Tangier Is Finally Shedding Its Reputation as Marrakech's Overlooked Neighbour

For much of the last half-century, Tangier has been the Moroccan city travellers pass through rather than pause in, a ferry port on the way to Marrakech or Fez rather than a destination in its own right. That is changing, helped along by Morocco's Al Boraq high-speed rail line, which has cut the journey from Casablanca to a little over two hours and put Tangier within easy reach of the country's main tourist circuit for the first time.

A city built on being in-between

Tangier's character comes from its position at the mouth of the Mediterranean, a few hours by ferry from Spain and long treated as a free port and international zone jointly administered by several foreign powers between 1923 and 1956. That unusual status made it a haven for writers, diplomats and speculators alike; Paul Bowles lived here for over 50 years, and the city drew visits from William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Tennessee Williams, whose presence still shapes how the medina is written about today. The American Legation Museum, the first public property the United States ever owned abroad, is a legacy of that era and one of the medina's more overlooked stops.

The kasbah and the strait

Tangier's kasbah, the old fortified quarter at the top of the medina, looks out over the Strait of Gibraltar towards Spain, close enough on a clear day to make out the Spanish coastline. Café Hafa, a terraced cliffside café that has been serving mint tea since 1921, remains the classic spot to watch that view change through the afternoon, much as it has for generations of the city's writers and residents.

Why now

Beyond the rail link, investment tied to the nearby Tanger-Med port, now among the busiest container ports on the Mediterranean, has fed into the city's infrastructure more broadly, from its corniche to its airport connections. None of that has erased Tangier's rougher edges, but it has made it a considerably easier add-on to a Morocco itinerary than it was a decade ago.

Traveller tips

• The Al Boraq high-speed train connects Tangier to Casablanca and Rabat, making a day trip or short stopover straightforward from either city.
• Ferries from Tarifa and Algeciras in Spain reach Tangier in under an hour, a genuine option for combining the city with an Andalusia trip.
• The medina and kasbah are best explored on foot; a local guide is worth arranging for a first visit given the narrow, unsigned alleyways.
• Spring and autumn bring milder temperatures than the height of summer, when the strait's wind can pick up considerably.