NCL CASABLANCA HIGHLIGHTS & HASSAN II MOSQUE anyone ?

will be visiting Casablanca in februari

normally we visit ports by ourselves as we love to walk for miles and wander around on our own, but this port is different as we do not know how far our ship will be located from town and I worry a bit about safety

this tour CASABLANCA HIGHLIGHTS & HASSAN II MOSQUE is exactly what we would love to do

has anyone did this tour and would it be possible to do this on our own

( no taxi's no busses just to walk from the ship to the Mosque )

thank you all for your time to help

best wishes from Belgium

will be visiting Casablanca in februari

normally we visit ports by ourselves as we love to walk for miles and wander around on our own, but this port is different as we do not know how far our ship will be located from town and I worry a bit about safety

this tour CASABLANCA HIGHLIGHTS & HASSAN II MOSQUE is exactly what we would love to do

has anyone did this tour and would it be possible to do this on our own

( no taxi's no busses just to walk from the ship to the Mosque )

 

thank you all for your time to help

best wishes from Belgium

We visited the mosque a few years back as part of a private tour I had setup to include a visit to Rabat. The walk is approximately 30 minutes, but not recommended. A taxi is inexpensive and the best way to visit. Hire a guide to visit the mosque and discuss the construction and learn of the fascinating inside work. You will love the visit.

Dave

Dave

We visited the mosque a few years back as part of a private tour I had setup to include a visit to Rabat. The walk is approximately 30 minutes, but not recommended. A taxi is inexpensive and the best way to visit. Hire a guide to visit the mosque and discuss the construction and learn of the fascinating inside work. You will love the visit.

Dave

Dave

May I ask why the walk was not recommended ? Hate to buy dirham as ATM use is really expensive

If we could pay a taxi with euro or usd that would be also a Solutions but our best option is walking

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May I ask why the walk was not recommended ? Hate to buy dirham as ATM use is really expensive

If we could pay a taxi with euro or usd that would be also a Solutions but our best option is walking

 

 

 

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This was just info you can glean from searching the question I had a private tour so the question wasn't important. Anyone who has visited the mosque has recommended a visit. Again hire a guide to go inside! If you reserve a taxi in advance, you can pay in other currencies. You could use a taxi to go to the mosque and walk back if you felt it was safe

Enjoy your visit to Casablanca

Dave

thanks Dave

This was just info you can glean from searching the question I had a private tour so the question wasn't important. Anyone who has visited the mosque has recommended a visit. Again hire a guide to go inside! If you reserve a taxi in advance, you can pay in other currencies. You could use a taxi to go to the mosque and walk back if you felt it was safe

Enjoy your visit to Casablanca

Dave

We were in Casablanca in November and saw the mosque and city independently. You do not need a tour and there were no safety issues beyond what you would have in any large city.

The distance to the mosque from the port has to be added to the distance to the port gate from the ship's location. Having said that, our ship provided a shuttle into the town. As we had paid full cruise fare we were not charged for the shuttle, but there was a minor charge for guarantee fare people. I do not know what your ship may charge, but I suggest it is worth taking the shuttle into town (and may be needed as not sure you can walk in the docks). There were ATM's near the drop off point and any surcharge would still be much cheaper than the amount you would be ripped off using Euros, but you may manage with Euros - not sure.

Beyond that, it is still quite a way so I suggest you still get a taxi rather than waste time walking. I understand all taxis have to have meters and use them - but we found not all drivers were prepared to comply even when asked. We are well travelled in North Africa and refused to use one taxi driver who was asking a ridiculous amount and would not agree to use his meter (I think 5 Euros, but it should have been less than than 2) We negotiated another driver down. We walked away from the shuttle drop before getting the taxi so we were not obviously cruise passengers who are always looked upon as less knowing and therefore, more gullible.

