EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

If you are tempted to pop over to Morocco, it's easily enough done: in summer there are at least eighteen daily crossings to Tangier and half as many at other times of the year (2hr, or 1hr 30min with a fast ferry or rapido ), and the same number to the Spanish presidio of Ceuta (1hr 30min), little more than a Spanish Gibraltar with a brisk business in duty-free goods, but a relatively painless way to enter Morocco. A hydrofoil service also goes to Tangier (1 daily; 30min). Tickets cost around ¬21.50 one-way to Tangier or Ceuta, with an additional ¬5.50 for hydrofoils, and are sold at scores of travel agents along the waterfront and on most approach roads; they all cost the same, though some places may give you a better rate of exchange than others if you want to pay in foreign currency. Viájes Transafric, Avda. Marina 4 (tel 956 654 311), on the harbourfront, the nearby Transmediterranea (tel 956 663 850) and the turismo are reliable and can provide up-to-date information on timetable changes.

Wait till Tangier - or if you're going via Ceuta, Tetouan - before buying any Moroccan currency ; rates in the embarkation building kiosks are very poor. Make sure that your ticket is for the next ferry, and beware the ticket sellers who congregate near the dock entrance wearing official Ceuta/Tangier badges: they add a whopping "commission" to the normal price of a ticket. InterRail/Eurail card holders are entitled to a thirty percent discount on the standard ferry price; if you have trouble getting this, go to the official sales desk in the embarkation building.

At Algeciras the train line begins again, heading north to Ronda, Córdoba and Madrid. We've detailed the route to Ronda, one of the best journeys in Andalucía; there are four departures a day. For Madrid (and Paris) there's a night express, currently leaving at 11pm, and also Linebus/Iberbus coaches to Paris and London. For Málaga, hourly buses leave from the Empresa Portillo , Avenida Virgen del Carmen on the waterfront (tel 956 651 055); from here, too, there are less frequent, direct connections to Granada and Almería. Buses to Barcelona via Alicante and Valencia are operated by Bacoma (tel 956 666 589) and leave from outside the harbour offices, but the journey is appallingly slow at 21 hours, with a change in Málaga. For Tarifa, Cádiz, Sevilla, Madrid and most other destinations you'll need the main bus station (tel 956 653 456), in c/San Bernardo, behind the port, next to Hotel Octavio and just short of the train station : to get there follow the train tracks. The bus to La Línea also goes every half-hour from here.