Tangier, Morocco Day Trip from Costa del Sol

This is the first time a Viator tour disappoints us; for starters, we had to get up at 4:30 am to be picked up at a meeting point at 5:30 am, which would have been just fine if once at the ferry station, we hadn't had over two hours to kill because our ferry was scheduled to depart at 1:00 pm, even though there were two more ferries departing before ours, having arrived a bit before 11:00 am. The ferry ride was fine and fast but once in Morocco, we were taken by bus to visit the wealthy neighborhoods of the city, which have no cultural or historical interest whatsoever, we didn't visit any monuments, historical sites or the advertised Caves of Hercules, which were part of the tour (weather permitting) , and it was a beautiful clear day. We stopped in the parking lot of a club in a nice neighborhood, where three camels were waiting for us to give us very short rides of about 100 meters and back; I was on top of a camel for less than three minutes, on a parking lot of a club! not exactly the place where you would picture yourself riding a camel. The guide was nice but very hard to understand neither in English or Spanish. After the "bus tour" we were taken to lunch to a typical Moroccan restaurant, which was fairly good but not very generous. After lunch, we were taken to the market, led as a group into a three story store for shopping, but the prices were outrageously expensive. Afterwards, we were led to a "Moroccan Pharmacy" where a guy in a white coat gave us a presentation of sorts on natural products and tried to sell us stuff. After that, we were led again into a small square and given 30 minutes of free time to shop around. We went back to Spain at 5:00 pm and arrived in our hotel at 11: 00 pm. I was expecting a lot more of a cultural experience

This was more of an ordeal to be paid for than something I would willingly do again, I'm afraid. Just not my thing. Traveled from Malaga so a 5:30am start followed by over 4 hours coach with multiple pickups to get to the ferry port. No scenery, as we were traveling in the dark. no commentary either, silence all the way. Then, we had a 2 hour wait standing around at a small, crowded ferry building. Ferry left at 12pm, but once on the ferry we had to wait in a single long line for another 30 mins to get our passports stamped. On arrival in Tangier, we boarded another coach, but the guide made us move seats so that one group could sit together. This we did even though we only had 15 minutes ride to our stop. Overly fussy. After a brief stop to see some camels, we were shepherded into a carpet and souvenir store and not allowed to leave the building until we had dutifully visited all 3 floors and been through a carpet sales pitch. I tried to go outside, but was told to get back in. Then, through the narrow streets being harassed by everyone to buy more stuff, a stop for lunch (which was good) and into a spice store for another sales pitch. That was it in Tangier. We got no history, no culture, just sales pitches. I've heard of companies doing this when they try to sell you a timeshare - paid for accommodation and trip, but you have to go to a presentation. Here, we paid for the trip, and had to sit through 2 presentations and 9 hours of a bus ride. Back onto the coach, back to the ferry for a 5pm departure, then back along the same route in the dark to Malaga, getting there at 11.30pm. It's put me off going on a coach tour ever again. If you're looking for carpets, spices and souvenirs then this is a trip for you, but I have to say I hated it, and couldn't wait to get back to my hotel. Awful.

Our trip to Tangier, Morocco was rescheduled due to a religious ceremony conflict. However, the trip was well worth taking. We enjoyed the bus ride around the area explaining the many sites and making stops at various points along the way (the caves of Hercules was my personal favorite). The guides were knowledgeable and fluent in many languages. My most memorable experience was riding a camel on the African continent. It is a long day and customs takes a long time, but again, well worth the effort. Thank you Julia tours for your part in making memories that will last a lifetime. Lori

The tour guide pushed us through the city it was way too fast. Book at least a 1 night stay in Tanger! Well organized, though!

Very nice trip: we had the possibility to experience Marocco on a short time. Pacho, the guide, was outstanding!

