48 Hours in Tangier

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

To enjoy a burst of winter sunshine in an intriguing city. Even its new crop of smart hotels can't quite shake the liberal feel of this infamous port that remains a world away from Europe despite the lights of Spain glinting on the horizon.

TOUCH DOWN

For a weekender, the obvious way to reach Tangier is on the Saturday flight from Heathrow on Royal Air Maroc (020-7439 4361; www.royalairmaroc.com), which returns on a Tuesday. Fares start at £186 return. The airport is 15km south-west of the city - there are no buses into Tangier, but the 20-minute taxi ride from the airport costs around 150 dirhams (£9). You can pay much less if you fly to Spain or Gibraltar and take the ferry, but the journey is slower. Algeciras to Tangier is the most popular crossing from Spain; the two-and-a-half hour journey to the terminal costs €28 (£20) each way on Trasmediterránea (00 34 902 45 46 45; www.trasmediterranea.net).

GET YOUR BEARINGS

Tangier's relatively small medina (walled city) climbs up the side of a hill north-east of the centre towards the 17th-century kasbah that overlooks the Strait of Gibraltar. The wide boulevards of the French-built Ville Nouvelle (new town) fan out to the west, south and south-east of the medina, with the sprawling port to its east. The Grand Socco (old market square), connects the old and new.

CHECK IN

Tangier's latest five-star residence is the chic Mövenpick Hotel, on the Route de Malabata (00 212 39 329300; www.moevenpick-hotels.com) east of town. It has a large beach-front pool and the second-biggest casino in Africa. Doubles cost from Dh2,022 (£126) without breakfast. The Hotel Mamora at 19 Avenue Mokhatar Ahardan (00 212 39 93 41 05) is clean, basic and one of the few in the medina with anything like home comforts. Take a room looking out to sea over the Great Mosque - the 5am call to prayer makes a novel alarm clock and en-suite doubles cost from Dh250 (£16) excluding breakfast. The Oumnia Puerto at 10 Avenue Beethoven (00 212 39 94 03 67) is a bright, modern, four-star hotel just off the corniche. It has a big outdoor pool and combines Spanish and Moroccan decor. Doubles cost from Dh760 (£48) without breakfast. Villa Josephine at 231 Route de la Montagne (00 212 39 33 45 35) is an 11-room 19th-century French villa that opened as a hotel last summer. Its dark wood panelling and parquet floors are warmed up with rich Moroccan rugs and quirky oil paintings. Doubles (all with balconies and fireplaces) cost Dh2,500 (£156) without breakfast.

TAKE A VIEW

On the Terrasse des Paresseux or "Idler's Terrace" you can stand beside Moroccan gentlemen passing the time, and watch the busy port beneath you. On sunny days Spain can be seen on the horizon.

TAKE A HIKE

From the Terrasse des Paresseux, wander past the pâtisseries and cafés of Boulevard Pasteur, Ville Nouvelle's main hub. Make your way down Rue Anoual, passing the Art Deco façade of the closed-down Cinema Cervantes, once the cultural heart of Spanish-speaking Morocco. Turn left at the end towards the Grand Socco - when you get there, pop your head into the courtyard of the old International Court. Presiding over it is the enormous tangled canopy of a fig tree said to be 900 years old. Enter the medina along the Rue as-Siaghin, through the former Jewish quarter and gold market. At the bottom of Rue as-Siaghin, pause for a mint tea at Café Tingis on the Petit Socco. This was the former seedy stomping ground for such writers as William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and Joe Orton. From here take Rue des Almohades, fighting off the souvenir stallholders and head north to the kasbah, where you'll find a sweeping view over the sea towards Europe.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

On Rue Dar Dbagh, running south-east from the Great Mosque, you will find plenty of shops selling fried fish. For around Dh8 (£0.50) you can fill up with tapas-style snacks, followed by a breezeblock-sized chunk of nougat from the corner stall opposite the Mamounia Palace restaurant at the top of Rue as-Siaghin.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

