One Day in Tangier
“Tangier is one of the few places left in the world where, so long as you don’t proceed to robbery, violence, or some form of crude, antisocial behavior, you can do exactly what you want.”
Is it possible to see Tangier in one day? Yes and no. The truth is that I was in the south of Spain with my family and I convinced my husband to come to Morocco with me. I have always been fascinated by Moroccan textiles, jewelry, rugs, silver pieces, kaftans and everything else there is. Each part of Morocco is very different from the next and Tangier is no exception. Being the northernmost city in Morocco and North Africa, Tangier was for many years an international zone under the joint administration of France, Spain, and the UK given its important geographical location. Tangier returned to be part of Morocco in the 1950s and throughout history it has been a favorite destination of Mick Jagger, Barbara Hutton, Yves Saint Laurent, Jack Kerouac, Malcolm Forbes and Vidal Sassoon and even Bruno Frissoni, whose gorgeous house was recently featured in Vogue.
So we decided to go there and take a half-hour ferry ride (which by the way, is quite decent) from the port of Tarifa and spend the day in Tangier and Asilah. Since I knew time was of the essence, I hired an amazing guide that I found through recommendations and reviews online. His name is Tifo and his email is visittangier@gmail.com. Although we would have loved staying much longer, we were able to see a lot, walk tirelessly in the infinite maze of tiny streets and haggle a lot with all the street vendors and the shop owners. There are a few places that I definitely recommend visiting: The Kasbah (the political and administrative center); the Medina (the commercial center with millions of shops); the Souk (the open air market), the Petit Souk (a smaller market with shoes, clothes, jewelry, knick-knacks), the Hotel Continental (to admire its interiors or for a drink in the terrace); the Hotel Nord-Pinus (which is so chic and beautifully designed); Musee de la Kasbah (for beautiful gardens, courtyards and seasonal exhibitions); Galerie Tindouf ( for high-end Moroccan antiques, rugs, kaftans, textiles and more); Boutique Majid (for extraordinary wood pieces, intricately-carved doors, rugs, jewelry, suzanis and antiques of all sorts); Bazar Naciria (for millions of Moroccan rugs, from berbers to knitted creations from the Atlas mountains); Berber Tissage (to see the artisans weaving threads and making beautiful fabrics and to buy textiles, scarfs, tablecloths and linens). Click on the pictures below to see more of Tangier.
