Tetouan

Introduction

Tétouan sits in northern Morocco, spread along the Martil Valley a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar and roughly 60 kilometres east-southeast of Tangier. It is one of Morocco's two major Mediterranean ports, and it forms part of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima administrative division.

Before you go

Tétouan is a major transport hub in northern Morocco, and many travellers see little more than its bus station while passing through between Ceuta or Tangier and Chefchaouen. It rewards a longer stay, so plan to break your journey rather than change buses and move on.

The climate is Mediterranean: summers are hot and dry, winters mild, and the city gets a great deal of sunshine. Be on your guard at the bus station, where touts target people who are only passing through. Buy your ticket only from someone behind a counter, never from anyone standing near it — some touts have friends working in the station who will back up a claim that there are no buses to your destination in order to steer you into an expensive taxi. Stay persistent and make clear you are willing to wait as long as it takes. Opinions of the city divide: some find it full of hustlers and hasslers, while others find it charming and a good place to make Moroccan friends, especially if you speak Spanish.

Getting there

Most travellers reach Tétouan by bus, since the city sits on the Tangier–Fes/Meknes road and has its best connections with those cities; some of these services also stop in Chefchaouen. Longer-distance buses run from other major Moroccan cities but less frequently. Supratours sells combined tickets that pair a bus to Tangier's train station with a train onward to anywhere else in Morocco, and local city buses leave for nearby beach towns such as Fnideq, Martil and M'Diq — the main road, Ave Hassan II, is the easiest place to board them, and the CTM bus station sits on that avenue. To reach Ceuta, take bus number 35 from outside the CTM terminal to Fnideq, then walk to the border.

Buses arrive at one of two stations: the Gare routière, which serves all companies except CTM and has ticket offices, toilets, an ATM and a large cafe with a terrace, with the Grand Taxi station beside it; or the CTM bus station, which has a big waiting area and toilets but no cafe. By plane, Sania Ramel Airport lies a short distance northwest of the Gare routière and is served mainly by Ryanair and Moroccan airlines on domestic and international routes; inside there is only a small coffee shop and intermittent WiFi. The only viable way into town is by taxi: Grand taxis wait in front of the airport and will go anywhere in Morocco at rather elevated prices, while walking a couple of hundred metres further to the busy road nearby lets you flag a petit taxi using the meter for much less. For more international connections, look to the airports of Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca and Fez; from Rabat and Casablanca you can travel via Tangier by high-speed train, and from Tangier and Fez there are intercity buses to Tétouan.

Getting around

Tétouan is a compact city, and much of what you'll want to see sits in or near the centre, so you can cover a lot of ground on foot and fall back on taxis or buses for the rest. The city centre is quite small, and most tourist attractions and hotels are located there, which means there's really no need to use petite taxis for everyday sightseeing. One caveat before you set out on foot: the CTM bus station and the non-CTM bus station are both in the centre, but the walk from the CTM station into the centre is a hike up a rather steep hill, so factor that climb in if you're arriving with luggage. Tétouan has no metro, tram or railway station of its own; rail travel in the region is something you connect to rather than start from, with Supratours offering combined tickets comprising a bus to Tangier's train station followed by a train onward.

Taxis are the workhorse of getting around, in two flavours. Petite taxis handle trips within the city and are very cheap, though the fare increases if you have luggage; if you're staying out along the road towards Martil, petite and grand taxis are always available. Grand taxis are the way to reach the nearby beaches — Martil, Cabo Negro, Rincon, Marina Smir and Kabila — and are easily found at the bottom of Rue Moulay Abbas, the road running along the park with beautiful views of the Rif Mountains. For a single passenger to Martil the fare is 5 dirham, but purchase two seats if you want a little more room. For less popular destinations such as Marina Smir, or for a more direct route to beaches like Cabo Negro and Kabila that would otherwise require two different grand taxi rides, you can bargain with the driver to purchase the whole taxi — often more expensive, but worth it for the time saved and increased comfort, and drivers are often happy to arrange to pick you up after their day at the beach. There's also a decent-sized public bus system, though the buses are notorious for running late and being filthy; local buses are an adventure but obviously cheaper than a taxi. Local city buses run to nearby beach towns such as Fnideq, Martil and M'Diq, and the easiest place to board them is perhaps Avenue Hassan II, where the CTM bus station is located. If you're heading to Ceuta, take bus number 35 from just outside the CTM terminal; it drops you in Fnideq, from where you can walk to the border.

