# Tangier and Asilah

Tangier, with its kasbah above the Strait and its literary cafés, and Asilah, a white walled medina on the Atlantic 45 minutes away. The shortest way to reach Morocco from Spain.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/morocco/tangier-and-asilah · Revisado: 2026-11-11

## How do you cross from Spain?

From Tarifa, Baleària and Africa Morocco Link go to Tangier Ville, the port in the centre, in about an hour. You get off the ferry and you are ten minutes' walk from the medina. From Algeciras, the ferries go to Tangier Med, about 45 km from the city, in an hour and a half or a little more: that is the option if you have a car. In summer, with Operation Crossing the Strait, book and arrive in good time.

You need a passport valid for more than six months; the national ID card is not valid (checked in November 2026). If you cross with your car, carry the vehicle documents and the green card for the insurance.

## How do I get to Asilah?

Asilah is about 45 km south of Tangier. By train it takes about 45 minutes from Tangier Ville station; by grand taxi or car, a little less. You can see it in half a day, but you will want to sleep: at night the medina falls silent.

From Tangier the Al Boraq reaches Casablanca in a little over two hours, and there are trains to Fez in about four. Chefchaouen is about two hours by car or bus.

## Dónde está
- Cerca: Vejer de la Frontera and the Costa de la Luz (a 56.1 km · Spain), Chefchaouen (a 83.6 km), Sierra de Grazalema (a 118.8 km · Spain)