There is a charge (10 Euros - you would not need local currency for that) to do the tour of the mosque. Non muslims can only go inside the mosque on the guided tours which take place at certain times (something like 10.00 am, 11.00 am and possibly 12pm or 1.00 pm). The tour takes about an hour and is very good. You need to buy tickets for the tours downstairs and there are clean toilets down there as well (always useful in Africa). You can also spend time around the outside areas before and/or after and there is a museum about the building process of the mosque nearby (small extra charge), which we went into later, but you could miss that if you wanted to. There was a vending machine near the ticket counter, but I suggest you take water as well because you would need local coins to use it.

The mosque has a website where you can look up the tour times and price of the tour. If you are there on a Friday you cannot go into the Mosque, but could still see the area around it and would be worth going there to see it.

After spending a couple of hours or so in total at the mosque, we returned to the shuttle drop area (we asked for a hotel near the drop of, which I think was the Hilton) and walked around a bit and had a drink or two. There are some art deco style buildings near the shuttle drop as well as a traditional market (souk).

Overall a very good day, but we did need to know what we were doing so go prepared.

We found the Trip Advisor forums very useful for the Morrocan ports as you get more response from regular travellers to there, who were very helpful to me. You may find my questions on Casablanca (I use the same user name as I do here).

thank you so much for your help regarding Casablanca

we'd love to walk distance is never an issue, safety can be

that is why I am so happy with your update regarding safety.

I have printed out a walking map which I can take with us, will collect some money from the atm so we are almost good to go. Not sure if our ship provides shuttles.

will see when we arrive.

Again, this is a great help, thank you so much.

Wishing you a wonderful day

from Belgium

We were in Casablanca in November and saw the mosque and city independently. You do not need a tour and there were no safety issues beyond what you would have in any large city.

 

The distance to the mosque from the port has to be added to the distance to the port gate from the ship's location. Having said that, our ship provided a shuttle into the town. As we had paid full cruise fare we were not charged for the shuttle, but there was a minor charge for guarantee fare people. I do not know what your ship may charge, but I suggest it is worth taking the shuttle into town (and may be needed as not sure you can walk in the docks). There were ATM's near the drop off point and any surcharge would still be much cheaper than the amount you would be ripped off using Euros, but you may manage with Euros - not sure.

 

Beyond that, it is still quite a way so I suggest you still get a taxi rather than waste time walking. I understand all taxis have to have meters and use them - but we found not all drivers were prepared to comply even when asked. We are well travelled in North Africa and refused to use one taxi driver who was asking a ridiculous amount and would not agree to use his meter (I think 5 Euros, but it should have been less than than 2) We negotiated another driver down. We walked away from the shuttle drop before getting the taxi so we were not obviously cruise passengers who are always looked upon as less knowing and therefore, more gullible.

 

There is a charge (10 Euros - you would not need local currency for that) to do the tour of the mosque. Non muslims can only go inside the mosque on the guided tours which take place at certain times (something like 10.00 am, 11.00 am and possibly 12pm or 1.00 pm). The tour takes about an hour and is very good. You need to buy tickets for the tours downstairs and there are clean toilets down there as well (always useful in Africa). You can also spend time around the outside areas before and/or after and there is a museum about the building process of the mosque nearby (small extra charge), which we went into later, but you could miss that if you wanted to. There was a vending machine near the ticket counter, but I suggest you take water as well because you would need local coins to use it.

 

The mosque has a website where you can look up the tour times and price of the tour. If you are there on a Friday you cannot go into the Mosque, but could still see the area around it and would be worth going there to see it.

 

After spending a couple of hours or so in total at the mosque, we returned to the shuttle drop area (we asked for a hotel near the drop of, which I think was the Hilton) and walked around a bit and had a drink or two. There are some art deco style buildings near the shuttle drop as well as a traditional market (souk).

 

Overall a very good day, but we did need to know what we were doing so go prepared.

thanks for your respond

I am also active on tripadvisor but did not find the correct information

a lot of people find walking from the cruise ship to the mosque not doable but distance can be far for someone and not that bad for another person so we were more concerned about safety then about the distance.