The south-east gate to the Kasbah is Bab el-Aassa. Inside it is the Museum of Moroccan Arts, also known as the Kasbah Museum, which is housed in the 17th-century palace of Dar el Makhzen (00 212 39 932 097; www.maroc.net/museums) - a building as beautiful as the artefacts it contains. Ornate musical instruments, pottery from Fez, Berber weavings and some remarkable muskets are on display in rooms with intricately carved ceilings. It opens Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 9am-12.30pm and 3-5.30pm, Friday 9-11.30am, and is closed Tuesday and Saturday. Admission is Dh10 (£0.60). The American Legation Museum at 8 Rue Amerique (00 212 39 935 317; www.maroc.net/legation) was the world's original US embassy - Morocco was the first country to recognise American independence. Now a cultural centre, this lovely 19th-century structure contains a collection of antique maps, a black and white photo gallery of visiting US presidents and an entire room dedicated to the Beat writer Paul Bowles, who spent over 60 years living and writing in Tangier. It opens 10am-1pm and 3-5pm from Monday to Friday, and admission is free.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Get ready for the sensory bombardment that is shopping in the old town. Of the many leather merchants, Lion at 71 Rue Sebou has the most stylish bags and well-finished jackets; 400Dh (£25) buys you the kind of smart leather hold-all once favoured by Grand Touring Europeans. Just to the north, through the "woman's market" you'll find Bakkali Jaafar (at 1-3 Rue Nouvelle Fontaine) selling Tangier's most perfect pointy slippers. An exquisite pair of hand-stitched slipper-shoes (unisex) costs Dh80-Dh280 (£5-18).

AN APERITIF

Putting the "tea" into aperitif, Café Hafa is off Rue Tabor, behind the kasbah. It has long been favoured by those who prefer a cuppa and a kif pipe to a cocktail. With stunning views over the sea, this series of raked, flower-filled terraces is dotted with rickety metal tables and chairs, sleeping cats and groups of very relaxed-looking locals, plus tourists trying to recapture the halcyon days enjoyed by former Hafa regulars Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones.

DINING WITH THE LOCALS

The Merhaba Palace Restaurant is set on a pretty cobbled street just beneath the kasbah at 69 Rue Kasbah (00 212 39 93 79 27). Eat top-notch Moroccan fare such as tagine, couscous and pastilla seated at on velvet-cushioned banquettes around tables lit with Moroccan lamps. The three-course set menu costs Dh130 (£8).

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

St Andrew's on Rue d'Angleterre is the little 19th-century English church depicted in Matisse's painting Paysage Vue d'une Fenêtre, a copy of which can be seen inside the lovingly maintained Anglo-Moorish style chapel. It opens 9.30am-12.30pm and 2.30-6pm daily, with Mass at 8.30am on Sundays.

OUT TO BRUNCH

Order a superb café au lait and some sticky patisserie at the Grand Café de Paris, overlooking the Terrasse des Paresseux, and imagine you are Humphrey Bogart waiting for Ingrid Bergman. During the Second World War this was the rendezvous point for British, American and German spies; the 1942 film Casablanca was based on Tangier, not the eponymous city.

A WALK ON THE BEACH

Take a taxi out past the wealthy mansions and palaces in the suburbs of California and La Montagne, west of Tangier, to reach Cape Spartel - the promontory where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea and Morocco's closest point to Spain. Sheer, cave-studded cliffs provide a wild backdrop to the area's long, sandy beaches. Walk south along Plage Robinson to reach the Grottes d'Hercule: limestone quarried caves with picture-perfect views of the Atlantic.

WRITE A POSTCARD

Pick up a postcard of Tangier's infamous port and settle on the terrace of the Hotel Continental at 36 Rue Dar el-Baroud to compare the view. At this tattily venerable establishment overlooking the port you could be forgiven for thinking that nothing has changed since Paul Bowles wrote The Sheltering Sky in 1949. See if you can spot the scenes featured in the 1990 Bertolucci film adaptation of the same name. Failing that, ask Mohammed Soussi, the ebullient manager, if you can peruse the guest book for inspiration; this giant dusty tome contains comments from such former guests as Degas and Churchill.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

Head to the hamman at the El-Minzah Hotel at 85 Rue de la Liberté (00 212 39 93 58 85; www.elminzah.com). Even if you aren't staying at this grand old 1920s hotel, built like a Moroccan palace, the richly tiled hammam in the new Wellness Centre is a must-steam experience. For Dh150 (£9) you can steam and soak all day, with a 20-minute traditional soap-up and scrub-down administered by an attendant - a process that is a lot less scary than the medina bath-house equivalent.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BY BEENA NADEEM

Interesting? Click here to explore further