## Qué hacer
- **Tangier Kasbah and Medina** (3 h · Everyone · Walk free; Kasbah museum 30 DH): What it is
The Tangier medina is the walled old town that slopes down from the kasbah, the citadel at the top, to the port. It is a small medina compared with those of Fez or Marrakesh, and is toured on foot in a morning: whitewashed alleys, staircases, small squares, neighbourhood shops and, at the top, viewpoints over the Strait. On clear days you see the coast of Tarifa opposite.
The walk, from bottom to top
Start at the Grand Socco, the square that separates the medina from the new town. Enter by the medina gate and go down the jewellers' street, Rue es-Siaghine, to the Petit Socco, the small square with cafés that was the centre of the city's life in the days of international status. From there, in the lower part, is the American Legation, a palace the sultan gave to the United States in 1821 and which is now a museum and cultural centre; it is the only US national historic landmark outside its territory. It is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 17:00 and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00.
Then, climb. The streets gain height up to the kasbah gates, and inside opens the Place de la Kasbah, with the old sultan's palace. On leaving, look for the terrace and the gate facing the sea, above the wall: it is the viewpoint over the port and the Strait.
The Kasbah Museum
The Museum of the Kasbah of the Mediterranean Cultures occupies the old Dar al-Makhzen palace, in the eastern part of the kasbah. The Portuguese (1471–1661) and English (1662–1684) governors lived here; after the English left, Ahmed Ben Ali built the palace, and an inscription dates it to 1737–1738. It has a large courtyard with European-style marble columns, tiled dados, plasterwork, wooden domes and a garden. Its rooms bring together archaeological and ethnographic pieces on the history of Tangier.
The National Foundation of Museums publishes hours of 10:00 to 18:00 with closing on Tuesdays; its page contradicts itself on that day, so confirm it. Entry costs 30 DH for adults, 15 DH from 12 to 18 and 5 DH for under-12s. Allow an hour.
How long and when
Allow about three hours with the museum and a tea. The medina is almost always uphill if you start at the bottom; if climbing is hard, take a petit taxi to the kasbah and do the walk on the way down. In the morning there is life in the shops and less heat; at sunset the light over the Strait is the best.
Guides and safety
You do not need a guide: with a map on your phone you find your way, and if you get lost, downhill always leads to the port or the Grand Socco. Those who offer themselves in the street as guides expect a tip or a commission from shops; a firm "no, thank you" is enough. If you want a guide, hire an official one at your hotel. At night, stay on the main streets and with people.
Getting there
If you arrive by ferry from Tarifa, the Tangier Ville port is at the foot of the medina: in ten minutes' walk you are inside. From the new town, go down to the Grand Socco. Do not enter by car: park outside the wall. Inside there are stairs and steep alleys: it is not suitable for wheelchairs and awkward with a pushchair.
When you leave the kasbah, continue on foot through the Marshan district to the Café Hafa, with terraces over the Strait. To finish in the new town, the Gran Café de Paris is a walk from the Grand Socco. If you want to sleep in the kasbah, see Dar Nour.
- **Cape Spartel and the Caves of Hercules** (3 h · Families · Lighthouse and viewpoint free; small entry fee to the caves): What it is
Cape Spartel is the north-west corner of Africa: the point, about 14 km west of Tangier, where the Strait of Gibraltar opens into the Atlantic. The headland rises to about 315 metres and at its tip, about 110 metres above the sea, is the lighthouse. A few kilometres to the south, at the foot of the Achakar cliff, are the Caves of Hercules, opened by the sea and with a mouth that, seen from inside, draws the silhouette of Africa. The two visits are made together in half a morning or half an afternoon.
The lighthouse and the viewpoint
The lighthouse began operating on 15 October 1864. It was commissioned by the sultan Mohammed IV at the request of the European consuls, concerned about the shipwrecks off the cape, and its light can be seen at about 30 miles. In 2020 and 2021 the complex was renovated, with a maritime museum, a restaurant and a botanical garden.
From the esplanade you see the Strait head-on. On clear days you can make out the Spanish coast, and from some points the Rock of Gibraltar looks like an island; Cape Trafalgar is 44 km to the north. On one side is the Mediterranean and on the other the Atlantic, although the line between them cannot be seen on the water. The best time is late afternoon, with the sun going down over the Atlantic.
The Caves of Hercules
They are caves with a narrow entrance and three levels inside. The sea gradually opened a crack in the rock, and the shape of that crack recalls the coast of Africa; hence the legend, which says Hercules separated the two continents and rested here before his eleventh labour, that of the golden apples of the Hesperides. Part of the caves was dug by people to extract millstones for olive mills. Excavations in 1906 uncovered Neolithic remains from around 5000 BC, and since 1950 the site has been a historic monument.
In 2014 they were refurbished at a cost of about ten million dirhams: the walls were reinforced, the lighting improved and cafés and restaurants opened around. There is a small entry fee of a few dirhams; the published figures do not agree, so confirm the price at the ticket window. They open every day; the published hours do not quite agree either, so go during daytime.
Getting there
There is no practical transport line: the usual thing is to go by car, by petit taxi or grand taxi negotiated by the hour, or on an organised excursion from Tangier. By car, leave the city westwards to the cape and then continue south along the coast to Achakar and the caves. At the caves a small car park is paid, about 10 dirhams according to guides. If you go by taxi, agree beforehand the price for the outward journey, waiting and return.
How long and when
Allow about three hours with the journey: a while at the lighthouse, another at the caves and a tea with a view. In summer and at weekends the caves fill up; go first thing or at the end of the day. On hazy days you cannot see Spain.
With children and nearby beaches
Children like the caves and the shape of Africa, but the ground is uneven and there are stairs: better without a pushchair. Next to the caves stretches the Atlantic beach of Achakar. It is open sea, with waves and currents: swim only where the locals do and never under a red flag. Back in Tangier, complete the day at the kasbah and medina or with a tea at the Café Hafa, which looks over the same Strait.
- **Asilah Medina and Its Murals** (2 h · Everyone, with a pushchair · Free): What it is
Asilah is a town on the Atlantic coast about 40 km south of Tangier, and its medina is what you come to see: a walled enclosure of about 7 hectares, with whitewashed houses, blue or green doors and windows, clean, quiet alleys and murals painted on the walls. It is small, flat and without the bustle of the Tangier medina, and can be toured in a couple of hours at an easy pace.
A little history
The Portuguese took the city on 24 August 1471, called it Arzila and fortified it: from that time come a good part of the walls and two of its five gates, Bab al-Homar and Bab al-Bahr. Later, among others, Spain occupied it, and held the town within its protectorate until 1956; from that period remains the church of San Bartolomé. In the early 20th century, Moulay Ahmed el Raisuni, the famous leader of the region, had a palace built by the sea, the Raisuni Palace, now a cultural centre.
The walk
Enter by Bab al-Homar, the main gate, facing the new town. Wander the streets without a plan: the medina is so small that you always end up at the wall. Look for the Borj al-Kamra, the main tower of the enclosure, and the Borj al-Bahr, the bastion that juts out over the sea, where many sit at sunset to watch the sun go down over the Atlantic. On the seaward side is the Raisuni Palace, which opens its rooms during the Moussem events.
The murals are what distinguishes Asilah. Every year, with the summer session of the International Cultural Moussem, artists from Morocco and elsewhere paint new works on the medina's walls, so the walk changes from one summer to the next. In 2026 the summer session ended on 5 July and the artists' exhibition stayed open until 31 August.
The Asilah Moussem
It has been organised by the Asilah Forum Foundation since 1978; in 2026 its 47th edition was held, in three sessions: spring (27 March to 12 April), summer (until 5 July) and autumn (2 to 18 October). There are international symposia, exhibitions at the Hassan II Centre for International Meetings and at the Palace of Culture, workshops and concerts. The 2027 dates have not yet been published: if you want to coincide with freshly painted murals, aim for the start of summer and confirm in the Moroccan press a few weeks before.
When to go and how long
Two hours is enough for the medina; if you sleep over, you will see it at sunset and at night, when it falls silent. From May to October the weather is good. In July and August a lot of Moroccan tourism arrives and the town fills up; in spring and in September it is quieter. At midday in summer the white of the walls dazzles: bring sunglasses.
Getting there
From Tangier, by train from Tangier Ville station in about 45 minutes, or by grand taxi or car, in somewhat less. Asilah station is outside the centre: take a petit taxi to Bab al-Homar. By car, park outside the wall, because you cannot drive inside. The medina is flat and can be toured with a pushchair; some stretches of the wall have stairs.
For lunch, Casa García is a step from the medina. For sleeping by the sea, the Hotel Zelis is a few minutes' walk away.
- **Grand Socco and the Ville Nouvelle** (2 h · Everyone · Independently · free): What it is and what you see
The Grand Socco is the square that separates the Tangier medina from the new town, and the best point to start understanding it. Its official name is the Place du 9 Avril 1947, and "socco", in the Spanish form, recalls that it was an open-air market: until the mid-1950s, the central market occupied the square beneath large trees, which were then felled. The square was redone in 2005 and today has in the centre a large marble fountain surrounded by tall palms, flowerbeds and a dozen benches.
Around it there is a mosque, shops, banks, a pharmacy, cafés and simple restaurants with covered terraces, and the Cinéma Rif. One arch leads to the Mendoubia gardens; another, to Rue de la Kasbah or Rue d'Italie, which climbs through the medina towards the kasbah.
The Mendoubia and the 1947 speech
The date in the square's name comes from what happened next door. In the Mendoubia gardens, the former residence of the sultan's representative in the Tangier International Zone (1924–1956), the sultan Mohammed V delivered on 9 April 1947 the Tangier speech on Moroccan sovereignty. Today the building houses the commercial court and a museum devoted to the resistance and independence, and the gardens are a public park, with a large banyan that is said to be eight hundred years old and a monument with the full text of the speech.
From the square to the Ville Nouvelle
From the Grand Socco, the new town begins straight away. Continue to Place de France and the Gran Café de Paris, one of Tangier's historic cafés, opposite the French consulate, which was a meeting point for writers and spies in the years of the International Zone. Order a coffee or a tea on the terrace.
When and price
The square is always open and costs nothing. Allow about two hours for the square, the gardens and the walk to Place de France.
Getting there
On foot from the Tangier Ville port, where the Tarifa ferries arrive: the medina is about ten minutes' walk. If you arrive by train at Tangier Ville or from outside the centre, a petit taxi drops you at the square.
Practical tips
It is the natural gateway to the medina: from here Rue de la Kasbah climbs. With children, the fountain and benches of the square and the Mendoubia gardens serve as a rest between slope and slope. When you get off the ferry, do not accept the first person who offers a hotel or a guide: they usually charge commission. To end the day, the Café Hafa has terraces over the Strait.

