Getting Too Drunk In Gibraltar & My 2nd Ferry Trip To Morocco

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Getting Too Drunk In Gibraltar and My 2nd Ever Boat Trip To Morocco

Actually, I was very much considering NOT doing a blog about this time going away for 2 weeks. Instead, I was going to write about the hidden beauty spots in Malaga…

I still Intend to write this actually at some point. Having spent not even a day here what got me was all the places I kept seeing come up on my feed. I mean Malaga has some amazing buildings anyway and a beautiful river going through it but I never really looked into anything more.

I will do my research on this for a future post with a future trip in mind most definitely with a view to check out places like;

Fuengirola Zoo Parc
Corremelinos
The Flamingo town (Fuente De Piedra)
Cueva Del Tresoro (The Treasure Cave)
and The Sky Walk tour (Caminito Del Ray)

So much I want to do here… but anyhow for now I will write this blog post about my June/July 2026 trip to Spain, Gibraltar and Morocco!

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Any questions please contact me at teddybearstravels@gmail.com

Getting To Spain and then Gibraltar

Actually what a nightmare start I had to this all. I had maybe 25 eBay orders to do on the very morning I had to leave and I had to set off half hour later than planned because of this.

Then I got my first bus to Stevenage and I was pretty relaxed about it at the time. All I had to do was get the bus to Luton airport and really considering the circumstances everything was running smoothly, but it just had to be my luck – something had to go wrong, and it did.

So, there are 2 buses that go from Stevenage and Hitchin Hertfordshire to Luton – the 100 and the 101. One goes to Luton Airport and the other just goes to Luton and the surrounding villages. I mean I can imagine this has happened to so many people before – I would not be surprised if people if missed their flights because they have got these 2 mixed up.

But then the drivers should know this – I definitely said to my driver “Is this the airport bus?”

He did NOT tell me it wasn’t, he let me get on the bus, charged me for a ticket and basically I didn’t realise I was on the wrong bus until I was already on my way back to Hitchin (Hertfordshire).

It was like I knew before but I didn’t say anything – and when I did it was already too late. I was by this point back in Hitchin and seriously freaking out over how much time I had left to get to the airport before my flight was leaving.

I really could see no other way to make it here in time unless I got a taxi. It was horrible and when I did go on to my Uber App – the price just going up and up. At first it said £29.00 then it was £40, £50 and after that I ended up paying £62.

It was literally like I was being held to ransom. I was talking to the driver about it and he basically said I was worrying too much about it. I had no bags to check in so he said I most likely had plenty of time to get there. Even though I had less than 2 hours he said I would be fine.

He was right and the more I thought about I should have just saved my money and got another bus. In fact, I should have just stayed on the same bus because that would have been going back round to Luton – maybe even the airport.

But, I was so rude to the bus driver. I was so annoyed at him that I could not even hold my tongue when he said say to me to stay on the bus to go back to Luton.

If only I could have stayed calm – it would have saved me so much trouble and money too. The irony was I still had loads of time. The plane was delayed by a further 45 minutes and really I had too much time because in the time waiting I spent a further £20 on Breakfast and £22.50 on beer.

I mean I was actually shaken up by it all. The rushing around, the stressing out – it was bad but I really felt like I needed a drink to calm my nerves, and I didn’t stop there I drunk on the plane as well. Easily, I spent over £100 before I even got to Malaga and I really just wonder had I got the right bus – would it have made much of a difference?

I’m moaning a lot here but the one thing I never wanted this trip to be was too expensive and this actually kind of got to me. This was only my first day, and honestly, If I could go away not drink and save loads of money Instead of wasting it I know what I would prefer.

Getting Into Malaga – How Was It?

The last time I was here in Malaga really I didn’t like it too much. Even to the point that when I went back to Gibraltar the next time I flew straight there just so I didn’t have to come back here.

During my last stay in Malaga I must have stayed in one of my top 3 worst hostels ever! and when I eventually got into the City – that itself was a nightmare.

I got rinsed for an extra 25 euros for arriving after 12, they had no hot water for me to take a shower, even had a “no hot water” sign and I just didn’t like it.

The one full day I stayed here all I did was get drunk and I really just couldn’t wait to leave and get out of there.

So, I didnt have too high expectations this time around but I think as I booked early and I got a better hostel everything was actually pretty cool.

There was no trouble with me getting into the City for starters. Last time I must have been at the airport for a whole hour before I realised what I had to do. Maybe I think the airport bus was not running on this day but anyhow.

It was this time and I got this bus within 5 minutes of getting here and then I got to my hostel in about only 10 minutes after that.

