Tangier travel guide

Where is Tangier?

Strait of Gibraltar · Northern Morocco.

from Marrakech as the crow flies

503 km

people in Tangier commune, 2024 census

1.28 million

private tour comes here

1

places in our guide

13

nearest airport: Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG)

TNG

About Tangier

Tangier, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean with Spain visible across the strait, is the natural base for northern day trips. The kasbah and medina fill a morning; Cap Spartel and the Hercules caves make an easy afternoon; and within 45 minutes you can reach the whitewashed art town of Asilah or, an hour out, the Andalusian medina of Tetouan — both comfortable day trips. The famous blue town of Chefchaouen is two hours each way, so it suits an overnight rather than a rushed day. Long an international city administered jointly by foreign powers from 1923 to 1956, Tangier drew Matisse, Bowles, Burroughs and the Rolling Stones, and remains the most cosmopolitan of Morocco's old cities.

How long to stay

2 nights

Nearest airport

Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG)

Getting there

Ferry from Tarifa (35 min) or Algeciras (1h), or fly direct to TNG

Combine with

Chefchaouen (2h south) and Fes (4h south by car, 2h by train)

Highlights of Tangier

• The Kasbah & medina, a morning on foot

  Climb from the Petit Socco to the kasbah museum (Dar el-Makhzen) for views over the harbour and Spain beyond — a self-contained half-day.

• Cap Spartel & the Hercules caves

  The western tip of Africa: a lighthouse and the eroded sea cave shaped like a map of the continent — the obvious half-day excursion from the city.

• Literary Tangier walk

  Hotel El Muniria where Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch, Café Hafa where Bowles took his tea, and the Librairie des Colonnes — a gentle afternoon circuit.

• Tangier bay yacht half-day

  A skippered sail across the bay with a swim stop at Cap Spartel and lunch on board — a half-day on the water.