Will check again and hope to find a little more information

thanks

We found the Trip Advisor forums very useful for the Morrocan ports as you get more response from regular travellers to there, who were very helpful to me. You may find my questions on Casablanca (I use the same user name as I do here).

We did not walk between the drop off point and the Mosque as I had mentioned, but just in the area easily walkable from the drop off point and near to the Mosque.

Obviously I cannot guarantee safety and I think that area between those two points was more run down than by the shuttle drop off, which was a centre of town and a location in which we felt safe. There were other people on the ship who did not like this port as they prefer a more holiday like environment.

The area right by the Mosque and along the seafront nearby is completely open with a number of tourists taking photos etc., so it would not be easy for anyone to approach you without being seen first, though the other side of the road looked quite run down. Also, like many poorer countries, the pavements were not good in places, so it would be quite easy to trip over.

We are very well travelled in North Africa, so we always dress down and make sure we appear purposeful rather that strolling around looking at everything around us. I travel with my husband, but unaccompanied women can be hassled somewhat in North Africa. So do be aware and do not take any valuables you do not need ashore.

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but I really do think time may be better spent in other parts of the city if you only have the one day there.

Above all, enjoy your day there. We are always amazed at the number of people who travel to other parts of the world and then prefer to stay on a ship or only venture out in tour groups if the port does not look pretty much like home. Good to find someone else with a sense of adventure and wanting to experience other countries and cultures like we do.

yes we do understand there is never a guaranty if one is safe or not and yes we share the same idea about traveling as for us it is also an adventure wondering around worldwide seeing how people live and taste what they eat. We also were lucky to have been traveling a bit all over the world ( countries with all kind of religion and habits ) so we do now how to behave.

Need to be honest morocco is not on our bucket list to visit but as we are there we will try to see what Casablanca has to offer.

good night from Belgium

We did not walk between the drop off point and the Mosque as I had mentioned, but just in the area easily walkable from the drop off point and near to the Mosque.

 

Obviously I cannot guarantee safety and I think that area between those two points was more run down than by the shuttle drop off, which was a centre of town and a location in which we felt safe. There were other people on the ship who did not like this port as they prefer a more holiday like environment.

 

The area right by the Mosque and along the seafront nearby is completely open with a number of tourists taking photos etc., so it would not be easy for anyone to approach you without being seen first, though the other side of the road looked quite run down. Also, like many poorer countries, the pavements were not good in places, so it would be quite easy to trip over.

 

We are very well travelled in North Africa, so we always dress down and make sure we appear purposeful rather that strolling around looking at everything around us. I travel with my husband, but unaccompanied women can be hassled somewhat in North Africa. So do be aware and do not take any valuables you do not need ashore.

 

Everyone has to make their own decisions, but I really do think time may be better spent in other parts of the city if you only have the one day there.

 

Above all, enjoy your day there. We are always amazed at the number of people who travel to other parts of the world and then prefer to stay on a ship or only venture out in tour groups if the port does not look pretty much like home. Good to find someone else with a sense of adventure and wanting to experience other countries and cultures like we do.

Cheers :)

I have printed out a walking map which I can take with us, will collect some money from the atm so we are almost good to go. Not sure if our ship provides shuttles.

will see when we arrive.

We were in Casablanca last week on NCL Spirit. The shuttle is still available, but no longer free. We paid $15 each, good for all day travel. I can't help with the mosque walk, we only visited the market (if you use the shuttle, look for the clock tower on the left ahead of the bus drop off point). There were many street hawkers between the bus stop and the market, but there were none in evidence inside the souk walls. We just strolled through the area without any problems, however we didn't stop to buy anything.

