Tangier’s Hop-On Hop-Off Bus: Is it Worth it?
While planning your visit to Tangier, you might have noticed that some of its most recommend sights are not located within the city, but rather a ways out into the outskirts.
Since Tangier doesn’t have a super efficient public transport network and taxi drivers will charge you an arm and a leg, how do you travel the 8 to 10 miles that separate this unique destinations from the city centre?
As it turns out, the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus might just be the easiest solution.
Today we’ll share with you our Tangier Hop-On Hop-Off Bus experience, including how much a ticket costs, where to catch the bus and where it stops, as well as our recommendations for the best sights you can’t miss along the way.
Let’s get started!
Tickets are affordable and easy to purchase
Contrary to the prices that you might see in other cities, Tangier’s Hop-On Hop-Off Bus is actually pretty affordable.
A single adult ticket costs 130 MAD (13 euros), and can be easily purchased from the official website, travel tour organisers and directly on site by the port of Tangier. A ticket for kids between 6 to 14 years old is 65 MAD (6 euros), while children aged 0 to 5 can board for free.
After you buy a ticket, you’ll receive a digital document with a QR code.
Keep in mind, however, that this does not directly allow you access to the bus. You’ll instead have to go to the kiosk located by the Port de Tanger Ville, from where all tours depart, where you’ll receive a printed ticket.
This is particularly important to know if you want to catch the bus from any stop other than the departure one, since you’ll be denied access if you haven’t yet received the printed ticket. It’s also essential that you don’t lose your ticket along the way, since you won’t be allowed back on the bus.
Map of the 2 different routes that you can take by purchasing your ticket: Tangier Ville Route in blue and Grottes d’Hercule Tour in red.
Each ticket includes access to two separate audio-guided tours (available in multiple languages), and you can go on each one for as long as you like within a 48 hour period that starts from the moment you purchase your ticket. You’ll also receive a pair of earphones that you can plug in and use to listen to the audio-guide.
The busses are not bad, not terrible
The overall quality of the busses was ok, although it was definitely nothing special.
The plastic seating was not the most comfortable, and we did at one point find an earphone plug that didn’t work properly. With that said, we really enjoyed the view from the top of the bus, and we found the audio-guide to be super interesting and informative!
The Tanger Ville Route
This tour lasts about an hour, and will take you along some of the city’s most famous sights.
The Tanger Ville Tour starts at Port (Port de Tanger Ville) and continues to Place 9 Avril -> Palais Moulay Hafid -> Nécropoles Puricoromaines -> Palais Moulay Hafid -> Mosquée Mohammed V -> Place Faro -> Sahet El Oumane (Place des Nations) -> Tanger City Center -> Villa Harris -> Monopolio (near the Plage Municipale), and then returns to Port (Port de Tanger Ville).
It’s a pretty fun tour, although it’s not worth going out of your way to do it unless you’re really interested in learning more about the history of each location with the audio-guide.
All the stops can be reached fairly easily on foot or with public transport, with maybe the exception of Villa Harris, which will take you about an hour either way.
Grottes d’Hercule Tour
Now let’s talk about the real reason why it’s worth buying a ticket for Tangier’s Hop-On Hop-Off Bus!
This two hour long tour starts at Port (Port de Tanger Ville) and continues to Socco Alto -> Parc Perdicaris (Rmlilat Park) -> Jardin Donabo -> Cap Spartel and the Hercules Caves. From there, the bus turns back and covers the same stops in reverse, so Cap Spartel -> Jardin Donabo -> Parc Perdicaris (Rmlilat Park) -> Socco Alto and then ends at Port (Port de Tanger Ville).
While the drive to and from the Hercules Caves takes two hours, exploring the amazing locations you’ll pass along the way can easily cover the 48 hours on your ticket.
Of these, the only ones we would give a pass are Socco Alto, since it’s just a big shopping mall, and Jardin Donabo, which we didn’t find was really worth stopping for.
Out of the other locations, our favourites were definitely Parc Perdicaris (Rmlilat Park) and Cap Spartel.
Parc Perdicaris
Parc Perdicaris is a huge forested expanse with miles of calm and relaxing trails and scenic views over the sea. The areas closer to the entrance are usually a little bit busier, especially on the weekends, since the park is incredibly popular with locals.
You’ll often see families enjoying meals together, with music and kids running around, which we found made for a very wholesome atmosphere. Further into the park you’ll also find Villa Perdicaris, built in the late 1800s by the Greek-American author and lawyer Ion Perdicaris. It was there that he would be kidnapped by bandits in 1904, in what would come to be known as the Perdicaris affair.
Overall, you could easily spend a day exploring this awesome park and hiking the various trails. With that said, we recommend you bring a pair of comfortable walking shoes or runners, since the paths are not always in the best shape.
Cap Spartel
Cap Spartel is a charming promontory at the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The most notable location is the Cap Spartel lighthouse, from where you’ll be able to admire a spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. Climbing to the top of the lighthouse costs 50 MAD, which also includes a visit to the small botanical garden nearby.
If you walk down from where the bus drops you off (in the opposite direction from the lighthouse), you’ll reach a series of small trails and walkways along the sea where we had a great time wandering around and enjoying the fantastic view. One of the trails leads to a huge cliff that just over the ocean. Underneath you’ll find a tiny cave, and on the right is an extremely steep path carved into the rock that leads all the way to the top of the cliff.
You can climb up if you’re feeling brave, but you’ll need to be extremely careful.
As for us, we decided the view wasn’t worth the risk of ending up in a hospital and gave it a pass!
Caves of Hercules
Finally, let’s talk about the Caves of Hercules, perhaps Tangier’s most famous location.
In all honesty, meh.
The location is beautiful, and the panels along the entrance to the sight that showcase the legend of Hercules are interesting, but that’s about it. We also found the price of 80 MAD (8 euros) per person to be excessive for what amounts to a tiny cave with a small view of the sea and nothing really notable inside.
What we enjoyed the most was to walk down to the rocky beach near the cave and spend some time exploring the small trails in between the cliffs. If you take the path on the left side of the beach you’ll eventually come close to where the opening of the cave is located, and you’ll get to enjoy pretty much the same view for free.
Is the Hop-On Hop-Off in Tangier worth it?
So, that was our Tangier Hop-On Hop-Off Bus experience.
All in all, we think it was absolutely worth it.
The bus was super affordable, easy to access and allowed us to easily reach some incredibly unique locations without the need of renting a car. It’s also a major time saver, so we absolutely recommend it if you plan on including any of these locations in your Tangier itinerary!
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