Despite its layered history, this whitewashed city of artisan crafts and Moorish art deco has historically seen just a trickle of the travellers who head north to nearby Tangier or the blue city of Chefchaouen. Tetouan airport\u2019s expansion and the launch of the first direct flights from London this spring could change that. And development of nearby Tamuda Bay, including the opening of King Mohammed VI\u2019s Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay beach resort in 2024, means Tetouan is emerging as an accessible beach-plus-city-break destination.<\/p>\n
The Mediterranean coast offers Morocco\u2019s best beaches and swimming. And behind Tamuda Bay rise the Rif Mountains, a wall of granite that could easily be mistaken for the Dolomites, with quiet hiking trails.<\/p>\n
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Cafe Baba can be found in Tangier\u2019s medina.<\/p>\n
Lorna Parkes<\/p>\n
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Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay serves a Spanish-influenced lobster paella. <\/p>\n
Royal Mansour Collection<\/p>\n
Day 1: The White CityMorning<\/p>\n
The markets of Tetouan\u2019s medina are in full swing each morning, so dive straight in to the Unesco-listed core of coiled alleyways and souks for a sensorial introduction to the city. The medina was constructed by Muslim and Jewish refugees who fled Spain at the end of the 15th century and remains mostly unaffected by tourism \u2014 alongside stalls piled with vegetables, you\u2019ll find wood-stoked community ovens, a small open-air tannery and shops selling twig-thin pipes for kif (a local mix of tobacco and marijuana) from the Rif Mountains. After watching artisans at work, make your next stop Tetouan Museum of Modern Art. Located in the Ensanche \u2014 the district built around the medina in the Spanish era \u2014 the castle-like landmark started life in 1918 as a railway station.<\/p>\n
Afternoon<\/p>\n
Join the flood of locals at family-run Patisserie Rahmouni and pick up honey-soaked Moroccan sweets such as chebakia and briouats. Eat on the go while strolling the Ensanche, aiming for palm-framed Hassan II Square. Fronting the Royal Palace, it has four minaret-like fountains that splash into life when the king is in residence. The buildings around the edges are typical of Tetouan: bone-white, accented with green \u2014 a colour significant to Islam but also representing the greenery of the Rif. A gate to the side of the square leads back into the medina, where a hillside of whitewashed houses shine like pearly teeth in the sun. Ascend to the rooftop of riad restaurant El Reducto<\/a> for a bird\u2019s-eye view, then settle on cushions for a feast of sardines, spiced with paprika and turmeric.<\/p>\n Evening<\/p>\n After dinner, take a taxi to Tamuda Bay, 30 minutes north, for a beach stroll. Or indulge in a nighttime swim in the pool at Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay<\/a>\u2019s Medi-Spa, where a galaxy of underwater \u2018stars\u2019 reflects a giant moon-like orb hanging from the ceiling.<\/p>\n (Related: Stay like royalty in a resort owned by a king<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Sufi scholar Sidi Haj Ali Baraka\u2019s mausoleum can be found in Tetouan.<\/p>\n Alamy Stock Photo; imageBROKER.com<\/p>\n Tetouan\u2019s Iglesia de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de las Victorias is hard to miss among the city’s white-washed buildings.<\/p>\n HICHAM Mechbal, Alamy<\/p>\n Day 2: Coast & ClimbingMorning<\/p>\n Simple pleasures are what Tamuda Bay serves up best. A low-key alternative to Agadir or Essaouira, this quietly developing beach resort offers the opportunity to see the Moroccan seaside without all the tourist trappings. An abundance of shells wash up onto the sandy shoreline \u2014 mornings are perfect for lazy beach-combing sessions. Kayaking and standup paddleboarding are also popular in summer, as is swimming, thanks to the Mediterranean climate bringing calmer waters than the blustery Atlantic coast to the west.