Tanger

Introduction

Tanger (Tangier in English) is the northernmost city in Morocco. If arriving by boat from Europe, this city is probably your first stop in a totally different world. It is located on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. It is the capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region and of the Tangier-Asilah prefecture of Morocco. The history of Tangier is very rich, due to the historical presence of many civilizations and cultures starting from before the 5th century BCE. Between the period of being a strategic Berber town and then a Phoenician trading center to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a refuge for many cultures. In 1923, Tangier was considered as having international status by foreign colonial powers, and became a destination for many European and American diplomats, spies, writers and businessmen. The city is currently undergoing rapid development and modernization. Projects include new tourism projects along the bay, a modern business district called Tangier City Center, a new airport terminal and a new football stadium. Tangier's economy is also set to benefit greatly from the new Tanger-Med port.

Sights and Activities

• Visit the Casbah (medina) - full of everyday Moroccan life. Shops, markets, pensions/hotels, cafes, restaurants, mosques, churches and historical buildings. If you get lost, walk down hill to the port/corniche area and walk up hill to the grande socco.
• Cafe culture - Tangier has cafes on every corner. A lot of these cafes have a lot of heritage and character -think 1920's Paris. It is great opportunity to soak up the atmosphere with locals. There are iconic institutions like Gran Cafe de Paris and Cafe de Central (petit socco), visited by infamous beat generation authors and recent Hollywood movies - don't be afraid to try other places too.

Events and Festivals

• Tangier Jazz Festival - usually in september
• Ramadan - in 2016 6th June to 5th July

Weather

Tangier has a pleasant climate all year round - it never gets extremely hot or cold . It also benefits from plenty of sunlight, even in the winter months making it is an attractive place to visit if you want a break from the Northern European visit.

Getting There

By Plane

Flying is now the easiest way to enter Tangier if you are travelling from Europe. Low cost flights depart from Brussels, London, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona.

Tangier airport is modern, user friendly and only about 13 kilometres away from the city centre. Grand taxis run from outside the arrivals hall (2 minutes walk) and cost MAD 100 before 10:30pm and MAD 150 between 10:30pm and 5:30am.

There are no touts/hassles. The arrivals lounge once you've cleared customs has cash machines and exchange booths.

By Train

Trains connect Tangier with Marrakech in the south via Casablanca and Rabat. For more information you can check the ONCF website.

By Bus

CTM runs many buses between Tangier and main Moroccan cities and towns to the south.

By Boat

Spain

• GNV operates services from Barcelona to Tanger.
• Euroferrys travels between the southern Spanish town of Algeciras to Tanger.
• FRS has boats travelling between both Tarifa and Algeciras (Spain) and Tanger and between Gibraltar and Tanger.
• Comarit travels from Algeciras to Tanger as well.
• Trasmediterranea plies the route between Algeciras and Tanger.

Please note that Tangier has 2 ports - Tanger Ville (in front of the medina & close to the city center) and Tanger Med (40 kilometres from Tangier City). Tarifa ferries go to Tanger Ville and if you are pushed for time, this may be your best option.

France:

• Comanav has services between Tanger and Sete, which is located between Marseille and Montpellier.
• SNCM also operates a service between Tanger and Sete.

Italy:

• GNV operates services between Genoa and Tanger.
• Comanav has services between Tanger and Genoa as well.

Getting Around

By Car

The city is serviced by the light blue 'petit taxis' They don't usually use a meter but am inter city journey is typically between MAD 10 - 20.
'Grand Taxis' are the yellow Mercedes vehicles that take you beyond the city boundaries.

By Foot

Most of the sights are within walking distance. In fact, in the medina/casbah - there are no cars. In the city, walking is the fastest way to get around and experience the atmosphere.

Eat

The cuisine reflects the international history of the city and you can find Moroccan, French and Italian food plus there are excellent Spanish tapas restaurants in the new part of town. Seafood is fresh and good value.

• Street food - Plenty of choices in the Grande Socco and the roads off Boulevard Pasteur including schwarma, rotisserie and sandwich option.
• Pizzas - Cade Oslo on Boulevard Pasteur, Anna E Paolo (Italian Bistro) or Pizza Hut.
• Seafood - Restaurant Populaire Saveur de Poisson. Relatively pricey but run by charismatic staff who offer a multi course set menu including the day's freshest fish in rustic surroundings:.

Keep Connected

Internet

There are plenty of Cybercafes in cities and small towns and accessing the Internet won't be a problem. The price is around 4 to 10DH/ hour. If you have a laptop while traveling then you can buy a USB key for wireless connection from one of the 3 main telecommunication companies (Maroc Telecom, Meditel, and Inwi). Credits are available starting from 10DH/24 hours (starting from the time you use it, if you start at 2:00am then next day at 2:00am you will have to recharge it again). Wifi is getting more and more common in places like hotels, shopping malls and in restaurants and coffee places in larger cities. The wireless connection in some areas might be slow, that depends on the signal as not the whole of Morocco has 3G coverage.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Morocco's country code is +212, International Call Prefix is 00. The telephone numbering scheme is changed starting March 2009. All fixed telephone numbers have a 5 inserted after the 0, and all mobile telephone numbers have a 6 inserted after the 0. All numbers are now ten-digit long, counting the initial 0. Useful numbers are Police: 19; Fire Service: 15; Highway Emergency Service: 177; Information: 160.

Public telephones can be found in city centres, but private telephone offices (also known as teleboutiques or telekiosques) are also commonly used. The GSM mobile telephone network in Morocco can be accessed via one of two major operators: Meditel or Maroc Telecom. Prepaid cards are available. It is very easy and cheap to buy a local GSM prepaid card in one of the numberous phone shops showing a Maroc Telecom sign.

Post

Post Maroc is the national postal service of Morocco and has details on their website (French) regarding the sending of letters, postcards and parcels, both domestically and internationally. The postal service in Morocco is very efficient and the post offices are generally open Monday through Friday, from 8:30am to 12 noon and 2:30pm to 6:30pm. On Saturdays it is open from 8:30am to 2:00pm. Some might keep longer hours though, especially in larger tourist cities and central areas. You can post your mail at one of the post offices or otherwise in the yellow post boxes you'll find throughout the country. For packages, you can also use international courier companies like TNT, DHL or UPS. They offer quick, reliable services and competitive rates.

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