Some cities you visit. Tangier you fall into.
It sits at the very top of Africa, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and on a clear day you can stand on the cliffs and see Spain — close enough to feel you could swim it. Three thousand years this city has been itself: Phoenician, Roman, Portuguese, international, and always, underneath, completely Moroccan.
The medina here is smaller and gentler than the great mazes of Fes or Marrakesh — you won't be swallowed by it. You'll wander up through the Kasbah at sunset, past doors painted every blue there is, and come out somewhere with a view of two seas going gold.
The cafés that made Tangier literary
Café Hafa, cut into the cliff above the water, has poured mint tea to writers and musicians since 1921. The Gran Café de Paris on the Place de France. These aren't tourist traps — they're the living rooms of the city. And Librairie des Colonnes on Boulevard Pasteur is a proper bookshop, open since 1949, that still feels like Bowles or Choukri might walk in.
Get your bearings from above
The rooftop bar at the Hilton — one of only two rooftop bars in the city — sits opposite the main station, and the view across the bay is breathtaking. Their non-alcoholic peach iced tea is so fruity and balanced I still wake up remembering it. Skilled bartenders, good bar snacks, and live jazz for a soundtrack.
See it on wheels first
The hop-on-hop-off City Tour bus has two routes and excellent value — even locals learn something. You'll roll through lush green and the old city walls (the botanical gardens are a highlight), out to the Caves of Hercules, and you'll hear the roll-call of everyone who fell for this city before you — from the Rolling Stones to Winston Churchill. If you've never seen it, watch the late Anthony Bourdain's Tangier episode before you fly; it'll give you the romance of the place. There was a man who loved food like me.
Breakfast like a guide
I always head to Pizzeria Nour — I know, not a breakfast name — where the chef has perfected my favourite: khlii and eggs. (Khlii, or khlea, is one of Morocco's great preserved foods: strips of beef or lamb rubbed with garlic, cumin and coriander, dried in the sun, then gently cooked and kept under a seal of their own fat. It keeps for months, it's deeply savoury, and fried up with eggs it's the breakfast of champions.) Here it comes with fluffy bread, fresh tomato, orange and cucumber, and a little spreadable cream cheese. A strong coffee, a fresh orange juice, and I'm ready to guide the day away.
A clean, easy city
One of the cleanest you'll ever experience — and the beaches are exceptional, with seven flying Blue Flag status. Eat fish at the port, straight off the boats, and walk out to Cap Spartel, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean and you can see the line.
The Ceuta run
Many travellers come to Tangier to cross into Ceuta — the little piece of Spain opposite Gibraltar — to reset their 90 days and step into the EU for an afternoon. If that's you, cross in the very early morning on a weekday (5am is sublime — you skip the queues that hit three hours in the midday heat). And let's be honest: who wouldn't want another 90 days?