There were some taxis available at the port, but I know of one passenger who reluctantly paid a $20 tip requested by the driver, rather than get into an argument. Personally, I would pre-book a recommended taxi if I needed one here. As mentioned in an earlier post, I believe visiting times for the mosque can be restricted for non Muslims. I hope you enjoy your walk.:)

thank you so much for your update

this helps me a lot

wishing you a wonderful day out of Belgium

:)

We were in Casablanca last week on NCL Spirit. The shuttle is still available, but no longer free. We paid $15 each, good for all day travel. I can't help with the mosque walk, we only visited the market (if you use the shuttle, look for the clock tower on the left ahead of the bus drop off point). There were many street hawkers between the bus stop and the market, but there were none in evidence inside the souk walls. We just strolled through the area without any problems, however we didn't stop to buy anything.

 

There were some taxis available at the port, but I know of one passenger who reluctantly paid a $20 tip requested by the driver, rather than get into an argument. Personally, I would pre-book a recommended taxi if I needed one here. As mentioned in an earlier post, I believe visiting times for the mosque can be restricted for non Muslims. I hope you enjoy your walk.:)

We were in Casablanca last week on NCL Spirit. The shuttle is still available, but no longer free. We paid $15 each, good for all day travel. I can't help with the mosque walk, we only visited the market (if you use the shuttle, look for the clock tower on the left ahead of the bus drop off point). There were many street hawkers between the bus stop and the market, but there were none in evidence inside the souk walls. We just strolled through the area without any problems, however we didn't stop to buy anything.

 

There were some taxis available at the port, but I know of one passenger who reluctantly paid a $20 tip requested by the driver, rather than get into an argument. Personally, I would pre-book a recommended taxi if I needed one here. As mentioned in an earlier post, I believe visiting times for the mosque can be restricted for non Muslims. I hope you enjoy your walk.:)

We will be visiting Casablanca in December on the Spirit. Are there no excursions you can sign up for? When I try to look at them on the NCL website there are none listed. Is the marketplace and the Mosque the two biggest attractions to visit?

We will be visiting Casablanca in December on the Spirit. Are there no excursions you can sign up for? When I try to look at them on the NCL website there are none listed. Is the marketplace and the Mosque the two biggest attractions to visit?

One of the biggest money making things by any cruise line is the excursions, so I am sure there will be some for you. Perhaps they have not been arranged as yet - some cruise lines do not show excursions until much nearer to the time of travel.

Within the city, the Mosque is certainly a big attraction and rightly so. We have been to lots of North African medinas, so did not bother when here, but some will find them very interesting. If people are not happy to go out on their own, there could be a case for using an excursion, but we prefer to be in charge of our own day and planning for it. We were on a Fred Olsen ship, so had free shuttle buses as we had paid freedom fare (i.e. not a guarantee fare). I think Fred were charging £5 for people who had to pay for the shuttles in November, but I am not surprised to hear that NCL are charging $15 (about £12 I think) as the American lines do charge a lot more and expect a lot more tips as well, compared to Fred's £5pppn.

If you want to go to the Mosque independently I put lots of info nearer to the beginning of this thread, which will be very useful to you.

Rabat is not far to the north of Casablanca and is also a popular excursion. I believe it can be done by train, but depends on time available and it could just be a lot easier to go with the trip.

Taxis from the shuttle drop to the mosque were being charged at 5 Euros in November for our ship, but the metered amount should be more like £2. We made sure we paid much nearer the real rate and the meter was used or we found another taxi, but could well be easier to go with the flow rather than get in a tassle if they are charging 5 Euros. $20 is ridiculous, but not a good idea to get a taxi from the port where you are a sitting duck and it is further as well. We walked off from the shuttle drop and picked up a taxi further away, and would have walked out of the port and picked up a taxi a bit further away, so we were not obviously cruisers, (who will be considered gullible). People staying in hotels will be much more knowing about the local taxi fares, so not such an easy target to rip off. We also made sure we had local currency to pay the fare and spoke French, so we were not obviously passengers on the British ship which was in port that day. We are very used to North Africa though.

We will be visiting Casablanca in December on the Spirit. Are there no excursions you can sign up for? When I try to look at them on the NCL website there are none listed. Is the marketplace and the Mosque the two biggest attractions to visit?

