From Tarifa to Tangier Morocco

While visiting Spain, I knew I would travel to Morocco but the question was for exactly how long and how to get there. It would be easiest to go from Tarifa to Tangier Morocco and after doing some research and talking to fellow travelers, I was about set on spending anywhere from three to five days there with plans to travel to Fez and Marrakech but I was hoping to find some friends that wanted to do the same.

My ride to Morocco

Well, I did find some friends in Portugal that wanted to make the trip from Tarifa to Tangier but the timing was off between our travel plans so I decided to at least spend the day in Morocco leaving from Tarifa. So a one day excursion it would be…

Last look at the European coastline

The day started out by taking the ferry from Tarifa to Tangier, from one port to the other in Morocco – the place I would spend the day. There was a small group of us on a tour of sorts but that day was probably the most foreign to me so far as I knew no one and I was really the only English speaking traveler in the bunch as the other ten in our group were all Italian (and speaking only Italian). Luckily the guide which met us in Tangier could speak enough English for me to understand much of the day but it didn’t allow too much in the way of conversation.

First look at Morocco before getting into the port

After getting my passport checked three times in three separate locations, we all headed off to tour the various sections of Tangier including the mountaintop palace, some Camels en route and a cave tour along the coastline.

You could buy almost anything in these caves… Surprisingly no McDonalds in sight

Where’s Waldo? He’s sitting on the left selling his goods

View from outside the caves overlooking the Mediterranean

Anyone need a ride?

It was quite an experience to hike down into these caves and find a small market of vendors selling their goods but seeing as how its still a tourist destination, maybe its not too crazy to find them there.

Afterwards, we headed to eat lunch in the market which was surprisingly good. I’m really not sure if they were catering the food towards a tourist’s appetite but it consisted of a lentil soup and bread then a bowl of couscous with chicken, apricots and other vegetables followed up with fresh mint tea (which was delicious I might add). Oh yeah, and the Coca Cola that was provided with lunch was not only the ‘old school’ glass bottle but was in written entirely in Arabic which I thought was pretty awesome!

The restaurant… and the band

The remainder of the day was spent in the markets and walking the streets and shops to get a feel for the town. After a few hours, we definitely got a glimpse of what it means to haggle with the locals over market goods.

In case you opted out on the Camel…

Entryway into the old town market

Everything here is negotiable and in Tanger, you must know that the first price offered is likely anywhere from 200 to 500% inflated and is a mere starting point for negotiation. After being shuffled around the streets in the main market area, we spend some time in a few select shops that must have been designated by our tour guide. Basically, we were a ‘captive’ audience for all the goods sold in a couple of these places as these were scheduled stops along the tour. After that, we spent another hour wandering the streets before heading back. All in all, it was a good experience to get an idea of the culture and the markets but from what I’ve heard, not too representative of many of the other areas within Morocco as Tangier is known for being a port town. By nightfall, I was headed back again to Tarifa from Tangier…. However, should you decide you want to spent the night in or around here, you can find a wide selection of hotels with discount prices by visiting the following for Tangier Hotels. And if you make it here, be sure to keep the mindset that you’re a tourist so expect to be treated as one. You’ll have a much greater time if you adapt to that.

One of the shops we visited

Typical market view