The short answer: the Spain and Morocco itinerary that works best for a first trip starts in Andalusia and ends in Morocco. Spend your first days in Seville, Córdoba or Granada, finish near the coast, take the one-hour ferry from Tarifa to Tangier, then follow a Moroccan leg of four to six days that ends in Casablanca or Marrakech, where the flights home leave. Ten days covers Andalusia and northern Morocco; fourteen adds the Sahara.
How we put this together. The route comes from published schedules rather than one trip. Ferry facts come from the operators' own pages (DFDS, Baleària) and two press reports on the 2025 change of operator, checked on October 16, 2026; travel times come from Rome2rio the same day; tour details were read on GetYourGuide on October 15 and 16, 2026.
Key takeaways
- A Spain and Morocco itinerary works best in one direction: Andalusia first, then the ferry from Tarifa to Tangier, then a flight home from Casablanca or Marrakech.
- The Tarifa to Tangier Ville ferry takes about one hour and has been run by Baleària since DFDS (formerly FRS) left the route in May 2025.
- The Algeciras ferry lands at Tanger Med, a port about 40 to 45 km from Tangier, so foot passengers heading into the city usually do better from Tarifa.
- A Moroccan leg of four days covers Tangier, Chefchaouen and Fes; six days adds a night in the Sahara and ends in Marrakech.
Is 10 to 14 days enough for Spain and Morocco?
Ten days is the minimum that does justice to both countries; fewer, and you spend more time in transit than in either. The rule that keeps the plan sane: one country per half, and only one crossing.
| If you have… | Do this | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | Skip Morocco, or give it the whole week | Two countries in a week means two half-trips |
| 10 days | 4 days in Andalusia, the crossing on day 5, the 4-day Moroccan leg, fly home on day 10 | No desert, a short Spanish half |
| 12 days | 6 days in Andalusia, the crossing on day 7, the 4-day Moroccan leg, fly home on day 12 | Still no desert |
| 14 days | 6 days in Andalusia, the crossing on day 7, the 6-day leg with the Sahara, fly home on day 14 | Three long road days in Morocco |
| 3 weeks | Add Portugal before Spain, or more time in Morocco | More hotel changes |
Why Spain first, Morocco second
The flights decide it. Royal Air Maroc flies to Casablanca from New York-JFK, Washington Dulles, Miami and other U.S. cities, nonstop from the first three. Ending in Morocco lets you fly home on one of those, while landing in Spain gives you a rested start in a country that is easier to read on day one.
The geography agrees. Andalusia ends at the Strait. If you finish your Spanish days in Seville or Málaga, the ferry port is a bus ride away; Málaga to Tarifa is about 2.5 hours by Avanza bus. Granada sits further from the coast, so put it at the start of your Spanish days, not the end.
Book an open-jaw ticket. Into Madrid, Seville or Málaga; home from Casablanca or Marrakech. This is the single booking the rest of the route depends on. The nonstop flights to the United States we found leave from Casablanca; from Marrakech, check whether your fare is nonstop or connects.
Your Spain and Morocco itinerary at a glance
This is the 12-day version: six days in Andalusia, the crossing, the 4-day Moroccan leg, then a last night in Casablanca.
Andalusia to Casablanca in one direction
- 1–6
Andalusia
Granada or Córdoba first, then Seville to finish close to the coast.
- 7
Across the Strait to Tangier
Bus to Tarifa, the one-hour ferry to Tangier Ville, a first evening in the medina.
- 8
Tangier → Chefchaouen
About 1 hour 45 minutes by road; the blue lanes in the late afternoon.
- 9
Chefchaouen → Fes
A quiet morning walk, then about 3.5 hours south.
- 10
Fes
Fes el-Bali with a licensed guide in the morning, free afternoon.
- 11
Fes → Casablanca
The direct train, about 3 hours 50 minutes; the Hassan II Mosque if time allows.
- 12
Fly home
Nonstop to New York, Washington or Miami on Royal Air Maroc.
MazeTrails · mazetrails.comUpdated October 2026
Days 1–6: Andalusia, in the right order
This is a Morocco site, so the Spanish half gets one rule rather than a full plan: end in Seville or Málaga, never in Granada. From Seville, the bus to Tarifa takes about 3 to 3.5 hours; from Málaga, about 2.5 hours.
If you rent a car in Spain, plan to drop it before the ferry. The Moroccan leg below needs no car.
Day 7: crossing the Strait
The ferry from Tarifa to Tangier Ville is the one to take on foot. The crossing takes about an hour, and you land in Tangier itself rather than at a port outside the city. Rome2rio puts Seville to Tangier at about 6.5 hours door to door, bus plus ferry.
The operator changed in 2025. FRS, later DFDS, ran Tarifa–Tangier Ville for 25 years and made its last crossing on May 4, 2025; Baleària now holds the route, and announced four daily sailings when it took over. Check the current timetable and fares on Baleària's site before you plan around a sailing; we could not read its pages automatically, so we quote no times or prices here.
| Option | Lands at | Time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarifa → Tangier Ville (Baleària) | Tangier, in town | About 1 hour | Foot passengers |
| Algeciras → Tanger Med (DFDS and others) | A port 40 to 45 km from Tangier | About 1.5 hours | Travelers with a vehicle |
| Flight Málaga → Tangier (Ryanair) | Tangier airport | About 50 minutes, daily | Rough-sea days, or a late start |
DFDS asks passengers on its Algeciras–Tanger Med line to reach the port at least 90 minutes before departure. Leave a similar margin in Tarifa, and keep your passport at hand: you leave the Schengen area and enter Morocco on the same short trip. Ask Baleària where the passport check takes place, on board or at the port, as we found no operator statement for this line.
