When I was planning our Spain & Morocco trip, one of my biggest fear was the ferry ride. Planning how to get from Seville to south of Spain, and then from there to northern Morocco was not easy. With the distance, my parents and the little time we had, making this trip hassle free seemed close to impossible. After tons of research, I finally decided on how to make this long stretch of commute in just one day. And it turns out everything went very smoothly, with no interruptions or problems.
From which cities can you get a ferry to Morocco?
In order to catch a ferry, you need to get to either Tarifa (slightly closer in distance) or Algeciras. Both these towns have daily ferries that go to Tangier and Tangier Med (40 mins further out from the medina). Depending on where you are starting from, traveling to one of these towns in Spain is the most difficult.
How to travel to these cities in south of Spain?
If you are traveling from Barcelona or Madrid, I would definitely recommend taking the train until you can get as far south as you can. We had a day in Seville and so our trip started from there. One option I looked into was taking a train from Seville to Tarifa. However, taking a train would take us six hours, which is three times longer than driving. The cost for train tickets for four people is also not cheap. But if the next option was not available, this would be our go to.
The second option was renting a car from Seville and driving to Tarifa. I looked up car rentals and luckily found Enterprise in Seville! But the only place to return the rental was in Algeciras. We decided to go with it and make the ferry trip from Algeciras. So, my husband took an international driving permit (click here for how to get one). He drove the 2 hours from Seville to Algeciras with our phones for GPS and printed directions for back up.
How about the rest of the trip?
We returned the rental at Enterprise, conveniently located right next to the ferry station. From there, we booked our tickets for the next ferry. One of the ferry companies offered a free 30 minute bus ride to Tarifa to catch the ferry from there. This was ideal, because the ferries leaving from Algeciras only goes to Tangier Med. Tangier Med is further out from Tangier and would require a 40 minute drive once we land in Morocco.
We relaxed, had some lunch at their cafe and waited for the bus, which took us to the Tarifa station. Soon after, we went through the checking and initial screenings and boarded the ferry. When we got inside the ferry, all our luggage had to be placed in a designated area. Once upstairs, we quickly went to immigration booth with our passports. The line was very long, so we tried to get there as quickly as possible. Sometimes the lines are so long that you can still be in line even after the ferry has arrived in Tangier. The ferry ride itself from Tarifa to Tangier is only about 45 minutes long.
(Side note: The immigration officer needs to see everyone in the group, holding their own passports. Since my parents were with us, we let them sit and we called them up when we got closer up in line. I am sure if you are traveling with young children or elder parents, they don’t mind if you do this. The people in the rest of the line were very understanding and kind.)
Ferry companies, prices and timings…
There are a few companies to choose from. Most of the ferry companies have around 6-12 round trips daily, each leaving 2-4 hours after the previous one. We chose the company called Intershipping, but it really doesn’t matter which one you choose because they all work with each other. What is important is getting the ferry at your most convenient time. All the round trip tickets were open tickets, which is great for travelers like me! Since we traveled during the off season, we were able to catch the next available ferry with no problem. That may not be the case during peak seasons.
Prices range from 40 to 90 Euros for a round trip ticket, depending on when you’re booking and traveling. We paid around 70 Euros per person, but you can pay much less if you book online. Since we were driving into Tarifa the morning of, we wanted to be more flexible.
Check out their website for more details HERE!
Tip: There is a 1 hour time difference between Spain and Morocco. Make sure you plan that into your itinerary!
What about landing in Morocco?
The ferries stop in two places; Tangier (inside the medina) and Tangier Med (40 minutes away from the medina).
We landed in Tangier, took our luggage and got right off. There is no checking or screenings coming into Tangier since we did that part on the ferry. However, there is more checking and immigration process going back from Tangier to Spain.
I hope this gave you an idea of how to travel from Spain to Morocco. Although it seems like a complicated plan, it’s really not that hard. If I had to make the trip again, I don’t think there is anything I would change.
Information for INTER SHIPPING
Time From Tarifa: 8AM, 12PM, 4PM & 8PM
Leaving from Tanger: 9AM, 1PM, 5PM & 11PM
Phone number: 00 34 956 684729
Email: info@intershipping.es
www.intershipping.es
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