Is Tangier Worth Visiting - An Ultimate Guide - Big Adventures with Little Feet

Are you wondering if Tangier is worth visiting?

We recently took our children on a Moroccan adventure. As part of our road trip, we spent a few days in the port city of Tangier. We’d arrived there after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar from southern Spain. We spent time in both the heart of Tangier getting to know the city as well as outside at Cap Spartel. We had such an amazing time in Morocco with our kids. However, at the end of our stay, we thought to ourselves, compared to other Moroccan cities, is Tangier worth visiting?

We had fun in Tangier. However, when you compare it to other Moroccan cities it wasn’t one of the best places that we visited. What’s great is that you can take a ferry ride from a ferry port in southern Spain and be in Tanger Med within 1.5 hours. This makes Tangier the perfect introduction to Morocco and the African continent. To help you decide if Tangier is worth visiting we’ve put together a list of pros and cons. And we’ve also included a list of the best things to see.

Is Tangier worth visiting? Pros

We thought about all of the things that made us think that Tangier is worth visiting.

A mum in a hoodie is wearing her baby in a carrier on her front, next to her is her boyfriend with baseball cap and sunglasses on top with their other 3 year old son on his lap. They are all sat on a bench looking at the camera and the lighthouse at Cap Spartel in Tangier is behind them. The sky is blue. This is one of the things in Tangier that is worth visiting.

You can take a day trip from Spain to Tangier

has its own passport control onboard so you can do immigration before you arrive – which we loved! You can take a guided tour if it is your first time as it helps to make a perfect introduction to the country.

An easy first city to visit in Morocco

If you’re unsure about visiting Africa and want to have a taste of the country, then Tangier is the perfect introduction and one of the best places to head. It has a classic old medina which is a Moroccan old town. They have a souk which is their shopping area. Plus you’ll have a chance to try local food and drinks like mint tea. If you’re new to Morocco, we’d suggest it’s a good idea to take a guided tour. That’s because they can show you the best places to go and the main attractions to see.

The Medina gate in Tangier which is worth visiting. The sand coloured stone wall with gate in it has some stairs leading up to it. The sky is blue behind it.

Plenty to see on a day trip and easy to get around

There are lots of fun things to see in Tangier. You can get a good taste of the history of Tangier and Morocco in one day. You’ll get this by visiting various main attractions in the city itself. As well as ones further afield such as the Caves of Hercules and the lighthouse at Cap Spartel. We loved that it’s easy to get around because they have a hop-on, hop-off bus called City Tour Tanger which we took to be able to get out to Cap Spartel. They have an audio tour so that you don’t need to go in a tour group or with a private guide.

We think that you can easily see everything that you need to in a day if you’re only there for one day.

A photo of a garden with a metal statue of a lion roaring on the grass. Behind the lion are some bushes and then behind them is the lighthouse at Cap Spartel.

You can ride a camel on a day trip to Africa

If you’re only visiting Tangier region in the northern tip of Morocco then it’s unlikely that you’ll get to the Sahara desert for a desert camel ride. If you do fancy having a go at riding a camel then it’s possible to give it a go on the beach near Tangier. We saw them being offered on the beach near Cap Spartel. Yes, they are smelly and a bit erratic, however, riding camels was one of the highlights of our time in Morocco with kids. It’s your opportunity to have some fun and pretend to be like Lawrence of Arabia. Even if you’re with a large tour group and being led around in a small circle.

Three camels are sat down on the beach looking to the right. They have on their saddles and blankets as they are ready for people to come and ride them. This is in Tangier in Morocco and riding a camel is well worth doing when you're visiting.

Buy some fantastic Moroccan spices

Morocco is famous for the souks that you’ll find in most towns and cities; a souk is the term for a marketplace in northern Africa. The narrow streets of Tangier are full of small shops selling anything from clothes to jewellery to spices.

Close-up of five large bags of spice. The three at the back of the image are a mustard yellow colour. The others are red.