Check the clock on your ticket. Since September 20, 2026, Morocco is on UTC+0; Spain is one hour ahead in winter and two hours ahead in summer. On a one-hour crossing, the clock in Tangier can read the same as at departure in winter, or an hour earlier in summer.
Prefer to fly? Ryanair flies Málaga to Tangier in about 50 minutes, daily, per Rome2rio. From Seville, Ryanair also flies direct to Marrakech, about 1 hour 25 minutes, four days a week; there is no nonstop from Seville to Fes.
The Moroccan leg: a ready-made 4-day module
Day 8: Tangier to Chefchaouen. About 1 hour 45 minutes by road, or 2.5 hours by bus. A private transfer saves you the bus station on your first full day in Morocco. Arrive for the late-afternoon light on the blue lanes, and sleep in the medina.
Day 9: Chefchaouen to Fes. About 3.5 hours by road, or 4 hours 40 minutes on the CTM bus; Chefchaouen has no train station. Walk the town before the day-trippers arrive, then head south.
Day 10: Fes. Book a licensed local guide for the morning: Fes el-Bali is car-free and easy to get lost in, and a guide takes you straight to the madrasas and the tanneries. Keep the afternoon free. Book a riad inside the medina for both nights and ask it to meet you where cars stop.
Day 11: Fes to Casablanca. The direct train takes about 3 hours 50 minutes. Arrive early enough for the Hassan II Mosque, sleep near the airport line, and fly home on day 12.
Trains link Tangier, Fes and Casablanca; Chefchaouen has no station, so that stretch goes by road or on the CTM bus.
Short on nights? Skip the Chefchaouen stay. Take the direct train from Tangier to Fes, about 4 hours 15 minutes, about five a day, and see Chefchaouen on a day trip. A shared day trip from Fez, about 12 hours, showed 4.6 out of 5 from 3,787 reviews, from $26 per person, as of October 15, 2026.
See the Chefchaouen day trip from Fez →
If you can spare the night, stay over: the blue lanes are quietest before the day-trippers arrive.
The 6-day module: add the Sahara
Two more days turn the leg into the full country. After day 10 in Fes, replace the train to Casablanca with the desert crossing:
- Day 11: Fes to Merzouga. About 7 hours of driving before stops, through the Middle Atlas and the Ziz Valley, then a camel ride to a camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes.
- Day 12: Merzouga to the Dades Valley. About 3 hours to Tinghir, the Todra Gorge on foot, a night in the Dades.
- Day 13: Dades to Marrakech. About 5.5 hours on the direct road, more with Aït Benhaddou on the way.
- Day 14: Marrakech, then fly home.
A 3-day desert tour that starts in Fes and ends in Marrakech covers days 11 to 13. Check the end point before you book: a tour that loops back to Fes breaks the route. One small-group tour runs exactly this way, through a Merzouga camp, the Dades Valley and Aït Benhaddou, reaching Marrakech around 6 p.m. It showed 4.7 out of 5 from 901 reviews, from $109 per person, as of October 16, 2026, with hotel pickup in Fes.
See the 3-day desert tour from Fes to Marrakech →
Three road days in a row. This is the price of the desert on a 14-day, two-country trip. If anyone in your group dislikes long drives, keep the 4-day module and save the Sahara for another trip.
Three ways to adapt this route
Fly into Marrakech instead of crossing by ferry
Fly from Seville to Marrakech and base yourself there. A 4-day private tour from Marrakech covers the north for you: Casablanca and the Hassan II Mosque, two nights in Fes, one in Chefchaouen, then Rabat on the way back. It includes three breakfasts, three dinners and local guides in Fes and Chefchaouen; lunches and entrance fees are extra. It showed 4.7 out of 5 from 40 reviews, from $652 per person, as of October 15, 2026.
See the 4-day private imperial cities and Chefchaouen tour →
For the desert from the same base, a 3-day Sahara tour on GetYourGuide runs Marrakech to Merzouga and back. It showed 4.9 out of 5 from 23,718 reviews, from $129 per person, as of October 15, 2026, with free cancellation.
Portugal, Spain and Morocco
Add Lisbon at the start and keep the same direction: Portugal, then Andalusia, then the Strait. Three weeks is the realistic floor; with less, drop Portugal rather than squeezing Morocco below four days.
Southern Spain and Morocco on a shorter trip
With 10 days, keep Andalusia to Seville and one other city over four days, cross on day 5, and run the 4-day module on days 6 to 9. Fly home from Casablanca on day 10.
What to book before you go
Book before you fly, most urgent first
0 / 7 doneFAQ
Is it easy to go from Spain to Morocco?
Yes. The ferry from Tarifa to Tangier Ville takes about an hour and lands in the city, and Málaga has daily flights to Tangier of about 50 minutes.
Should I visit Spain or Morocco first?
Spain first. You end in Morocco, close to the nonstop flights from Casablanca to New York, Washington and Miami.
Who runs the ferry from Tarifa to Tangier?
Baleària, since May 2025. FRS, later DFDS, ran the route for 25 years before that, and many older guides still name it.
Can you do Spain and Morocco in 10 days?
Yes, with four days in Andalusia, the crossing on day 5, a 4-day Moroccan leg through Chefchaouen and Fes, and the flight home from Casablanca on day 10. The Sahara needs about 14 days.
Do I need a tour for the Moroccan leg?
Not for the north: buses and trains link Tangier, Chefchaouen, Fes and Casablanca. For the desert, you need a tour or a driver.