Getting There & Departing -- The local RENFE office is at Calle Juan de la Cierva (tel. 90-224-02-02; www.renfe.es). From Madrid, two trains daily make the 6- to 10-hour trip; the fare is 38€ to 56€ ($50-$73). From Málaga, you have to transfer in Bobadillo; the fare is 20€ ($26). The trip takes 4 hours and 50 minutes and runs along most of the Costa del Sol, including Marbella and Torremolinos.
Various independent bus companies serve Algeciras. Empresa Portillo, Calle San Bernardo 1 (tel. 90-214-31-44; www.ctsa-portillo.com), 1 1/2 blocks to the right when you exit the port complex, runs nearly 20 buses a day along the Costa del Sol to Algeciras from Málaga. It also sends six buses a day to Córdoba (6 hr.) and two buses a day to Granada (5 hr.). To make connections to or from Seville, use Line Sur, Calle San Bernardo s/n (tel. 95-666-76-49; www.linesur.com). Eight buses a day go to Jerez de la Frontera, and eleven to Seville. Transportes Generales Comes, Hotel Octavio, Calle San Bernardo 1 (tel. 95-665-34-56; www.tgcomes.es), sells tickets to La Línea, the border station for the approach to Gibraltar.
Most visitors in Algeciras plan to cross to Tangier, Morocco. Ferries leave every hour on the hour daily from 6am to 10pm. A ticket costs 35€ ($46) per person. To transport a car costs 100€ ($130). The trip takes 2 1/2 hours. An express service runs four times a day from 6am to 6:30pm, costs 37€ ($48), and only takes 1 hour. Discounts are available: 20% for Eurailpass holders, 20% for InterRail pass holders, and 50% for children 4 to 12. For more information, call tel. 95-658-75-17 or 90-219-50-14; www.transmediterranea.es. There's an inexpensive baggage storage depot at the ferry terminal if you want to store your things.
Carretera de Cádiz (E-15/N-340) runs from Málaga west to Algeciras. If you're driving south from Seville (or Madrid), take highway N-IV to Cádiz and then connect with the N-340/E-5 southwest to Algeciras.
Visitor Information -- The tourist office at Juan de la Cierva (tel. 95-657-26-36; www.andalusia.org) is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm.