## Dónde comer
- **Café Hafa** (Café, Tangier, Marshan, €). Qué pedir: mint tea looking over the Strait.
- **Gran Café de Paris** (Café, Tangier, Place de France, €). Qué pedir: a black coffee or tea on the terrace.
- **Casa García** (Restaurant, Asilah, €€). Qué pedir: fried fish or a grilled-fish platter of the day.

## Consejos

### Cross on the Tarifa ferry
You arrive in the centre of Tangier, not the outer port. For a trip without a car it is much more comfortable.

### Don't accept the first person waiting at the port
Those who offer you a hotel or a guide as you step off the ferry charge commission. Go on foot or by petit taxi.

### Have a tea at the Café Hafa
Stepped terraces above the Strait, with Spain opposite on clear days.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Can you go to Tangier for the day from Tarifa?
Yes: an hour by ferry each way and the medina can be seen in a few hours. Carry your passport and come back with a margin for the last ferry.

### Is Spanish spoken?
A lot, especially among older people and in shops. Tangier was under international status and the Spanish presence was large.

### What is better for sleeping, Tangier or Asilah?
Tangier for getting around by train and having more restaurants; Asilah for resting with the sea and a quiet medina.

### Are there beaches?
In Tangier, those of the bay and those on the Atlantic towards Cape Spartel. In Asilah, the town beach and, further south, Paradise Beach, about ten minutes by car.