Whilst you’re in Tangier it’s a great time to buy all kinds of Moroccan spices. Spices are one of the most popular things to buy when you visit Morocco. You can often head to a spice shop and they’ll give a long presentation of everything on hand. We did one and it was really interesting, we learnt not only about the spices but also about the different qualities. There are spices to help you sleep, some for diet, improve sinuses, and even ones to stop snoring.

The spices we bought were cheap and great quality. We bought some pre-mixed bags of tagine spices to take home as we love Moroccan food.

You can make a day trip from Tangier to Chefchaouen

We went to Tangier as it was the starting point of our Moroccan adventure when we crossed over from the Spanish coast. And our first stop was to Chefchaouen which turned out to be one of our favourite Moroccan cities. It is just 2 hours from Tangier and very possible to do as a day trip. We loved it!

A close up of a family say on the blue steps in the city Chefchaouen in Morocco. The woman is on the left and she is wearing her baby on her front. On the right of the image is her boyfriend who is holding their toddler son. This is worth visiting on a day if you're visiting Tangier.

Chefchaouen is a stunning and often called the “blue city”. The popular story is that after WWII as the Jewish community grew they painted the walls, floors and steps blue as a religious practice. It is said to represent the colour of the sky and connect this beautiful city to heaven and God.

It’s the perfect place to get a feeling for the rest of Morocco as it’s very different in feel to Tangier. It’s a lot more relaxed and vibrant in its vibe.

You can tick off a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the Medina of Tétouan

Just over an hour from Tangier is the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Medina of Tétouan. We didn’t stop here ourselves as we instead went to Chefchaouen (the blue city). However, we’ve heard that it’s a picturesque place, and is probably nicer than the far more popular (and nearby) Medina in Tangier. Tetouan is famous white medina full of ancient lanes, houses, tanneries and Berber markets. It’s a lot more “local” than other medinas in Morocco. The small shops and market stalls cater mainly to Tetouan’s inhabitants rather than tourists. This makes it a far more relaxing experience as touts won’t constantly be harassing you.

A chance to eat some great local food

We love traditional Moroccan food. By the end of our trip, our son Cameron also loved the flavours. Their main dish is tagine, which is a slow-cooked stew made with meat, vegetables, and potatoes and is typically served with couscous or bread. At the end of the meal, and in most social situations you’ll be offered a mint tea to enjoy. In our minds, there’s nothing more refreshing than a mint tea to finish off your meal!

A earthen wear tagine dish is open with the tagine on show. The lid is to the side and it is dark red and has some black pattern painted on it.

Tangier has a large selection of local restaurants to choose from. We’re keen people watchers so went to the Petit Socco (locally called Place Souk Dakhel) for our dinner. The Petit Socco is a small main square in the middle of the medina (old town) of Tangier. We’d highly recommend Cafe Tanger as they have a terrace that overlooks the Petit Socco, the food was tasty and the service was great.

You can also get some great food on the edge of the medina if you head towards the Kasbah Museum by Rue de la Kasbah and Rue d’Italie. There are lots of great places to eat there.

Is Tangier worth visiting? Cons

We thought about all of the things that made us think that Tangier is not worth visiting.

Tangier is not the best Moroccan city to visit

During our road trip, we visited a variety of Moroccan cities including Fes, Rabat, Marrakech and Chefchaouen. We’re sad to say that Tangier was perhaps the least exciting of them all. The others all had something unique about them, for example, Marrakech has DJamm el Fna and Chefchaouen is a beautiful blue city, however, there wasn’t anything that particularly stood out about Tangier.

This is an image of the souk in Tangier. To the right of the image are some local women who are talking to each other as they walk. On the left is a man with his back to the camera. On his back is his son in a child carrier and attached to the carrier is a yellow kids scooter.

Don’t get us wrong, there’s lots to see and do, and we had a great time exploring the Medina and Cap Spartel, but we probably wouldn’t recommend it if you asked us to recommend where to go in Morocco if you could go anywhere.

It’s very commercialised – you may not have a true Moroccan experience

When compared to other Moroccan cities, Tangier feels very commercial in comparison to the more traditional vibes of cities such as Fes. Perhaps this is because it is just a short journey over from the Spanish coast and has become famous as a day trip from Spain. This may be why so many businesses have built up around the tourist trade.