Where to stay

For budget stays, you have a few options. Hotel Panorama Vista on Avenue Moulay Abbas includes breakfast, while Pension Iberia on Place Moulay El Mehdi offers cheap, clean rooms with a sink in the room and a shared toilet. Riad Dalia sits in the Medina on Place El Ouessaa; the 19th-century building once housed the Dutch consul during the Spanish protectorate, and its rooms range from cheap singles to palatial suites with antique furniture, elegant fabrics and traditional decor, plus Wi-Fi, a terrace view, a continental breakfast and a restaurant serving traditional dishes.

In the mid-range, Blanco Riad on Rue Zawiya Kadiria is a restored riad with stained-glass windows on the room doors, friendly staff, a garden area with a resident turtle, a good restaurant, and free breakfast and Wi-Fi; doubles come small or larger. Hotel El Reducto on Essaid Zanqat Zawya Kadiriya is another mid-range choice.

Food & drink

What to see and do

Tétouan's medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, unlike other Moroccan medinas, its relatively small size means you can explore it without getting hopelessly lost. It has three distinct sections — Andalusian, Jewish and Berber — though the untrained eye may struggle to tell them apart, and hiring a guide will make the experience far richer. Within the medina you can visit the Ethnographic Museum at Bab El Okla, housed in one of the seven historic gates and displaying dresses, artefacts, furniture and guns, and the Museum of Religious Heritage, which occupies the premises of the former Mosque of Laouk and shows Muslim religious artefacts. The Dar El Oddi Museum, a restored family house, holds a permanent exhibition of pictures of the city's places, landscapes and urban spaces, while the tannery near Bab Mkabar gate, dating to the turn of the 16th century, is smaller and less colourful than those of Fes but still shows the whole leather-processing process. You can only circle the dilapidated Kasbah on its hill, as it is under construction, and the Royal Palace and much of the adjacent Place El Mechouar are off-limits to the public.

In the modern part of the city, Mohammed V Avenue is a pedestrian-only street that fills with people in the evenings once the day's heat has passed, lined with cafes, restaurants, tourist shops and street vendors, with used book sellers further along offering books in many languages. The Archaeological Museum displays items found at the excavations of Tamuda, Lixus and the Yebala region, and the Museum of Modern Art, in the nicely renovated old train station, showcases current Moroccan and Andalusian artists and the reciprocal influences of Morocco and Spain. You can also visit the École des arts et métiers, a school teaching classical arts and crafts, set in a decorated building with a garden, and the privately run Saida Art Contemporain gallery, which has a café-restaurant. For outdoor activity, the surrounding Mount Dersa and Mount Ghorghiz offer splendid hiking opportunities.

When to go

Tétouan has a Mediterranean climate, which means hot, dry summers and mild winters, with plenty of sunshine throughout the year. In summer you can expect abundant sunshine and very little rain, so it's worth planning around the heat during the day rather than fighting it.

Winter is mild and comfortable, making it an easy season for walking the city and sightseeing without the summer heat. Whenever you come, sunshine is likely to be part of your trip.

Three days in Tetouan

Day one: Base yourself in Tétouan and get your bearings in the medina, a UNESCO-listed Moroccan city with a strong Spanish colonial layer in its architecture. From the CTM or Supratours stop, you can walk into the old town and spend the day between the souks and the Spanish-influenced squares. If you arrive at Sania Ramel Airport, a grand taxi is the straightforward way in; Ryanair serves the airport, and WiFi is available in cafés around Ave Hassan II.

Day two: Head north toward the Strait of Gibraltar and the coast. The Martil Valley and the beach at Martil are the easy escape from the city, with Fnideq and Ceuta further along the coast toward Tangier. You can reach the coast by grand taxi or bus from the Gare, and an ATM in town will cover your cash needs. The Mediterranean here is the defining feature of the day.

Day three: Choose between the Rif mountains and the bigger imperial cities. Chefchaouen is the classic mountain excursion, while longer trips reach Fes and Meknes by train or bus. Al Hoceima is another option along the Mediterranean. If you are flying out, allow time to get back to Sania Ramel Airport; most travelers find the grand taxi the simplest connection.