Getting around Morocco

Supratours bus Morocco

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:22:00 GMT

Supratours Morocco buses are a national network of long distance buses traveling on a timetable between Cities and towns in Morocco.

But, Supratours buses have one major difference - they are a sister company to the Morocco train network, operate in parts of the country that the train network does not operate in and the Supratours bus timetables are scheduled to compliment the train timetables.

As an example, if you wanted to travel from Tanger to Agadir with the train, you would simply purchase your complete ticket at the train station. The ticket would enable you to take the train from Tanger to Marrakech and then, with a good connection, take the Supratours bus from Marrakech to Agadir.

Supratours bus tickets are available to purchase at both the train stations and the Supratours bus stations.
Remember that you can purchase any Supratours bus ticket journey from any Supratours bus station or train stations.

Supratours bus stations are usually found located directly next to the train stations ( example, Marrakech Supratours bus station is located in the old Train station, directly next to the new Marrakech Train station).

Supratours bus prices are usually about the same as it's closest rival CTM bus Morocco and the quality of the two companies are usually about the same too.

For Supratours bus timetables and ticket prices online, you need to visit the ONCF website at http://www.oncf.ma

The site is only offered in french.
However, it is easy to understand and navigate.
The Supratours bus timetables are integrated directly into the train timetables search facility.

For example, to search for a journey of Marrakech to Agadir, you need to just select "Marrakech Supratours" as your start point and "Agadir Supratours" as your destination. This is entered directly on the ONCF website home page. Select your dates and hit the button and you are rewarded with the full days schedule.

To find the Supratours bus fares, you need to select the link "Billets Normaux" from the home page.
Or, if you are lazy, just follow this link: http://www.oncf.ma/Fr/Horraires2.aspx?md=201&rb=491
The result will display both the fares and the timetables for the journey that you select.

Air conditioning can be fierce on both Supratours and CTM, so you might like to take a jumper or sweater with you. It also doubles as a handy pillow for sleeping.

Supratours issues tickets with a seat number on it.
Do ensure that you locate and sit in the correct seat number as most Moroccans are absolutely paranoid about ensuring they sit in the allocated seat number on their tickets.

We can understand this if they have shotgun the front seats by buying their tickets early, but all in all there is always seats for everyone.

Supratours bus tickets can only be purchased in Morocco and using Moroccan Dirham.

Ensure that you allocate plenty of time to purchase your Supratours bus ticket as in large cities such as Marrakech, the ticket office is usually very busy and long queues can form.

The Supratours national computer ticketing system is prone to breaking down quite often.
At some times, when this occurs you may happen upon chaos and jobs-worth ticket issuers who tell you that the computer is broke and they cannot sell you your ticket. Then, 10 minutes prior to the bus leaving they decide to operate a "Manual" paper ticket system.
Our experience of this is to insist that you purchase your ticket at the time you want to purchase it and not accept their attitude of waiting till the last minute - unless you particularly like hanging around ticket offices for a few hours.

All in all, Supratours are an equal choice for Morocco bus travel alongside their main rival CTM bus Morocco.

Buying tickets for CTM bus Morocco

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:35:00 GMT

Buying Tickets for CTM bus Morocco

Tanger to Marrakech

Tickets for the CTM bus in Morocco cannot be purchased from outside of the country.

The only exception to this is if you are travelling with Eurolines, from Spain to Marrakech, for example.

So, the only option available is to purchase the ticket when you arrive in Tanger or whichever city is your first city to be visited in Morocco.

If you intend to take the CTM bus from Tanger, directly upon arriving in the country, you should remember to have some alternative plans to reach your destination. During some times of the year (Ramadan for instance), the buses may well be full. Without a back up transport plan (such as the train) you may have to wait, which may involve an overnight stop in Tanger.

If you are able to step straight off the ferry and onto a CTM bus (i have been lucky enough to do this....ferry arrived at 3pm in Tanger, bus departed to Marrakech at 4pm!), then you should ensure that you have some bottles of water or drink for the bus journey.

CTM buses do make stops for 30 minutes at a time around every 4 hours, depending upon driver Schedules. These stops are usually at locations with a Cafe.

The CTM buses can sometimes have very cold air conditioning, so it is advisable to take a sweater or a jacket with you, even in the middle of the summer.

