Tangier Travel Guide

Stand on any terrace in the upper medina of Tangier on a clear morning and you will see why this city has fascinated travellers for more than two thousand years. Below you, the old town tumbles down to the harbour in a jumble of white walls, green-tiled roofs and minarets. Beyond the port the bay curves away to the east in a long ribbon of sand. And across the water, close enough to make out hills and villages, lies the coast of Spain.

Tangier sits at the north-western tip of Africa, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic through the narrow channel of the Strait of Gibraltar. Few places on earth sit so squarely on a crossroads. Phoenician sailors traded here, Roman governors ruled from here, Arab armies crossed to Spain from this shore, and for a few decades of the twentieth century the city belonged to no single country at all. Each of those chapters left something behind, and the result is a city unlike anywhere else in Morocco.

A city of layers

Tangier does not reveal itself in a single walk. The medina, small by the standards of Fes or Marrakech, is a tight web of stepped lanes, tiny squares and whitewashed houses, crowned by the Kasbah and its old palace. Just outside its walls, the Grand Socco is the hinge between old and new, a busy round square where buses, taxis, flower sellers and country women with straw hats all meet. Beyond it spreads the Ville Nouvelle, built largely in the first half of the twentieth century, with its boulevards, Art Deco façades, churches, old cinemas and the famous terrace where people have gazed at Spain for generations.

Then there is the newer Tangier, which has grown remarkably in recent years. A long modern corniche runs beside the beach, the old harbour has been reshaped into a marina and cruise terminal, and the high-speed train now links the city to Rabat and Casablanca in a little over two hours. A short drive east, the vast port of Tanger Med has become one of the busiest container ports on the Mediterranean. Tangier today is both a place of memory and one of the fastest-changing cities in the country.

The character of the city

Tangier is the capital of the Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma region and the largest city in northern Morocco. Moroccan Arabic, Darija, is the everyday language, but the northern accent is distinctive and borrows freely from Spanish. Spanish is still widely understood, especially among older people and traders, and French and English are common in hotels and shops. You will hear all of them in a single café conversation.

The surrounding countryside belongs to the Jebala, the hill people of the north-west, whose women come into town in striped cloths and wide straw hats decorated with woollen pompoms to sell cheese, herbs and vegetables. The Rif mountains rise to the east, and the Atlantic coast runs south from Cap Spartel. That mix of sea, mountains, countryside and cosmopolitan city is part of what makes Tangier such a good base.

The city also has a reputation, polished by writers and film-makers, as a place of intrigue, exiles and artists. Some of that legend is true, much is exaggerated, and all of it belongs to the past. The real Tangier of today is a lively, working Moroccan city of more than a million people, with students, port workers, families, traders and commuters, where the ghosts of the International Zone are only part of the story.

Who Tangier suits best

• First-time visitors arriving from Spain, for whom Tangier is the most natural gateway to Morocco.
• History and literature lovers curious about the Phoenicians, the English garrison, the diplomats and the writers of the twentieth century.
• Rail travellers beginning or ending a journey on the high-speed line to Rabat and Casablanca.
• Explorers of the north, who will find Asilah, Tetouan and Chefchaouen within easy reach.
• Short-break travellers who want a compact, walkable city with a sea view at every turn.

If you are looking for great imperial monuments on the scale of Fes or Marrakech, Tangier offers something different: smaller sights, more atmosphere, and a story that is international rather than dynastic. Give it at least two full days, and preferably three.

How to use this book

The chapters follow the order in which most people plan a trip. We start with history, because Tangier makes so much more sense once you know who lived here and why. Then come the practical chapters on arriving by sea, rail or air and choosing a neighbourhood, followed by the sights, the quieter corners, ready-made itineraries, food, customs and shopping. The final chapters cover day trips, practical information, phrases in Darija, Spanish and French, and a checklist to help you plan.

Throughout the book you will find three kinds of highlighted box. Local tip boxes share what our team has learned on many visits. Good to know boxes explain customs and practical details. Avoid this boxes point out common mistakes. We deliberately do not print prices, exact opening hours, phone numbers or the names of hotels, restaurants and cafés: they change too often, and an out-of-date detail is worse than none. Instead we tell you what to expect and what to check locally.

However long you stay, give Tangier time to work on you. It is a city best enjoyed slowly: a glass of mint tea above the harbour, the call to prayer rolling across the rooftops, the ferries sliding out towards Spain and the lights of the opposite shore coming on as night falls.