Tangier

Tangier is where Morocco begins or ends, depending on which direction you are traveling. If you are coming by ferry from Tarifa or Algeciras, this is your first step into Africa. If you are flying out, this is your last breath of it. Either way, the Strait of Gibraltar gives the city a threshold quality that nothing else in Morocco has.

The medina tumbles down to the harbor in whitewashed alleys with blue trim, much quieter than Fes or Marrakech and easier to navigate. The Kasbah at the top overlooks the Strait, and on a clear day you can see the Spanish mountains across the water. The Kasbah Museum, housed in the old Dar el-Makhzen palace, has a small but very good collection of Moroccan and Roman artifacts.

Literary Tangier is still present if you know where to look. The Petit Socco cafes where Paul Bowles and Mohamed Choukri wrote. The Hotel Continental. The American Legation Museum in the medina, the first American public property outside the United States and now a small museum of Morocco-America history. William Burroughs wrote most of Naked Lunch in a room at the Hotel El Muniria [CHECK: confirm Burroughs address].

Outside the city, Cap Spartel is where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and the drive along the Strait to get there is beautiful. The Caves of Hercules, 14 kilometers west of the city, have a natural sea opening shaped remarkably like a map of Africa.

April to June and September to November are ideal, with mild Mediterranean weather and long clear days. Summer is busy with European tourists and hot inland but cool at the coast thanks to Atlantic breezes. Winter is mild and often rainy, with dramatic weather on the Strait and fewer visitors.

Tangier has two arrival points. Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport (TNG) has flights from across Europe. The Tanger-Med ferry port, 40 kilometers east of the city, receives ferries from Tarifa (35 minutes crossing), Algeciras (1 to 1.5 hours), and Gibraltar [CHECK: current Gibraltar ferry schedule]. We meet you at either, and we handle the border paperwork. From Tangier, Chefchaouen is 3 hours south, Fes is 4.5 hours (direct or via Chefchaouen), and Casablanca is 5 hours by road or 2.5 hours on the high-speed Al Boraq train.