Hello all, four of us are taking a trip to Spain next May. We will start in Barcelona, staying there for 3 days, then fly to Malaga and have about 10 days to drive back up to Barcelona, enjoying the countryside along the coast. My question is about taking the ferry to Tanger for a day trip. I looked at old postings regarding this subject, and found a lot of varying opinions. After reading them all, I am inclined to skip it as our time is limited, and too many people were negative about Tanger. The idea was to take a day trip, to go to Africa and see something new, but what I have read so far in the old posts is not encouraging.
So, I am looking for some current opinions--is it worth burning a day to visit Tanger? Or for that matter, Ceuta? And what about safety issues?
Thanks everyone for your replies!

Going to Tangiers when visiting Spain is similar to going to Tijuana while visiting California. At least that is how many report it. But there was a funny 1953 movie with Alec Guinness about crossing the Gibraltar Straits called <u>Captain's Paradise</u>.

A little surprised, as you seem to have done some research - 'have about 10 days to drive back up to Barcelona, enjoying the countryside along the coast' - you will not find much countryside (or very much which is attractive or worth seeing) on this coastal journey.

Tangier is an ex-colonial, industrial, port city with little of Morocco or Africa to it, although I cannot be sure of your expectations. Ceuta has been described to me as a very mixed community with half the area having a Spanish feel and half Moroccan.

What safety issues? - As obvious tourists you should keep your street smarts with you in any city. In your case I would be more concerned about any time you spend in tourist areas of Barcelona, a city with a big reputation for pick pocketing, 'slight of hand' and other clever ruses to part you from your money and belongings. Violence/mugging is rare.

Best wishes.

We did the Tangier day trip from Marbella 3 years ago and it is a waste of a day. Tangier doesn't feel like Africa, or even Morocco and is just a fairly grubby place to get carpet salesmen in your face for three hours. I'd give it a miss.

Apart from people trying to sell you everything and anything, at no point did we feel that there were any safety issues, WomBatt is correct.

Don't do it.

Another don't do it here. Tangiers is not even remotely a Moroccan experience. I do agree that safety issues for me would be more applicable to Barcelona than to anywhere in Morocco, though.

I defiinatley wouldn't do the daytrip to Tangiers.

Also, I'd consider taking the 10 days you have alloted to driving from Malaga to Barcelona and spending them in Granada, Cordoba & Sevilla (or other places of interest). Then flying to Barcelona. May is a beautiful time of year in Andalucia with many local festivals. The May crosses are big ini Granada & Cordoba. Cordoba has it's spectacular patio festival and Sevilla has it's feria.

A here is a different opinion. We did just that. True, Tangier is not a particularly attractive and for the most has no charm, BUT, the Casbah area is interesting and having lived in the middle east for a couple of years, reasonably authentic. So if you do decide to go, confine your Tangier experience to the Casbah. Yes, you will be greated by a group of urchins when getting off the boat, and yes, they may well follow you around for awhile trying to get you to buy stuff, but that is part of such places. If you go and decide to buy in any of the shops, the true price is about 20% of the asking price - no more, sometimes less. Most tourists go for half price and think they are getting a deal. They are not.

Gibralter is another possibility where there is very mixed opinion. We found it to be worth an afternoon.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, confirming my suspicions.
And thanks for the safety reminders-we were in Barcelona only last year and loved it, but had done our research ( not being experienced world travelers) and made sure to be aware of our surroundings etc--didn't have a problem there as we were very careful. For some reason I thought Tanger had an especially bad reputation--but of course that could be said about any other city, NYC, LA, Las Vegas etc. So a stupid question I guess!
WomBatt--are you saying that the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, etc etc and nearby inland areas are not interesting? I had heard they are beautiful. Our group is more interested in small town travel as opposed to the big city ( except for Barcelona of course ). Our itinerary is not set as of yet. Please elaborate if you can, thanks.

Thanks basingstoke2, I appreciate your opinion.
Wombatt, if my last question is too off topic, I will repost, sorry.

I am certainly not saying that any inland area is not interesting.
Are we divided by a common language? You wrote 'enjoying the countryside along the coast' and I referred to the coastal journey return to Barcelona. If you are not going to highway or coastal road back from Malaga for much of the way all well and good - but much of the coastal route from, as an approximation, the Costa Blanca, is built up and does not afford many views of the sea, (to my aged recollection).

Best wishes.

Thanks WomBatt.

Wombatt is right, Cathy is right and IMO Ceuta is awful.

Thanks Egbert.

Morroco is best done by flying into Marrakesh for a few days, maybe a night or two in the Atlas mtns. and a couple days in Essouira. You could also experience a night in Fez if you want to experience what Morroco is like. It is fascinating but Andalucia is so much nicer and 100 times more relaxing. I never recommend taking precious days from a trip to Andalucia by going over to Morroco. Keep in mind this is just my biased opinion.

Well, my biased opinion is that Morocco is far more interesting than anywhere in Spain, but I do agree that Marrakesh and Fez and Essouira (and Agadir and lots of other places) are much more interesting than Tangiers and Casablanca.

Thank you everyone. Since our time in Spain is limited, we will probably rethink our plan and skip Morocco. We are still rethinking everything too much, now wondering if we should go north instead! We only have 4 months to change our minds. Thank you for all the input--it helps so much.

Costa del Sol has become a concrete jungle. It was bad 20 years ago, it is out of control today. Tequilamary, if you have 10 days to burn and have never been to Spain I find it baffling your choice to spend it driving from Malaga to Barcelona. There are about 1,000 road trips around Spain that will blow your senses in comparison. Not to say that there are not gorgeous spots along that coast, it is just that there are much better road trips to choose from. Ever been to Andalucia's White Villages? Seville? Merida? Carmona? Grazalema? Explore Andalucia and fly back to Barcelona from Seville.

As far as Tanger: you noted in your post that your expectation is to see something new. If that is the case, then go. You will not see a beautiful city, you will not encountered charming people, you will see something new; walk around the Medina, see the products at the Casbah. Ferry over, hire a taxi for the day at the port and tell them to take you to these places. There is safety in numbers so stay together specially the females in the group (discreet clothing; cover yourselves). That is what my husband and I did; would I go back? NO (specially after 9/11). Am I glad we did it once? Definitely.

<<would I go back? NO (specially after 9/11)>>
What the heck does that mean?

I do agree that driving from Malaga to Barcelona is a feeble choice given what Spain has to offer in the way of scenery and interesting towns and villages (you're basically driving the equivalent of a Caribbean resort drive), but what the heck is the reference to 9/11? Morocco is a considerably modern African country with a rich heritage and fascinating history and beautiful scenery and culture. Does the fact that several of the 9/11 bombers came from Morocco somehow reflect on that? I don't think so. And it's Tangiers, not Tanger. And I still maintain it's not worth the time/effort, as you won't get a valid impression of the country as a whole.

Well if you want to go north that's a different story. If you're from the US what most of us expect to see is the "Old Spain" of Andalucia. Personally I would go to Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Ronda, and Malaga on a first trip. I would take the high speed train back to Barcelona or fly on Vueling as it's cheaper. If you want to go North you could experience a whole different Spain, the Costa Brava, I might visit Begur, Cadaques etc. Besides Seville my other favorite place in Spain is San Sebastian but May might be a little early for Spain's best beaches which are on the North coast.