I mean it wasn’t all perfect. I didn’t really like the beds at the hostel. I see these in a lot of places – just cheap, crap metal bunk beds that feel almost like they can’t take your weight.

Also, typically these beds you get with the prison type mattereses and flat pillows that are only half full of feathers. 9/10 times I’d say these pretty much guarantee a crap nights sleep. I’m sure these actually make my snoring worse too but anyway, it was not too bad. I slept through till the morning without disturbance and it was actually fine.

Really I probably would have liked to have got up earlier – that was maybe one bad thing but even then I had a cup of tea, got some breakfast and without any trouble headed for the bus station – and off I was to La Linea.

Restaurant on the strip close to the Spain-Gibraltar border in La Linea photo taken in June 2026

A Quick Bite To Eat in La Linea

It was smooth sailing right up too this point. I got to La Linea, I had a massive plate of Seafood Paella for 10 euros, a large pint of Beer for only 2.5 Euros and I fully enjoyed it but OMG after that – I guess I knew it was coming – it was just nuts! I really don’t know how else to describe it lol

Getting To Gibraltar for 5 Days

I mean I kind of expect it really when I come here. It has a huge British pub culture and I’m sure that I have never come over here in my past 4 times before and not drunk every single day.

Even my 1st trip here of last year (April 2025) I drunk so much that I was ill for at least 10 days after. It was mad I went back again so soon but I did and this time I suppose I never really learnt my lesson.

It ws bad really because the things I like to do whilst visiting here – like going to the Zoo, and walking up the Rock in the evening I didnt really make enough effort with. The beaches I wanted to visit but never did. Just a shame and I know whenever I do come back I have to do more and drink less.

I mean, It got to the point I didn’t want to eat at all and the money I was spending really was just brutal.

I was actually worried how I could carry on to Morocco after. The truth was I came to Gibraltar expecting to be covered for my 5 day stay. I thought I’d pulled some strings to make sure I’d have the £150 for my hostel sorted but this never happened.

Definitely, something that made my stay a bit frustrating. Perhaps I think in a way this made me act up quite a bit with my autism but there was things like eBay sales, and other money owed that helped me and I suppose I was alright really.

Leaving Gibraltar For Spain (Back To La Linea, Algeciras and Tarifa)

I would say I pretty much calmed down a lot on my last day in Gibraltar. Funnily enough it turned out to be Gibraltar Gay Pride 2026. This definitely wasn’t my cup of tea – in the morning they had Police standing menancingly with rifles, people having to dodge their way around a big rainbow flag on the middle of the street and the whole thing just felt so odd.

I mean no offense – each to our own – but god it was very full on. I suppose a lot of people would have liked it. Next year I would suspect it will be back on again if anyone is Interested but no not for me lol Gibraltar is mad enough for me as it is already.

I went to bed quite early that night. Maybe half 9 / 10 ish and even though England was playing the Football that night I really just couldn’t be bothered. All I really wanted to do was sleep and get a move on the next day.

In all truth I knew it was going to be a mission getting over to Morrocco and I definitely wasn’t wrong. For any first timers you really should pay attention to what I write here.

My Last Morning In Gib – How Did It Go?

My last morning in gibraltar the gibraltar chronicle 2026

On my last morning I had a few people to see me off before I left which was nice. I suppose I kind of made myself quite well known whilst I was here.

Suppose you could say I made some new friends this time over the 5 days I was here.

I was advised to walk Instead of getting the bus to the Spanish border to save time. Personally, I think I’d rather have got the bus and got here without any isssue but I didn’t want to not listen to people and of course I decided to walk.

This itself did have its hiccups – the bus may have even been quicker. I definitely headed here in the right direction but as Tesco had cut off my phone my big issue was that I had no Internet, or Google Maps.

It was quite silly really. I did find the right road the first time round but It looked to me that the signs said no entry so I ended up walking back off the other way.

Here I even thought I might have to stay another night but fortunately I spoke to a shopkeeper that told me go back the way I came.

I went down the road I thought I wasn’t allowed down before and not long after I was outside the border gates by the airport to get back into Spain.

So, I was finally on the right track again but another hiccup was that everyone here had to wait for all the planes to leave and come in. This seemed like another thing that was taking forever. I maybe was overthinking things but I did think – do I have time for this?

I was talking to someone I met here which was funny. Since I started coming to Gibraltar back in 2021 I have always gone for breakfast at this cafe. The owner of this cafe was here with his girlfriend and we had a good chat whilst we were waiting.

Funnily enough he asked me when I’d be back again – I don’t know about that but anyway we waited for 2 planes to leave and 1 to fly in and then we was allowed to cross.

