My husband just surprised me with a trip to Spain in August. We fly in and out of Barcelona. We are thinking to spend two nights in Barcelona (have stayed here for three nights before so we have seen a couple of things), rent a car and drive to Marbella (need a stop halfway there for one night). We are staying two weeks in Marbella, but hope to do an overnight trip to Lisbon, and maybe some day trips (Morocco??). We plan to spend a couple of nights in Madrid on our way back to Barcelona to stay home. Any tips/ideas for places to stay (not Marbella - we have a time share there) and must sees to do? I am so excited - this is a wonderful surprise for our 35th anniversary.
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Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
To get from Marbella to Tanger, you could drive about 1.5-2 hours to Tarifa to catch a ferry there, operated by www.frs.es or www.intershipping.es, at alternating times of day. You can buy tickets at the port instead of worrying about driving/parking in time to make a reserved departure. When viewing schedules and traveling, keep in mind the time change, an hour earlier in Morocco than in Spain. Gibraltar is en-route, but you would not really have time to stop there on the same day.
Casablanca is not the most exciting destination in Morocco, but you could find direct flights Malaga-Casablanca and then Casablanca-Lisbon. Check www.skyscanner.com for flights and be a bit creative. You can also fly direct from Marrakech or Fes to Madrid or Barcelona. Near Casablanca, Rabat is a short train ride or the other cities are a few hours train ride.
Or would you drive to Lisbon? If so, you'd probably want to return the car within Spain to avoid a one-way drop fee. Train from Lisbon to Madrid is overnight only. Lisbon to Barcelona is easiest by flying.