We have worked for some long while through one private guide, very knowledgeable, sollicitous and guaranteed to give you an interesting, hassle-free day. He adapts his programme to your wishes, which we pass on to him when booking.

If you absolutely do not want to go to a carpet shop they will not take you there ….. although I personally tend to think you miss part of the fun; realize you do NOT have to buy, and regard it as an exhibition of fine arts! The variety, colours and designs are beautiful. However, realize you will surely be tempted!

--- Day trip to Tangier Morocco ---

The guide

Said - originally from Casablanca - is a qualified guide, a graduate of the 4 year course at the Tourist Academy in Tangier which was the first of its kind in the Arab world and attended by students of all nationalities.

He is very knowledgeable, but does not bombard you with information. He is polite and considerate, very reliable, quite ‘gentle’, excellent with children, and very willing and able to discuss Moroccan culture, tolerance and traditions. He sometimes wears the traditional Moroccan caftan, at others is in Western dress.

--- Day trip to Tangier Morocco ---

His normal programme includes an interesting tour to Cap Spartel (the first lighthouse in Africa) with a short drive down the stunning coast (a camel ride is an option, a favourite with the children) to the Caves of Hercules (a typical tourist attraction but a short visit with Said is very interesting) and then back into town where he takes you to the markets where the Berber women in their colourful dresses and hats are selling their wares, then he takes you to the restaurant of your choice, either the fish restaurant, or a rather more Moroccan environment with music and a belly-dancer (individual tourists go here, but groups do not). Children particularly enjoy this. The Moroccan food is good – try the harira soup and then Pastela (one between two is usually enough). Of course he likes to take you to a carpet shop, but as we said above, you can opt out.

--- Day trip to Tangier Morocco ---

The Price

He asks an all-in price (125 euros p/p) , including ferry with discount and including lunch, so you are absolved of any doubts re what your day can cost you. If you are on a tight budget, you can also opt not to lunch at either restaurant and to take a kebab in the market and Said takes the price of lunch out of his fee, but you are missing part of the ‘experience’.

--- Day trip to Tangier Morocco ---

The guide has a mini-bus with driver at his disposal (total 8 persons) waiting for you in the harbour. The bus is clean and air conditioned. Perhaps the biggest advantage of working through a guide is that they not only meet you directly off the ferry (so you are not hassled by other so-called guides) but even more importantly they ‘ease you back on’, which I can assure you from years of experience is pretty well essential. You are tired after a long day (with a two or one hour time difference with Spain) and all the impressions you have absorbed, and if you have no help it really is a question of the Survival of the Fittest.

--- Day trip to Tangier Morocco ---

When you get back to Tarifa you are ‘on your own’. It is advisable to get down the stairs to the exit in good time, and make your way as speedily as you can across the forecourt to the Customs building …. otherwise you may find yourselves waiting in a long queue extending out into the open and if there is a Levante wind this too, can be exhausting. A recent improvement is that inside the building there are two queues, one for Europeans and one for non-Europeans.

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY? That indeed is the question! Neither guide bargains for you or enters into price discussions but if a shopkeeper really tries to fleece you they will unobtrusively intercede (in Arabic). Do they get a commission on the sale? Who knows, and if they do it is not much and you have probably got a better price anyhow by being with them. See it all as part of the game.
The art of enjoying your day is to relax and enjoy it, and this you can do if you take our recommended guide!!!

- 125€ p/p incl. guide, return tickets ferry Tarifa Tangier and lunch.

Other Guided tours

ASILAH - 1 day incl. private guide and ferry tickets

More about Tangier Morocco

Tangier Morocco
A brief history on Tangier
My opinion on Tangier
Guided tours Tangier and Asilah

More on Morocco