Catching The Bus To Algeciras

Online It did say that I could have gone from La Linea straight to Tarifa. I actually did consider this but as it was Sunday I could see that these buses were a lot more infrequent than the ones going to Tarifa and actually the guy from the Cafe said to me to make sure get the right Tarifa bus. I didn’t know what he meant at the time but later I did work this out.

So, you can get a Bus to Tarifa town for I think around 15 euros or you can get one straight to the ferry port for much cheaper with the ferry companies.

I would certainly suggest this rather than just making your way to Tarifa – it is a lot cheaper for one but my god this was a learning process for me and a very stressful one at that.

Trying To Figure Out What To Do In Algeciras Port

This was quite nerve wracking for me I have to say. Maybe it was a lot to with just how I am in general but I do wonder – if I was to put someone else from the UK in this situation – how would they handle it? Would they find it easier or harder?

I actually would love to know.

So, I was really pushed to the limit with this journey. I got to Algeciras OK – I got off at the bus station and from here the lady at the ticket office told me to leave the building, turn right and to keep going. This led to the ferry port in Algeciras but honestly, I was still very confused about what to do from here.

My real trouble was finding where to get the Tarifa bus from. I was asking so many people – speaking broken English and Spanish hoping people would understand me and it almost seemed pointless. Hardly anyone could understand a word I was saying.

I mean, It’s funny actually because one person I tried to talk to I was trying to ask him in Spanish for a good few minutes before he said “do you speak English” he then started talking english as good as the queen and told me where the bus stop was.

However, this was still not the end of it – It was the operator at the bus ticket office at Algeciras ferry port that caused me the most greif and I will talk more again about her soon.

What To Do To Get The Morocco Ferry From Spain

So, to get to Morocco from Spain you have 3 choices;

Ceuta To F’nideq
Algeciras To Tangier Med and
Tarifa To Tangier Ville

Last time I did the crossing from Algeciras to Tangier Med it was such a headache. I had to get WIFI and find a taxi driver that wasn’t going to completely rinse me.

It took 2 hours plus to finally get to Tangier Ville and when I did the taxi driver said “next time go to Tarifa as the ferry takes you here” – and as he said this he pointed just across the road.

So, I knew it was best to go from Tarifa port rather then to from Algeciras to get to Tangier Med but working out how to get to Tarifa well it definitely took me a while.

My tip: when you get to Algeciras if you have a ticket already still go to the desk of who you bought your ferry ticket from (mine was Balearia) and show them it. Then whilst your there tell them you also need a bus ticket and ask them what time the bus leaves.

I Found This Out In The Most Brutal Fashion

I had unbelievable trouble working this all out. I almost paid for a 2nd ticket with another ferry line thinking it was neccessary to get the bus to Tarifa.

More bloody money I have to spend I thought – 40 euros when I thought it was free. I am not sure what I was thinking but fortunately I didn’t pay it and after about 10 minutes I had the sense to go up to the Baleria ferries desk to show them the ticket on my phone.

Well, “all sorted” I thought. They printed out a physical ticket for me and I said “OK, thank you I need to get the bus now, where is it?” The lady at the desk pointed across the road and I actually thought I was all sorted but not so fast. After waiting for what must have an hour in the baking heat for the next Tarifa bus they told me “this wasn’t my bus”.

The Most Stupidest Argument Ever

Now, this was not my finest hour – I went back to the Balearia desk and said about needing a bus ticket and when I could expect the next bus. I didn’t know really if this was the right place to ask or not but I figured they could help me.

Same woman again from earlier on and I’m sure this same girl I had trouble with last year when I I got the ferry to Morocco from Algeciras. She was laughing at me that time because I was in so much distress, and she was laughing at me again this time.

It really felt like she was on the wind up.

I probably should have just asked her normally instead of talking like a caveman. “Hola, Tarifa, Bus, Ticket, where”. I mean I can’t remember what I was saying exactly.

I mean really I think she was probably quite frustrated. As much as she was almost falling off her chair laugjing she really must have been thinking “somebody shoot me”.

After a while she wrote down 1,50 euros on a bit of paper. I thought “OK, sorted” but when I went to give here a 2 euro coin – she said “no”. I don’t actually know why but this really confused the hell out of me and then me the plonker said “You want 150 euros?, no chance”.

That really made her laugh. I mean no way would it be that much but by this point I was losing my head – I went to walk off because I’d really had enough at this point but then she told me to come back and finally, another man in the queue said in English “my friend you need to pay 1,50 euros for your bus” and that was that.

My torment was finally over – I paid the 1.50 euros, got my bus ticket, my bus time and it was then just a matter of waiting for my bus to come.