There are a lot of businesses touting for business

There are a lot of touts in Tangier. It can feel like you’re getting the hard sell at every street corner and this is perhaps the worst part about visiting Tangier. It’s not just Tangier that has this problem, many of the other Moroccan cities can have the same problem, we noticed this most in Djamm El Fna in Marrakech when we were deciding what to eat one evening. If you find this unwanted attention distracting, especially with kids, then we’d recommend a clear “no thank you”, and most will move on.

Things to see in Tangier

We’ve put together a list of the best places to see on your trip to Tangier. If you really want to get to know the city then there is nothing better than taking a local guide. We like to do free walking tours when we visit a new city, however, there weren’t any available on the days that we visited, so we did a self guided tour instead.

The main attractions in the city:

Medina – you should plan your stroll around the old medina, the old city, so that you can enjoy each of its landmarks at the best time of day

Kasbah – the outside of the ancient city of Tangier such as the city walls. There is a great museum there as well.

A very large mechanical cannon is being pointed over the city walls in Tangier. There is a man holding his 3 year old son so that he can pretend to be firing the cannon.

Cafe Hafa – a very cool cafe with a terrace overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. It opened in 1921 and has seen many celebrities pass through it’s door including The Beatles and Rolling Stones. It’s a great place to stop for a mint tea.

Phoenician Necropolis – this is one of the most iconic places in the city. The necropolis has 108 tombs carved directly on the rock of a gorge.

Grand Socco – is a roundabout come square that separates the Medina from Tangier Ville. If you have children this is a great place to head as there’s a play area there.

Kasbah Palace – known locally as Dar El Makhzen this is the Kasbah Palace in the old city.

The main attractions outside of the city:

Caves of Hercules – an archaeological cave complex located in Cape Spartel next to the summer Palace of the King. Mythological tradition says that the Greek god Heracles stayed and slept in this cave. Archaeology has shown that the Hercules Caves were first used in 6000 BC by the Neolithic people.

Cap Spartel Lighthouse and Gardens – This is the best thing we did in Tangier. It is the most northwestern point in Africa and the location of a great lighthouse that overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar. We found that it was a great spot to enjoy with our kids as it has a great garden too.

How do you get to Tangier by ferry?

A short ferry ride from southern Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar will take you to Tangier on the northern tip of Morocco. There are several ports along the Spanish coast where the ferry departs from. When we travelled to Morocco we took the ferry from Algeciras ferry port to the Tangier ferry terminal called Tanger Med. We took this route because it was a short journey (1.5 hours), the cheapest option with the best departure times for us with our car.

If you’re going for a day trip as a pedestrian passenger then the route between Tarifa and Port de Tangier Ville is better this ferry ride takes you to Tangier city itself and is just an hour. Whereas, Tanger Med ferry port is an hour outside of Tangier city.

FAQ’s Is Tangier worth visiting?

What is the currency in Morocco?

The currency in Morocco is the Moroccan Dirham.

How to get around Tangier?

The best ways to get around are either a tour group with a tour guide, a petit taxi with a private driver, or a hop-on and off bus.

Where is Tangier?

Tangier is a city in northern Morocco in North Africa, on the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is divided from Europe by the Strait of Gibraltar.

What is the religion in Morocco?

Morocco is largely a Muslim country and a majority are Sunni Muslims. Other minority religions include Christianity and Judaism.

Is Morocco safe for families?

Although we can never guarantee that a country is totally “safe”, in our opinion and based on our experience, Morocco is a very safe country to visit with kids of all ages. The people of Morocco are very peace-minded and friendly.

Final Thoughts on Is Is Tangier Worth Visiting?

We had a good time in Tangier, however, after our visit we did think to ourselves “is Tangier worth visiting”. The reason we asked ourselves was because compared to other cities in Morocco that we visited. Tangier was good, but not amazing. If you’re planning on a Moroccan adventure then it’s unlikely that Tangier is going to be top of your list of best places that you’ve visited. However, if you’re just heading for a day trip, then it makes a great starting point into Morocco and Africa.