Tangier coach stations and CTM: where to leave your bags before or after the bus

You are arriving in Tangier by coach from Casablanca, Fès or Chefchaouen, or leaving in the evening. In between, there is a city to see and a suitcase too many. The first surprise for many travellers: Tangier does not have one coach station but two, both some way from the centre. Here is where they really are, how to get to the medina or Tanger-Ville railway station, and where to leave your bags depending on the time.

Two coach stations, neither in the centre

Before you look for somewhere to leave your bag, check on your ticket where your coach leaves from or arrives at. In Tangier, it matters.

• The CTM station. CTM opened its own station in the Mghogha area at the end of 2014. It sits on the Tétouan road, about 2 km south of Tanger-Ville railway station. CTM coaches arrive and leave here, not at the municipal gare routière.
• The municipal gare routière. Opened in 2019 to replace the old station on Place de la Ligue Arabe, right in the centre, it stands on the ring road on the southern edge of the city. It serves the other coach companies and the grands taxis. It is about 7.5 km as the crow flies from the Grand Socco.
• Supratours. Supratours coaches, run by a subsidiary of the ONCF rail company, are usually linked to the railway station. Check the exact boarding point on your ticket or on supratours.ma.

If an old guidebook mentions a bus station "next to the centre", it predates 2019.

From the CTM station: Anabelle Para, the nearest point

Anabelle Para is on Rue Ibn El Quadi, in the Hay Alia district, about 1.3 km as the crow flies from the CTM station and about 1 km from Tanger-Ville station. It is the obvious choice if you arrive with CTM in the afternoon or leave with CTM in the evening.

One thing to know: this point only opens at 3pm, every day until 10pm. If your coach gets in at 10am, it will not help you that morning. With a suitcase, a petit taxi is easier than walking: ask for Hay Alia or the Plaza de Toros (the bullring, about 6 minutes on foot from the point), then follow the directions in your booking for the last hundred metres.

From the gare routière: Cash Plus Riad Ahlan, on weekdays

If you travel with a company other than CTM, the closest point to the gare routière is the Cash Plus Riad Ahlan agency, at the Al Izdihar roundabout, about 2.5 km as the crow flies. It is away from the centre: handy for dropping a bag on arrival or just before a departure, much less so if you want to spend the day in the medina.

Its hours matter: Monday to Saturday from 9am to 9pm, with a break on Friday from 2pm to 3pm, and closed on Sunday. On a Sunday, or after 9pm, look at the other two points instead. Take a metered petit taxi and follow the directions in your booking.

Getting to the medina and Tanger-Ville station

From both coach stations, a petit taxi is the simplest way into the centre. Ask for the meter when you get in. Say Grand Socco (Place du 9 Avril 1947) for the medina, or Tanger-Ville station for the train.

For the medina and the Kasbah, the best-placed point is RS Valises, on Rue Amérique du Sud, right next to the Fondouk Chejra and level with the Gran Teatro Cervantes. The Grand Socco is about 3 minutes on foot, the Tanger Ville port less than 10 minutes. Note: the point is the shop next to the theatre, not the theatre itself. You will recognise it by the pushchairs at the entrance and the wall of suitcases inside. Open every day from 11am to 11pm, it is also the only one of the three open after 10pm.

In all three cases it works the same way: you show your booking, the shopkeeper scans your QR code and takes a timestamped photo of your bags, which are handed back only against that same QR code. For a typical day in the old town, see our guide to Tangier's medina and Kasbah with a suitcase.

Which point fits your timing

Only Cash Plus opens before 11am, and only on weekdays. If your coach arrives early on a Sunday, none of the three can take your bag before 11am: plan a coffee or breakfast while you wait.

Three situations, three calculations

Morning arrival with CTM, riad check-in at 3pm

Your coach gets in around 10am. Petit taxi to the Grand Socco, drop-off at RS Valises when it opens at 11am, a walk through the medina and the Kasbah, pick-up at 3pm to head to your riad. Four hours, the minimum: 36 MAD for one bag.

Noon check-out, evening coach from the gare routière (weekday)

You leave your hotel on a Tuesday at noon and your coach leaves the gare routière at 8:30pm. Drop-off at Cash Plus around 12:30pm, pick-up around 7:30pm, then a petit taxi to the gare routière. Seven hours: beyond 7 hours an hourly booking is capped at the day price, so 59 MAD for one bag. On a Friday, avoid planning your pick-up between 2pm and 3pm.

Afternoon arrival, night CTM, two travellers

You arrive at Tanger-Ville station around 3pm and leave with CTM overnight. Drop-off at Anabelle Para around 3:30pm, pick-up before 10pm. By the day, two bags cost 59 + 49 = 108 MAD. With one bag and a 6-hour booking: 54 MAD.

Prices, the same everywhere

• 9 MAD per hour per bag, 4-hour minimum (36 MAD).
• An hourly booking never costs more than 59 MAD for the first bag for the day; each following day is 39 MAD.
• Extra bag: 49 MAD on day one, then 39 MAD a day.
• Online card payment, in dirhams.

Arriving by train instead? Read our article on luggage storage near Tanger-Ville station. All three points are on the Tangier luggage storage page, and the other cities in the network on the BoxSpot map.