Last day in Tangier: Cape Spartel and the Caves of Hercules without your bags

Your riad checks you out at noon, but your train or flight only leaves in the evening. You have half a day left in Tangier, and it is the perfect moment for the trip many visitors keep postponing: Cape Spartel lighthouse, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, and the Caves of Hercules just below. The problem is the suitcases. Here is how to leave them in town, a timed itinerary and the way back to the station or the airport. Short answerLeave your bags at RS Valises, 3 minutes from the Grand Socco (open every day 11am to 11pm). Take a taxi to Cape Spartel, about 14 km west of the centre, then on to the Caves of Hercules, about 4 km along the coast road. Head back to town in the late afternoon. If you leave from the station after 3pm, Anabelle Para (every day 3pm to 10pm) is about 1 km from Tanger-Ville. Price: 9 MAD per hour per bag, 4-hour minimum (36 MAD), capped at 59 MAD for the day. Why not just take the suitcases? You can always leave a suitcase in a taxi boot. But at Cape Spartel you walk around the park and the lighthouse, and at the caves you go down steps onto ground that is often damp. If you switch taxis between the two sites, your bags switch cars with you. The simplest plan is to leave them in town, close to where you will set off from, and travel light. Cape Spartel and the Caves of Hercules: the essentials Cape Spartel lighthouse The cape marks the southern entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, about 14 km west of Tangier. Its lighthouse, around a century and a half old, has been restored and houses a museum of maritime signalling, with a garden and a café-restaurant. The official website lecapspartel.com lists opening every day from 8:30am to 11:30pm, with different prices depending on the ticket (park and museum, with or without climbing the lighthouse). Check prices on that site or at the entrance before you go. The Caves of Hercules The caves open onto the Atlantic beside Achakar beach, about 4 km south of the cape along the coast road. People come mostly for the opening onto the ocean, whose outline recalls a map of Africa. Several guides give daily opening of roughly 9am to 6pm; there is an entrance fee and the amount varies between sources. Bring cash and check on the spot. Getting there without a car Taxi: the simplest option. Allow about 20 to 30 minutes from the centre. Before setting off, negotiate a fixed price for the full loop (cape, caves, back to town) with waiting time at each site, and agree it before you get in.Tourist bus: Tanger City Tour used to run a route to the Caves of Hercules, but its website announces a temporary suspension. Check before relying on it.Between the cape and the caves: about 4 km by road. On foot it takes close to an hour; the road is not set up for pedestrians everywhere, so a taxi is more comfortable. The timed itinerary 11:00: check out of your hotel or riad.11:30: drop your bags at RS Valises, rue Amérique du Sud, next to Fondouk Chejra. The partner scans your QR code and photographs your bags.12:00: taxi from the Grand Socco to Cape Spartel.12:30 to 14:00: lighthouse, garden and views over the Strait. Lunch at the site's café, or further down towards Achakar.14:15 to 15:15: Caves of Hercules, then a short walk on Achakar beach.15:45: back at the Grand Socco.16:00 to 17:30: a last mint tea and last purchases in the medina, a few minutes' walk away.17:45: collect your bags with the same QR code, then a taxi to the station or the airport. To Tanger-Ville station From the Grand Socco, a petit taxi gets you to the station in about ten minutes depending on traffic. Keep a margin for an evening train, especially an Al Boraq to Rabat or Casablanca. To Ibn Battouta airport Allow 20 to 30 minutes by taxi from the centre, more at rush hour, and be at the airport by the time your airline asks. Our article on the link between Tanger-Ville and the airport sums up the options. Variation: sunset, with bags near the station Late check-out, or leaving from the station in the evening? Leave your bags at Anabelle Para, rue Ibn El Quadi, about 1 km from Tanger-Ville station. Note that it only opens at 3pm and closes at 10pm. Then head to Cape Spartel for the end of the day: the caves usually close earlier, so keep them for another time. Back around 8:30pm, pick-up before 10pm, and the station is close by. Check your train time on oncf-voyages.ma. RS Valises and Anabelle Para are open every day, Sunday included. Tangier's third point, Cash Plus Riad Ahlan, is closed on Sunday and lies away from the centre, so it is less practical for this loop. In every case, collect your bags before the point's closing time. What it costs The itinerary above: drop-off at 11:30, pick-up at 17:45, a little over 6 hours. Book 7 hours: from 7 hours, an hourly booking is capped at the day price, so 59 MAD for one bag. Two of you with two suitcases: 59 + 49 = 108 MAD. The sunset variation: drop-off at 15:00, pick-up at 21:00, 6 hours: 54 MAD for one bag. DurationPrice for 1 bag4 hours (minimum)36 MAD6 hours54 MAD7 hours or more (full day)59 MADExtra bag, per day49 MAD on day 1, then 39 MAD a day Payment is online, in dirhams, by card. Find the city's points on the Tangier luggage storage page, and those in other Moroccan cities on the luggage storage map. For the medina and the Kasbah, see also our guide Tangier's medina and Kasbah without a suitcase. Head to Cape Spartel hands-freeRS Valises, 3 minutes from the Grand Socco, open every day 11am to 11pm. From 9 MAD per hour per bag.Book at RS Valises