My sister and I are trying to do a quick trip to Spain and Morocco in November. Can anyone that has either done the trip or is familiar with the transportation system shed light on if this is feasible?

Thanks in advance!

11/12 tour Madrid and take a night train to Granada
11/13 tour Granada
11/14 Breakfast and train to Algeciras; exploration of Algeciras
11/15 Morning ferry to Tangier; guided tour of Tangier; evening train to Fes
11/16 Explore Fes; late afternoon/evening train back to Tangier
11/17 Stay in Tangier for another day and take night train from tangier/algeciras to Madrid or visit another nearby activitiy in Morroco or Spain then night train to Madrid?
11/18 flight out of Madrid in the AM

"11/12 tour Madrid and take a night train to Granada"
Currently there is no night train.

Other than that, where are you flying into Madrid from?

This sounds like a nightmare trip to me. All that moving around in a short space of time.

I'd say choose either Southern Spain OR Morocco.

And Algeciras seems to be a total dump...

What are you really interested in? Madrid? Granada? Fez? Have you visited any of them before? For that matter, have you visited Spain and/or Morocco before? Each of those three cities you mention are worth at least two days just to get a small taste of what they have to offer. Madrid is world-class, with art, food, a cultural scene to match. Granada has the Alhambra, an amazing jewel worth the best part of a day to explore and appreciate fully, and much more. And Fez is a fascinating and important center of Islamic culture.

Or are you looking for a sisters' holiday together and you just want a few exotic places to add spice to the fun of traveling together? Food, wine, laughs, reminiscences? Do you envision a flight into Madrid and then you want to go somewhere, anywhere, from there? Andalucia? Morocco? Why not? In that case, perhaps your plan makes some kind of sense, although the logistics need some work.

If you want to get to know Spain a little better, I recommend you do some research and settle on either Madrid or Andalucia. If Andalucia intrigues, you could make a fine trip out of Granada and Sevilla, easily reached from Madrid by air or by rail. If you're drawn to Morocco, why not fly there from Madrid?

And by the way, neither Algeciras nor Tangiers will give you a real taste of Spain or Morocco. Kind of like visiting Tijuana and thinking you've seen Mexico. Or visiting Epcot Center in Florida...

Trains and planes are good in Spain, planes are good in Morocco. Grab a cheepo airline flight from Spain to Morroco.

Tangiers is a dump, Fez is good

Of what you have chosen I'd only go to Madrid, Granada, Fez.

I might debate how much of Madrid you will see in one day and I might recommend Marrakesh over Fez.

You barely have enough time for a brief visit to Spain - why add Morocco to the mix? Especially since neither Algeciras nor Tangiers is even really Morocco; they're just ugly wastes of time and money. Pick either Spain or Morocco. You only have 6 days.

mjdh1957 wrote: "And Algeciras seems to be a total dump."
As someone who lives fairly close to Algeciras and goes there quite frequently, I have to admit that, at best, it is an acquired taste. At worst, it fits that description.

"11/12 tour Madrid and take a night train to Granada"
Apart from there being no night train between Madrid and Granada, if you are flying into Madrid on a west > east transatlantic flight, you will have jet lag to take into account. And there is no way of escaping it.

That will make a nonsense of your idea of taking a tour of Madrid because at least one, and more likely both, of you will probably spend the afternoon and maybe the evening in bed.

I used to dread flying west-east transatlantic. The last time I did that was when I was pretty fit. I had a bad night´s sleep because of restless children nearby, but the night is short anyway. I was fairly woozy by 10:00 in the morning. By midday it had already really hit me and I was in bed fast asleep by 1:00 pm. I slept till just before midnight.

It is not feasible. It does look like a nightmare to me. I am quite biased on the topic of Spain/Morroco trips though. Having been to Tangier and Fez I wanted to kiss the ground upon returning to Algeciras.

Thanks everyone for the input. I am flying in from the states while my sister will already be in europe. She will be arriving a day earlier (11/11) so I figured she could take the day to explore Madrid if she would like and I am leaving a day later than she is (11/19) which I was going to use as my extra exploration day.

I'm sad to hear that there isnt a night train. Any good websites for finding a cheap ticket to fez? We are flying into Madrid because it's the cheapest flight for us both and figured we would be so close to Africa that it'd be worth visiting too. I would like to see Granada too, but if it would be better to spend 2 or 3 days in Madrid and catch a flight to Fez and do a few days, we are game for that.

