Gibratar Tangier

1. Visiting Gibraltar
   
   
   Views across the Straits of Gibraltar
   
   Gibraltar is an anglicisation of 'Jebel Tarik' or Tarik's mountain and is named after Tarik ibn Zeyad, the Moorish general who, in the 8th century, conquered much of Spain.
   
   At the time I lived in Spain in the 1970s, General Franco had closed the border with Gibraltar. I would sometimes ride my TriBSA 750 (cafe racer with a Triumph engine/BSA frame) up to the gates for a glimpse of a British-uniformed bobby and think to myself "there's Watney's Red Barrel on the other side." I'm glad to say my tastes have matured somewhat since then.
   
   If you have the time to spare Gibraltar is well worth a visit and you can fill up with cheap fuel whilst you are there. On a motorbike you can bypass the queues for the border formalities. Make sure you have pounds with you as the euro exchange rate in shops is terrible. Also make sure you don't get landed with any Gibralter pounds in your change as you can't use these back in the UK.
   
   
   
   For me, the interesting area is the Upper Rock which has more than 30 miles of tunnels. You need to buy a ticket and this gives you access to
   - St Michael's Cave
   - The Siege Tunnels
   - Moorish Castle
   - Devil's Gap Battery
   
   More information at the Discover Gibraltar website.
   
   
   The Gibraltar Regiment marching through the city
   
   
   More photos shortly

   "For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
   and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)
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2. 11-05-11, 07:58#5
   Tim Cullis 

   

   Trailblazer

   Join Date

   Nov 2010

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   Putney, London (Morocco in winter)

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   Ferries to Morocco
   
   
   
   From central Europe
   As you can see from the above map, if you are coming from central Europe there are a number of ferries that will save you considerable overland travel with routes from northern Italy, southern France and north east Spain. For example, the Sète (southern France) to Nador ferry takes 36 hours (two nights and a day) and including accommodation and food costs around €450. These routes are particularly useful in the winter months when riding through Spain can be cold.
   
   Central Southern Spain
   I came down the coast from Barcelona one year and then used the overnight Almeria to Melilla ferry so that I could explore eastern Morocco. The Malaga to Melilla ferry has been used by many Dakar rallies. Melilla is a Spanish enclave on the African coast, another destination choice is Nador which is the Moroccan port next to Melilla.
   
   As of 2011 there's a new line running from Motril to Melilla, see Naviera Armas website. Motril is halfway between Malaga and Almeria, and lies south of Granada just off the A44 motorway.
   
   Straits of Gibraltar
   This is the shortest and fastest crossing to Morocco. You can travel from either Algeciras or Tarifa in southern Spain, landing at either Ceuta, Tanger Med or Tanger City ports. There is also a Gibraltar to Tanger Med service operated by FRS which seems to run mainly on Fridays. Ceuta is a Spanish enclave so there are no passport or customs formalities when you land, instead you then go through a land border a few km to the south. If you travel to one of the Tanger ports, passport control is performed onboard and customs clearance is carried out when you land.
   
   There are half a dozen companies plying these routes with both fast JetFerries and slower/cheaper traditional ferries, including Acciona, Trasmediterranea, Balearia and Nautas Al Maghreb). The cheapest JetFerry crossing to Morocco for vehicle owners currently appears to be Acciona from Algeciras to Tanger Med; you can check out ferry times and costs at aferry.to. The Tarifa to Tanger City route is operated by FRS.
   
   
   
   The new port of 'Tanger Mediterranean' opened spring 2010 in a phased introduction. As from May, all ferries from Algeciras that previously went to 'Tanger City' instead landed at 'Tanger Med' which, seeing as it is a shorter crossing, results in a faster transit. Ferries from Tarifa, Sète, Barcelona and Genoa will for the moment continue to land at Tanger City, but it is intended these will also transfer to Tanger Med or other ports, leaving Tanger City as predominantly a terminal for cruise liners.
   
   The map above shows the new ferry route in red. The road links from Tanger Med are excellent with a new motorway (shown in dark blue) connecting the port to the existing A1 motorway heading south to Rabat. Heading east is a new four-lane highway to Fnediq (next to Ceuta) that then connects to the new motorway to Tetouan.
   
   
   Vehicles unload at the right and drive 1km or so to the customs area above. In the left distance you can see the passenger terminal with banks, insurance offices and ferry company sales booths.
   
   Foot passengers would be better advised to cross to Tanger City or Ceuta.

   "For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
   and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)