Payment for the CTM bus is in cash (Dirham only) and the offices do not accept credit cards.

Once you have purchased your ticket, take your luggage to the luggage check in desk, ensure you get a sticker with a unique number on it, which is usually then affixed to the back of your luggage ticket, which you keep.

There is a small 5 to 10 DH charge per bag, depending upon the size and the mood of the ticket clerk at the time! Your luggage will then be stored in the luggage room and loaded onto your bus.

CTM Bus Morocco timetables Marrakech Tanger

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:21:00 GMT

CTM BUS Morocco timetables from Tanger

Destination	Hours of departure from Tanger
Agadir	05:30hrs / 11:15hrs / 14:45hrs / 16:30hrs / 23:55hrs With a change in Marrakech.
Al Hoceima	20:00hrs
B Mellal	11:15hrs
Casablanca	05:30hrs / 11:15hrs / 14:45hrs / 16:30hrs / 23:55hrs
Chefchaouen	10:00hrs / 12:15hrs / 15:15hrs/ 19:15hrs/ 21:15hrs
Dakhla	23:55hrs
Errachidia	15:15hrs
Fes	10:00hrs / 12:15hrs / 15:15hrs / 19:15hrs / 21:15hrs
Laayoune	23:55hrs
Nador	20:00hrs / 21:15hrs
Marrakech	05:30hrs / 11:15hrs / 14:45hrs / 16:30 hrs/ 23:59hrs change at Casa.
Meknes	11:15hrs / 19:15hrs / 21:15hrs
Ouarzazate	11:15hrs / 14:45 hrs
Ouazzane	10:00hrs / 12:15hrs
Oujda	19:15hrs
Rabat	05:30hrs / 11:15hrs / 14:45hrs / 16:30hrs / 23:55hrs
Tetouan	10:00hrs / 12:15hrs / 20:00hrs
Tiznit	16:30hrs

The above timetables were correct at 26/04/11 and are of course subject to change without notice etc etc
You should always check directly with CTM prior to planning a journey based upon these timetables.

CTM bus timetables now online

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:22:00 GMT

Update 26/04/11:
The CTM bus website is not working (again!).
However, it seems that you can still obtain the timetables by clicking the direct link for .pdf we have included in the article below.

The CTM bus company in Morocco recently re-launched their long defunct website - a welcome break from the long breath held by travelers to Morocco.
CTM previously offered a website only in the Arabic language and even that was riddled with errors and "Under construction" signs.
Now though, a clean sweep of it's website has thoroughly dusted off the cobwebs and ushered in a new style and complete information regarding the company, timetables and fares.
Whilst the new website contains plenty of information, the language capabilities are still far from the desired formats.
Presenting information in purely French, the company chose to ignore the many thousands upon thousands of English only speaking passengers which it serves each year ( As well as ignoring Arabic and Berber only language speakers.

Still, the move forward is obviously a long road for CTM and at least travelers can now access it's timetables and fares and download the document to keep in .pdf format.

Access and download the .pdf to keep:

http://www.ctm.ma/Horaires_et_Tarifs_CTM.pdf

CTM is one of two recommended and preferred long distance bus companies in Morocco.
The other main bus company is Supratours, a sister company of the rail network, who's website can be found at http://www.oncf.ma

CTM Bus schedules from Tanger

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:20:00 GMT

CTM is Morocco long distance bus service.

An additional long distance bus service in Morocco is Supratours, which is owned by the Rail network.

Both companies have a good safety and reliability record and are reccomended for travellers to Morocco.

Other companies do exist, however the comfort levels, security and safety records are often poor and so are not reccomended.

It is possible to travel from Tanger to Marrakech and the train timetables can be accessed by visiting http://www.oncf.ma

However, if you prefer to travel by bus from Tanger to Marrakech, you can travel with CTM.

CTM Bus station Tanger location

CTM buses in Tanger have an office and departure point convieniently located at the entrance to the Port.

To reach the office when you have arrived at Tanger port by ferry, walk from the ferry along the exit road to the entrance of the port. The walk should take about 4 or 5 minutes and unless you have heavy luggage, a taxi will not be required.

The entrance of the port is guarded by Police and has archways across the road.

Walk under the archway and the CTM bus station (effectively just an office) is located on the street corner immediately to your right, when standing facing away from the port entrance.

The CTM bus station office is just on the left of this photo.