If we do go with this newer breakdown, any specific sites or tour companies that would be beneficial to work with?

Do yourself a favor, listen to what posters are saying and forget Morocco!

Which country do you actually want to visit? Spain or Morocco?

If I had to choose, I'd say Spain. We were just figuring that while we were so close to Africa that we would go over. Should we do one of those day trips over to Tangier instead and spend the majority of our time in Madrid/ Southern Spain?

Africa isn't really 'that close' enough to Spain to warrant making a short trip even shorter...

Stay in Spain.

I agree with mjdh1957. Do you really want to spend a day waiting for, and then on, ferries with a reward of maybe 2 - 3 hours in Tangier? And it takes time to get to the ferry port.

"Should we do one of those day trips over to Tangier instead and spend the majority of our time in Madrid/ Southern Spain?"
No. Spend ALL of your time in Madrid/ Southern Spain. Morocco will be there next time you make a trip and then you will have time to visit the really interesting parts.

It will cost you a small fortune to get to Morocco, and you don't have enough time to get anywhere worthwhile there or enjoy it. Tangier is a cess pit. Plan another trip for Morocco when you can get into the interior and actually see what a fabulous place it is.

Possible? Yes. Advisable? Probably not. But it's your trip. Here goes.

Spend a few days in Madrid. Then fly to Marrakech for a few days. Then fly back to Madrid. Or fly home from Marrakech.

Unfortunately, no Granada.

Fortunately, no Algeciras or Tangier.

I don't think there are any direct flights from Madrid to Fez. There are a few from Madrid to Marrakech. That's good for you. Marrakech is less horrifying and more interesting than Fez.

I took a picture of the train station in Fez just to memorialize my departure.

Other people like Fez, though, so you might too. But it doesn't really fit with your time constraints.

OR - Just Madrid and Andalucia. You only have 5 or 6 days. A person could spend 5 or 6 days just at The Prado.

The facts.

M3corbin, you arrive in Madrid on 12 November after an overnight "red eye" transatlantic flight.

You fly back to the USA on 18 November on a morning flight.

That means that, at best, you have 6 days. You can discount the day you depart because you have a morning flight.

At worst, you have just 5 days because of jet lag.

Now, I have a question for you. How do you intend to visit two countries that are separated by a body of water in 5 - 6 days?

Of course, it is physically possible to do that. But I would have thought that pleasure plays a part.

There is very little pleasure to be gained from spending time in airports, bus/train stations and ferry ports, on planes, ferries and buses and/or trains getting to destinations. At least not compared with actually visiting and exploring those destinations.

So, how would you measure the pleasure that you would derive from such a trip?

If you can find a convenient flight ticket to Marrakech where you could spend a little time in Morocco and sample it to decide it you want to make an extended trip in the future then go for it, if it interests you. I have been to Morocco twice and loved going there. Avoid Tangiers. You will note almost everyone who posts here on this subject says avoid Tangiers. There are cheapo flights from Madrid to Marrakech and maybe other cities. Or save Morocco for a trip of it's own. It is worth visiting but you'll have to decide if you want to spend your time on this trip going there for a day or two. Did I mention: Avoid Tangiers.

As many have said, You have only a few days and you will barely sample Spain if you spend all your time in Spain. I've been there three times and it is a terrific country to visit. There are many things to see in and around Madrid; spend a night in Toledo (at the least take the usual day tour but spend a night if you can. the city changes and for the better when all the tours have gone for the day). Visit Segovia. Take a train or drive to Cordoba and/or Granada. I'm sad to say I never made it to Seville on any of my trips but everything I've read say it is a magical city for the tourist. Read through the guides as to what interests you;
Perhaps a couple of days in Madrid and then day tours out to the surrounding sites, Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Avila are some of the major tourist destinations. You may fill your time without leaving the Madrid area and be completely satisfied. Spain is a wonderful place and the impulse is to try and see eveything. You can't. You can take a: "this is 11:45 a.m and this must be the Granada and if I hurry I can make someplace else by 12:25 p.m." trip but I would suggest taking a liesurely pace, enjoy what you see and hope in the future you can see more. I guess I'm sort of lobbying against Morocco in answering your inquiry, but only because of the limited time you have.