Transportation from Sevilla to Arcos to Tarifa: bus or car

Start with Comes and expect to connect in Jerez (only one direct bus/day from there to Tarifa) and probably also Cadiz or Algeciras. See bus info in each chapter for the onward summary and reconfirm locally, especially for the first leg departing Arcos, which could be better by Amarillos. Of course, bus companies could make changes by 2019.

Your next destination would probably also require some bus travel, if it's along the south coast of Spain. If you rent a car, you'll probably want to keep it longer, unless you're staying more than a day or two in Morocco. In Arcos, take the easy route by parking in the big parking lot and taking the bus up the hill.

To add to what Laura said, the road to the church and overlook up the hill in Arcos is a one way, very narrow street. There is a pay parking lot right at the church that can get crowded depending on when you visit. Coming down the hill are a couple almost 90 degree turns requiring some multi-point maneuvers if your car is too large. I’ve always driven to the top, but it is less stressful parking at the bottom.

For rental cars, I always use Avis. It seems to have an office in Tarifa, so possibly pick up the car in Sevilla and drop it off in Tarifa. Sevilla to Arcos is 45 miles and it’s another 73 (back roads) to Tarifa. Taking the A382 to the E5/A4 is longer by distance but would probably take less time because the roads are better. With the seemingly poor and limited bus connections, renting might be better in this case.

Last month we rented a car at the train station in Sevilla and drove to Arcos, Tarifa, along the coast, up to Ronda and dropped off our car in Granada. We were happy we had the car which saved us quite a bit of time. In addition, the drive was beautiful and the roads just fine.

We stayed at the Hotel El Convento in Arcos (in Rick's guide). They have a sister hotel below the old town where you can park your car (think cost is 8 Euros) and then cab or take shuttle up to the old town because agree with other reviewer - I wouldn't want to drive a car through there.

The next day we drove the back roads (again per Rick's suggestions). A gorgeous drive and we had a lovely lunch in a hill town along the way. In Tarifa we stayed several blocks away from the old town where it was easy to park on the street for free.

We have just made the trip from Sevilla to Arcos de la Frontera today by bus. There is a direct bus trip from the Sevilla San Sebastián bus station to Arcos leaving at 11:30am, arriving in Arcos at 1:30 pm, costs 8.90€ per person. The bus company is Los Amarillos. We bought our tickets a couple of days in advance but there were only 3 people on the bus when we left Sevilla. We are heading to La Linea de la Concepción and have figured out the best route is to go there via Cádiz. As for having a car in Arcos, especially if you are planning to stay in the Old Town I would NOT recommend it. The streets are very narrow and steep plus as far as we can tell there is no parking so you would be paying extra to leave the car at the bottom of the hill and walking up or taking the shuttle. Have a great trip!

Thank you all for your input.

Larry in Poulsbo