Getting around Agadir

1. Getting around the city

**ALSA city buses.** Agadir's urban bus network is run by ALSA. Buses serve residential districts, the beach, shopping areas, and outlying districts. It is the simplest mode for an ordinary trip without heavy luggage, but buses are often full at busy hours.

**Orange petit taxis.** Agadir's petit taxis are orange. They run only inside the city limits and carry at most three passengers. By law they must use the meter. If the driver refuses the meter, it is better to take the next taxi. A petit taxi may pick up a second or third passenger going the same way, each paying for their own seat.

**Grand taxis.** Grand taxis, often white or cream, are shared taxis. They wait until they are full, six passengers, before leaving, unless a traveller pays for the whole vehicle. They serve trips out of the city, for example to Inezgane, and connections from the airport.

**On foot.** The seafront and the promenade along the beach are walked, as is the city centre, which is flat and laid out in wide avenues since the rebuilding of the city. To reach the Agadir Oufella kasbah, a cable car links the base, near the beach, to the top of the hill.

**What Agadir does not have.** Agadir has no railway station and no train. Do not look for a train to Marrakech or Casablanca: that trip is made by coach.

2. Getting to and from the city

**The airport.** Agadir Al Massira International Airport (AGA) lies south-east of the city centre, outside the city. There is no train between the airport and the city. Three options link the airport to the centre: the ALSA airport shuttle, line AE, which ends near the Vallée des Oiseaux; grand taxis waiting outside the terminal; and a private transfer booked in advance. Check the current fare and timetable with ALSA before travelling, because fares quoted in guides do not agree.

**The bus station.** Agadir's bus station, the gare routière, lies north of the city centre. CTM and Supratours coaches, along with other companies, serve Moroccan cities from there, including Marrakech to the north and Essaouira. Supratours is the coach arm of ONCF, which makes it the logical continuation of a train trip as far as Marrakech. Tickets are bought at each company's counter in the bus station, and a taxi is needed between the bus station and a hotel.

**Inezgane.** Inezgane is a separate town, south-east of Agadir. It is an important interchange for grand taxis and buses to the south and east. A trip via Inezgane requires a change: it must not be confused with a direct trip to central Agadir.

**The road.** The main road north links Agadir to Marrakech by motorway. It is the only fast land link to the rail network, whose nearest station is in Marrakech.

3. Commuting in general terms

For a resident or a visitor staying in the city, the usual pattern is simple: walk along the seafront and in the centre, take an orange petit taxi for a short trip in the city, and take an ALSA bus for a longer trip or to a distant district.

To work or study outside the centre, the bus or the shared grand taxi is the ordinary solution, leaving from a stop or a station, not on demand everywhere in the city. Grand taxis leave only when full, which can mean waiting.

To leave Agadir, the coach from the bus station is the ordinary mode, with a taxi at each end of the trip. There is no train leg to combine inside Agadir itself.

4. What a newcomer needs to know first

• **Check the meter.** In a petit taxi, ask for the meter before setting off. Without a meter, agree the price before departure.
• **Do not look for a train.** Agadir has no station. For the north, take a coach from the bus station, or a grand taxi to an interchange such as Inezgane.
• **At the airport, choose between three options.** The ALSA AE shuttle, a grand taxi outside the terminal, or a booked transfer. Check the current fare before boarding, because guides do not agree on prices.
• **Carry cash.** Taxis and coaches are most often paid in cash, in dirhams. Keep small change.
• **Tell Inezgane apart from Agadir.** A bus or taxi going to Inezgane does not drop you in central Agadir. Check the final destination before boarding.
• **This page gives general information.** It does not sell or check any ticket, taxi, or carrier.