Hopefully you will get some tour information on myncl soon. The tours from our sailing included the following:-

Imperial Rabat & Casablanca Overview - 9 hrs $99

Charming Portuguese Towns of Morocco (El Jadida & Azemmour) 8hrs $99

Casablanca Highlights, Fantasia & Folk Show - 6.5 hrs $125

Casablanca Highlights & Hassan II Mosque - 5 hrs $65

I have taken ship's tours in other areas of Morocco, but wasn't very adventurous in Casablanca. Our group were happy to conserve our energy for the next ports.

Hopefully you will get some tour information on myncl soon. The tours from our sailing included the following:-

 

Imperial Rabat & Casablanca Overview - 9 hrs $99

Charming Portuguese Towns of Morocco (El Jadida & Azemmour) 8hrs $99

Casablanca Highlights, Fantasia & Folk Show - 6.5 hrs $125

Casablanca Highlights & Hassan II Mosque - 5 hrs $65

 

I have taken ship's tours in other areas of Morocco, but wasn't very adventurous in Casablanca. Our group were happy to conserve our energy for the next ports.

I am sure these will be of great use to David as they are the trips for his cruise line, so are all that will be relevant to him.

If you will excuse me interrupting your conversation though, I will just mention some differences that we encountered out of interest and also to help anyone else reading this who may be on one of the British run ships. It has been obvious previously that the US branded cruise lines charge more for trips, but I am surprised at the differences here. The fall in the £ since last June will be a factor, but as we travelled in November the prices are for the same winter season.

Our port call was likely for a shorter time, so there were differences regarding the trip contents as well, but in general trips are much the same as they are provided by a local firm on the ground. I will put some of ours here for interest:-

The Imperial City of Rabat (6 hours) £42

Casablanca City Tour & Hassan II Mosque (4.5 hours) £35 - this included an inside visit to the mosque.

Panormic Casablanca (4 hours) £26.50 - this was just a coach tour with photostops and a refreshment stop, so more of interest to those who do not want to do much walking.

I am by no means suggesting that the US based lines are any worse than the British ones, in fact there are very distinct advantages in other ways e.g. the chance to pick up a reasonably priced balcony cabin, but it is interesting how the charges do vary once on board. Presumably the on board spends are their main source of income though.

The Rabat tour was very well spoken of by our passengers who did that tour, but I am not so sure that three hours longer, (9 hours total), to include Casablanca Highlights at double the price would have had the same enthusiasm.

I can definitely see why so many passengers on US run ships are so keen to go it alone in ports.

Tring, you make a good point about the difference in ship excursion prices. Bar prices, tips, speciality restaurants and excursions often tend to be less costly on UK lines. It can affect decisions whether to DIY or book the ship's tours. In either case it's a good thing we have Cruise Critic. :)

WoW those differences are huge. I thought that NCL was Norwegian but I see now that their Head office is in the US, big mistake. Would that make those price differences ? We have sailed Carnival and Royal Caribbean and try to avoid to take their shore excursions as they are expensive and we also love to explore places on our own but in this case I feel tired already thinking of "endless discussions" we are familiar dealing with those barging prices as that is so common in these ports ( Egypt / Turkey ... )

we have had that for so many holidays and we dislike the harassment that sometimes happens. Morocco was therefore never on our "travel list " but now we are here we believe we have to make the best out of it.

I printed out a walking map ( too far to the mosque, I know ) so we would probably take the shuttle to town and walk from there or I do hope there are more people getting off by their own and want to share a taxi.

Also Santa Cruz / Tenerife is a problem as I could find no one who offers tour to the Teide from Santa Cruz and renting a car is too much of a hassle so paying" too much money " and getting stuck with cattle busses is probably our only option.

I would like to thank you for your input

we leave on Monday, no rain and a little sunshine that is all I ask for.

good evening from Belgium

Also Santa Cruz / Tenerife is a problem as I could find no one who offers tour to the Teide from Santa Cruz and renting a car is too much of a hassle so paying" too much money " and getting stuck with cattle busses is probably our only option.