<\/p>\n Afternoon<\/p>\n Dry off for half a day of hiking in the Rif Mountains, a range of jagged peaks that stretches across the northern flank of Morocco from Ceuta to Melilla. Donkeys carrying jellaba-clad villagers and shepherds with their flocks are more common than hikers on the trails that furrow inland. The area of Fahs Lamhar \u2014 which translates from Arabic as \u2018land of foals\u2019 \u2014 offers one of the most accessible and spectacular trails from Tamuda Bay. On a good day, the horses for which the area is named can be seen grazing in the highland gorse below sheer granite cliffs that flow down to lowland pastures bordering the sea. In a couple of hours it\u2019s possible to do a four- to five-and-a-half-mile loop of the valley, which feels properly wild; hire a hiking guide in Tetouan who can pick up the minimally marked trails.<\/p>\n Evening<\/p>\n As dusk approaches, return to Tetouan to stroll the Ensanche again. On Plaza Primo, pause to take in the mustard-coloured, gothic-revival Iglesia de Nuestra Se\u00f1ora de las Victorias \u2014 one of the most impressive surviving Catholic monuments in northern Morocco. Beyond it lies Avenue Mohamed V, home to some of the district\u2019s most ornate examples of art deco and art nouveau design. This includes Edificio La Uni\u00f3n y El F\u00e9nix \u2014 a grand Spanish building topped with a giant green-winged goddess. Spanish influences can also be found on the menu of Le M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e restaurant, back at Tamuda Bay \u2014 a fine place to toast the weekend, with sea views, a long list of paellas and Mediterranean seafood.<\/p>\n Five Ways to Trace Moroccan History in the North There is a statue of Ibn Battuta inside Tangier\u2019s Kasbah Museum.<\/p>\n Lorna Parkes<\/p>\n 1. Kasbah Museum of Mediterranean Cultures, Tangier<\/p>\n One of the world\u2019s most important medieval explorers, Ibn Battuta was born in Tangier in 1304. To learn about the impact his life and travels had on Morocco, head to the Kasbah Museum. It\u2019s housed in an 18th-century fort overlooking the sea, just over an hour\u2019s drive from Tetouan, and covers the importance of Battuta\u2019s explorations, from China to India and Mecca. It also delves into the Marinid dynasty under which Battuta lived.<\/p>\n 2. Cap Spartel<\/p>\n Marking the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, this windswept headland <\/a>is etched with coastal walking paths. It\u2019s where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet \u2014 an oceanic crossroads and centuries-long battleground, including during both the American War of Independence in 1782 and the Spanish Civil War in 1936. There\u2019s a 19th-century lighthouse \u2014 Morocco\u2019s oldest \u2014 housing a maritime museum and a restaurant.<\/p>\n 3. Ceuta<\/p>\n Spain still retains control over this tiny enclave on Morocco\u2019s northeastern tip. Arabic records say the city was a staging ground for the Muslim invasion of Iberia in the eighth century. It was then claimed by Spain in the 17th century and still has a majority Spanish-speaking population. Alongside Arab baths and spice souks, the city has 10th-century fortifications and the Parque Mar\u00edtimo del Mediterr\u00e1neo \u2014 a 56,000sq metre swathe of greenery designed by avant-garde Canarian artist C\u00e9sar Manrique.<\/p>\n 4. Cafe Baba<\/p>\n Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are among the musicians and actors who dropped into this Tangier institution for a puff of kif from the 1950s to the 1970s \u2014 a time when the city attracted a freewheeling international crowd. Their faded photos still dot the walls of this frayed tea shop. Join locals to socialise over sweet mint tea and board games, looking out the horseshoe windows onto Tangier\u2019s medina.<\/p>\n 5. Royal Artisan School, Tetouan<\/p>\n This unique school for national crafts was established in 1919 to preserve the ancient artisan techniques associated with the joint Arab and Andalucian heritage of Spain and Morocco. Students are tutored in everything from wood painting to plaster carving and zellige tiling. Visit on weekdays to watch the artisans at work; alternatively, Green Olive Arts<\/a> offers guided tours.<\/p>\n How to do itThe UK\u2019s first direct flights to Tetouan launched in March, running twice weekly from Gatwick with Royal Air Maroc<\/a>. Or it\u2019s under an hour-and-a-half transfer from Tangier Ibn Battouta Airport, which has flights from Manchester and London with Ryanair<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Decorated](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/morocco5.jpg\"\/)
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