Heading To Tarifa Ferry Port

Now, this was a bit of a worry for me as well. The bus was due at 15:15 but it didn’t arive till after 15:30 and the ferry was departing at 17:00. I wasn’t sure how far Tarifa port was away but my worry was that due to me missing the ferry before from Salerno to Tunis that there would not be enough time for me to get there.

Although, what did give me peace of mind was whilst in the bus I started noticing other people holding ferry tickets that said 5pm on.

I mean it was really just so easy after that. It was like my nightmare was finally over. Thank god – and actually one thing to mention is Tarifa is such a beautiful place.

My friend in Gibraltar actually said this to me “why not spend the night there” – they have a hostel here (The Kite Hostel) and he said he had only heard good things.

He actually made a good point and perhaps maybe this might be a good idea for the future and even maybe I could skip Algeciras entirely – it will save me a chance encounter with my female friend again for starters lol

Maybe I could go from Tangier to here? That would be a new one but back to my story.

Getting To Tangier Ville On The Ferry

Well, I remember last time I got the ferry from Algeciras it took what seemed like maybe 6 hours. It didn’t leave for ages and It got to the point I was just starving hungry because I was here waiting for so long for the ferry to leave Spain.

This time however, it was nothing like this – we queued up to get our Passports stamped straight away and that was it. And, not just this – the thing that I loved was that the boat was already moving by the time I even got to the desk to get my stamp.

Last time by comparison was horrible. I even felt like I would be heading back to Spain because after being told to get back on the boat in Morocco for my passport stamp it took absolutely ages. It took so long that the other passengers were already getting on and it didn’t help that when I did get stamped I couldn’t find my way off the boat.

This time was so much more straightforward. I couldn’t have asked for a better crossing. No more than 2 hours. I closed my eyes had a short nap and when I woke back up I was here in Tangier.

My Breif Stay In Tangier

I spent 2 nights here in Tangier on this trip. Last time I made the mistake of booking my stay at the Bayt Alice Hostel for only one night. The place I had to stay instead last time my god – not good it was so far in the Medina that at least twice I ended up paying a local teenager to guide me here.

Even on the last morning I by mistake give him 200 Dirhams instead of 20.

So, this time I made sure I was at Bayt Alice for my whole stay. I really like it here but 2 things I don’t like is staying on the top bunk – which is such a chore to get up it puts you off climbing down and on the stairs to the rooftop terrace – it is notorious for people banging their head.

I done this again on the last morning and I am sure I had concussion afterwards.

Otherwise, the hostel is good – the location is perfect and it was nice from here going for food, to the cafe for tea, and just walking along the seafront. Especially, during Sunset which is Incredible.

I mean another day actually would have been really nice here but I only had so much time and there was still a matter of Fez and Marrakech.

What Happened After This …

Now this quite some story already. I have done some stupidly long posts in the past here at Teddy Bears Travels .com and I have definitely gone this format. It takes way to long to publish my posts and I suppose for people reading this is is too long as well.

So, for this reason with this post – rather than writing 100K words and it dragging outI will save the rest of my story for another blog post.

To be continued…

Next post will be about my stay in Fez and my 4th time visiting Marrakech. Keep your eyes peeled for this coming soon.

Related FAQs

Do I Have Any Advice For Staying In Malaga?

Yes, do not leave it till the last minute to book your accomadation is all the good and cheaper places seem to get booked up quite quickly. Also, try to get into the airport before the last bus going into the City – you can get the train if not but the Bus I think is much better.

What Shoud You Know About Travelling From Luton Airport?

Luton is a good airport to fly from and you can often find great deals on flights. If you are local like me to North Hertfordshire during the day you can get the bus here for less than £10 – £6 is what I pay for 2 buses.

What Are The Best Pubs in Gibraltar

My favourites are the Pig and Whistle, The Venture Inn (Irish Bar) and the Trafalgur but there are loads of others Including those in Ocean Village if you are after a lively nighttime atmosphere.

How Can You Visit The Rock of Gibraltar For Free?

Really, you are not allowed to legally go up the Rock for Free without a Gibraltar Residents Card. You can definitely, walk up here but this is considered breaking the law.

Algeciras, Tarifa or Ceuta For Morocco?

I can not really speak on Ceuta and what this route is like to F’nideq but between Algeciras and Tarifa I’d definitely recommend Tarifa as it takes you straight to Tangier Ville.

What Should You Know About Staying In Tangier?

Like anywhere in Morocco Tangier is somewhere that you really need to get used to. Its a very busy place and many people here are out to hustle you. For the medina I’d say having Mobile Data with Google Maps is a must or if not you will have to likely pay a local guide here.