I would like to thank you for your input

we leave on Monday, no rain and a little sunshine that is all I ask for.

good evening from Belgium

I know this belongs in the Europe/Spain forum, but just a quick comment on Tenerife. After the (free) port shuttle we arranged a local taxi for seven people. The driver asked for €25 pp for a tour to San Cristobal de la Laguna, La Orotava and Puerto de la Cruz. There was also a photo stop with Teide in the distance. I was a very enjoyable half day. A shorter tour with the ship would have cost €62pp. I hope you have a great cruise and even better weather! :)

Thanks Rosebuds, also this is very helpfull Good night ☺

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To be fair the £ did plummet about 15% after the EU vote last June, so those prices may have been in the pipeline before that (company likely hedged currency). Still quite a difference though.

Then again the companies who charge high prices are still in business. We had two one month cruises arranged (for this month and Feb next year) with Voyages of Discovery, but they went down a month ago. The decline of the £ was said to be the final thing that did it, as they had most income in £'s, yet a lot of expenses (e.g. port fees and fuel) is paid for in $. Apparently they had hedged some currency, but it was running out.

Brits will be paying a lot more form now on to make up for the exchange rate .

I think the thing with the larger ships run by the US companies is that their income is mainly from the "spending opportunities" provided, yet they offer cruise prices smaller companies cannot match. Seems to be a sign of the times that any new smaller ships are in the very high price bracket - shame form our point of view as we travel for the ports and the large ships do not have itineraries to interest us. Hence we are resigned to doing more land hols and trying to do some travelling around during them.

I can see that trips from Casablanca may well be best for some who are not used to travelling in the less developed countries, but going with the flow does make it a possibility. 5 Euros for a taxi to the mosque from the shuttle drop and back and 10 Euros pp entrance charge will still be a lot less than the trip and you will not be rushed around, even if it does mean coughing up 15 $ for a shuttle bus as well and the medina is right by the shuttle drop. Whatever you all do, enjoy - it is well worth while getting out there to do something. Do look up entrance times to the mosque though. There are clean toilets and a vending machine downstairs in the mosque by the ticket office, so no problem getting there quite early and just hanging around taking pics of the outside areas, before your tour time - best to take water though as vending machine needs local coins. Tour takes about an hour, or a bit less and is very well worth doing.

Regards Tenerife - the hire car company of choice there is CICAR and they are very good - provide map etc and you can book online. We have only hired in the islands where there is not much traffic around the port - but we are driving on the "wrong" side of the road, which is a lot more of a problem. Having said that, it is a fair old way to Teide, so you may well benefit from sitting on a coach and just seeing the terrain as you go (well worth seeing). Time in port makes a difference as well - we like a late night departure if hiring a car, just in case.......

If you do not particularly want to go into the Volcanic area, I can definitely recommend taking the local tram (modern one) to La Laguna, from Santa Cruz as it is a lovely old town with lots of churches/museums etc. Santo Cruz itself is a very nice City as well - not a tourist town or a mass of traffic etc. The local tourist info kiosk as you go out of the port, can advise regards the half hour tram journey to La Laguna (this is the same place as San Cristobal de la Laguna, mentioned in a previous post).

From Belgium I would highly recommend a land holiday in Tenerife and get out there with a hire car, we had a great hol a few years ago, when we took a hire car for a week and even booked into the Parador in the Caldera for a night, having seen it and had a brilliant lunch there a few days earlier. Looked out of our room window and there was Teide. That night we just walked small way out from the Parador and saw the milky way very clearly - no light pollution at all. The B&B price for the Parador was the same as our hol company, (TUI), were charging to take us up into the caldera at night, see the stars and wine and dine us in a much inferior restaurant - we reckon we got a much better deal! A very memorable holiday altogether, so finding a hotel in a not so busy area is well worth it - not everywhere in Tenerife is the head banging tourist resorts and you can get some good prices in the low season.

