way she did.

They've definitely been putting you on. You'll be ok.

Would you care to elaborate on your question about road safety between Gibraltar and Tarifa? What kind of hazards are troubling you?

Thank you all for replying to my posting about tarifa's safety and driving on the roads. Someone clearly gave me the wrong information! thanks, again....

Becky - if you have any more questions about the roads or driving in the area, PM me, I live not that far from Tarifa and have driven to Gib/Malaga many times.

Gibraltar itself is difficult to drive in - few parking places and cramped streets. I never do it - I leave the car in la Linea and walk.

As for getting to Tarifa from Madrid - what are actually your plans - where are you flying into?When are you renting the car? It'll be easier to help if you tell us that.
Ave fast train is a great way to get to the South from Madrid if the cost doesn't matter that much to you. Then you'd have to take the bus or another train to Cadiz and a bus to Tarifa. A bit complex, but the Ave takes only 2.5 hours and really beats driving.

I got a VUELING Ticket from MADRID TO JEREZ for 30 EURO, if you are flexible with dates you can get it for 21 EURO. A lot easier then driving, and cheeper then the tank of gas, rent a car from Jerez would be easier, im guessing.

Total b.s. Tarifa is completely safe. The roads are generally safe in southern Spain. I found them to be about a million times easier to drive on than roads in Portugual. Portuguese drivers are all type A behind the wheel of a car and they will do all kinds of crazy things like pass on blind curves at fast speeds. I lost count of how many times I saw people put their lives on the line to pass on a blind curve just to save seconds off their drive time. I didn't see that kind of stuff in southern Spain. According to the guidebooks, it's incredibly dangerous to drive in Spain, but I saw nothing crazy or out of the oridinary. Every single time I drove in Portugual I saw crazy drivers. Every time.

If you go to Tarifa, try to find the Italia restaurant which is a little off the downtown area. You can ask someone where it is. The owner is very nice and speaks a little English and the food is incredible. I've been to Italy and being an American, I know Italian food pretty well, but this place is just amazing and well worth a visit. I highly recommend the lasagna (the best EVER!!!) but you can't wrong with anything there.

Climate change, here we come :-(

I almost forgot to say that if you have a car you should try to go to the Roman ruins of Belo Claudia near Tarifa. They're not Spain's best Roman ruins, but they aren't bad either and they are easily reachable by car, but not so reachable without one.

Nice beach there too, not so many backpackers :-)

Beach in Bolonia is gorgeous.. And I don't use that word very often :)

Global warming here we come... and I've been flagging off the Ave so relentlessly.

Becky - renting a car in Jerez is a good option. The road around Tarifa will be busy in the morning around 11, lunchtime at 2pm - 3pm and in the evening at around 8-9pm. Off and on the beach traffic. It's a good road though, and quite picturesque. There is a new A road from Jerez through Puerto Sta Maria so you do not have to do the N-IV on that bit, which is nice as it's a miserable bit of it. If you decide to rent the car at Jerez airport, let me know. I'll PM you good driving directions. Note: the airport is some distance north of Jerez and you do not go into town on the way out. Do not follow the signs to Jerez - take Cadiz/Algeciras direction.

#9 I hope you are not talking about the little Italian place that we went to. We had a pizza then I woke up in the middle of the night with food poisoning which lasted a good 48 hours (at least). Yuck!