My friends and I really enjoyed our day trip to Morocco. The day started very early with a wakeup call at 4am and we meet at our pickup spot in Málaga at 5:30am. The drive to Tarifa was peaceful and our guide, Frank, told us a lot about the history of Tarifa and Tangier toward the end of the ride. When you go through customs and get on the ferry, make sure you rush to the front because it takes forever to get cleared on the ferry. The first part of our day in Morocco was amazing. We drove around and learned about the city, saw where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet, rode camels, saw a cave, and ate delicious Moroccan food. After lunch is where I wish the tour was a little different. They took us to a rug store where the people who worked there pitched us their rugs and harrassed us in the store trying to get us to buy things. Then we went to a moroccan oil place and had another sales pitch and felt pressured into buying things. It was only nice because we got to sit but otherwise it felt very forced and I would have rather gotten to walk around and explore more. Getting back was a mess because the ferry was not there when we were so we had to wait and then it took forever to leave. We didn't get back to Málaga until 10:45pm so just know that it is more than a 13-hour day. Morocco was very neat though and it was very special to visit a new continent in one day!

The tour ended up 18 hours due to 4-5 hour bus ride from Malaga each way because of all the pickups. Guide during Spain trip was difficult to understand and not very informative.Tanger portion guide was better but lacked purpose in old town except for shops tours where they tried to sell us stuff. Interesting to see but not very entertaining

A worthwhile experience. Ride the ferry to Africa. Experience a tase of Berber and Moorish culture, ride a camel and shop for a rug or other souvenirs. Trip was fun and the food with cultural experience were good. However we were totally profiled and my wife left with a "Moroccan, " of questionable petagree (possibly made in China) rug. Yes, some of the vendors are "agressive" ( I had one following me onto the bus. Thats part of the "excitement." Still a fun experience and at least we have some interesting stories to tell.

We can't say enough about the tour guide and his knowledge of Morocco. The tour was very well organized. Very prompt arrival and departure times. Well worth it.

If I could give a negative star I would. Julia Tours runs this particular tour to Tangier from various pick ups along the Costa Del Sol from Malaga to Tarifa. Where do I begin. The pick up was fine as the bus was also. It all started to unravel once we got to the ferry in Tarifa which is the departure point. We had been given a customs form to fill out for the Moroccan customs officers on board the ferry. As the ferry departed with 500 travelers, it was literally chaos! there were huge lines so you can turn in your customs forms to Moroccan officials. Our tour guide was a joke, he didn't bother to tell his group that we needed to get in line and get our form stamped. We had to ask and it was then that another tour guide told us what we had to do. I was expecting to enjoy the 1 hour ferry ride through the Gibraltar straight, but instead I was stuck in line for the duration of the trip plus an additional 30 minutes. Did I mention that they had 2 Moroccan officials for 500 travelers? Very disorganized, very hot, AC not working, truly a nightmare!!! Once we reached Tangier we were taken to another tour bus and proceeded with the tour on Tangier which was very disappointing to say the least. They took us to the Hercules Cave and we were rushed through it. I needed to use the restroom and when I entered I was approached by a woman demanding I pay her money to use the restroom, basically they are panhandling and will try to intimidate you into giving them money, which of course, I refused to do and told her to back off. After a few other pointless stops, we were going to have lunch which was included, and then after that my favorite part which was shopping in the old town. We were taken to a restaurant that of course charged extra for drinks. The food was horrible, the service was horrible, and they had a trio that played 2 songs within a 1 hour period and of course went around with their basket demanding a tip, as did the waiters! We left the restaurant and on our way to the shopping, well, what they did is the tour guide took you to one particular store which obviously gives him a kickback/cut for taking the tour group there. The place was a joke! they usher you to the 3rd floor where they give you a presentation of Persian carpets and they assign you a sales man that is really aggressive and is insisting you buy a carpet, or any of there other items at a cost 3 times higher that the regular vendors right outside. Once you are done there, the tour guide rushes you to the next stop which is an apothechary type place where once again another presentation by a bunch of idiots wearing lab coats attempting to fool you into thinking they are some some of medical professional which clearly they were not. These bozo's try sell you argan oil and other useless stuff. By the time you are done with that they tell you there is no time to go shopping anywhere else and rush you back to the bus and back to the ferry which really really ticked me off. The original itinerary was from 7am to 7pm, we got dropped off at our hotel at 10:30 pm which is ridiculous! This tour is horrible, wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I paid over 500 dollars for 5 people and honestly didn't get a thing from it. Tangier is very dirty, not much to see, architecturally and historically disappointing, vendors harass you to the point of becoming aggressive. If you are set on going to Tangier I strongly recommend a private tour.