Cheers,

Barbara

thank you so much Barbara I need to be honest, booked also this cruise ( and another one for later on this year ) in the UK in GBP as in this case the difference of our cruise fare was enough to cover our flights

we were planning to go to Tenerife for 10 days and hire a car but this cruise came across ...

We intend to take the shuttle in Casablanca and walk from there to the mosque and walk back to explore the medina ( seems not to be that far from the drop off point )

anyhow we will enjoy this cruise as we enjoy every cruise we make

have a wonderful day

Frie

To be fair the £ did plummet about 15% after the EU vote last June, so those prices may have been in the pipeline before that (company likely hedged currency). Still quite a difference though.

 

Then again the companies who charge high prices are still in business. We had two one month cruises arranged (for this month and Feb next year) with Voyages of Discovery, but they went down a month ago. The decline of the £ was said to be the final thing that did it, as they had most income in £'s, yet a lot of expenses (e.g. port fees and fuel) is paid for in $. Apparently they had hedged some currency, but it was running out.

 

Brits will be paying a lot more form now on to make up for the exchange rate .

 

I think the thing with the larger ships run by the US companies is that their income is mainly from the "spending opportunities" provided, yet they offer cruise prices smaller companies cannot match. Seems to be a sign of the times that any new smaller ships are in the very high price bracket - shame form our point of view as we travel for the ports and the large ships do not have itineraries to interest us. Hence we are resigned to doing more land hols and trying to do some travelling around during them.

 

I can see that trips from Casablanca may well be best for some who are not used to travelling in the less developed countries, but going with the flow does make it a possibility. 5 Euros for a taxi to the mosque from the shuttle drop and back and 10 Euros pp entrance charge will still be a lot less than the trip and you will not be rushed around, even if it does mean coughing up 15 $ for a shuttle bus as well and the medina is right by the shuttle drop. Whatever you all do, enjoy - it is well worth while getting out there to do something. Do look up entrance times to the mosque though. There are clean toilets and a vending machine downstairs in the mosque by the ticket office, so no problem getting there quite early and just hanging around taking pics of the outside areas, before your tour time - best to take water though as vending machine needs local coins. Tour takes about an hour, or a bit less and is very well worth doing.

 

Regards Tenerife - the hire car company of choice there is CICAR and they are very good - provide map etc and you can book online. We have only hired in the islands where there is not much traffic around the port - but we are driving on the "wrong" side of the road, which is a lot more of a problem. Having said that, it is a fair old way to Teide, so you may well benefit from sitting on a coach and just seeing the terrain as you go (well worth seeing). Time in port makes a difference as well - we like a late night departure if hiring a car, just in case.......

 

If you do not particularly want to go into the Volcanic area, I can definitely recommend taking the local tram (modern one) to La Laguna, from Santa Cruz as it is a lovely old town with lots of churches/museums etc. Santo Cruz itself is a very nice City as well - not a tourist town or a mass of traffic etc. The local tourist info kiosk as you go out of the port, can advise regards the half hour tram journey to La Laguna (this is the same place as San Cristobal de la Laguna, mentioned in a previous post).

 

From Belgium I would highly recommend a land holiday in Tenerife and get out there with a hire car, we had a great hol a few years ago, when we took a hire car for a week and even booked into the Parador in the Caldera for a night, having seen it and had a brilliant lunch there a few days earlier. Looked out of our room window and there was Teide. That night we just walked small way out from the Parador and saw the milky way very clearly - no light pollution at all. The B&B price for the Parador was the same as our hol company, (TUI), were charging to take us up into the caldera at night, see the stars and wine and dine us in a much inferior restaurant - we reckon we got a much better deal! A very memorable holiday altogether, so finding a hotel in a not so busy area is well worth it - not everywhere in Tenerife is the head banging tourist resorts and you can get some good prices in the low season.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Is there anywhere in Casablanca to get my passport stamped?

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