It’s not every day you get to spend a weekend in Africa!

GO. Maybe one of the more unexpected destinations, this cropped up on one of Ryanair’s flash sales. Sitting right on the north coast of Morocco only a short hop from Gibraltar, the city of Tangier seemed like an intriguing option for a long weekend in May. The flight was shorter than many European destinations, and the promise of mid-20s sun less that 3 hours away in May was too good to miss!

We pre-booked a taxi here from the airport, given how uncertain options looked when researching. Like most arrivals, worth finding my skipping a takeaway back home for (about £20) for that piece of mind. Plus we got out very own air conditioned “VIP” minibus!

Tangier airport is only 30 mins from the city centre, and on the drive in you already get a sense of quite a multicultural city, with Arabic, French and Spanish influences.

STAY. Here we chose a hotel with a pool to make sure we had the option of a bit of chill time. The Barceló Tangier was a great cost/location balance, and proved an excellent choice. There was the air of a very good 4, if not the claimed 5 star experience, with spacious clean rooms, crisp service and a family friendly feel. The pool area was great - freezing water but that is quite common here - and once used to it we spent some fun time in and by the pool. The rooftop bar offered stunning views of the corniche, Tangier’s version of Blackpool Promenade.

EAT. With its Arab, French and Spanish influences, there is a huge range and variety of food to be found in Tangier. We had no real preconceived plans for eating here, and just went with the flow. Here’s some of the highlights:

Restaurant Ba Sidi. Our favourite meal in Tangier, this great restaurant on Rue D’Italie serves local specialities. A super option to experience some genuine Tangier dishes in a really pleasant and family friendly environment. Guests were a mix of visitors and others who appeared to be residents, and they were doing a good amount of takeaway action. We have cooked the Moroccan Lemon Chicken Tagine several times inspired by the dish in this restaurant. No website, just a Facebook page.

Patisserie Jean Maxime. OK so if this place had a loyalty scheme we would have a platinum card after a weekend. The greatest array of sweet and savoury snacks - small bites all prices around £1 each. We went a few times, loaded up a bag or a box full of goodies, and then set about eating them. The staff thought we were good value, always wanting to try different things and filling a takeaway box for the day. We enjoyed pastries on the hotel balcony, on the move for lunch, and even brought a box back for a picnic on the plane!

Ibn Batouta Mall. Needing to dive into somewhere ‘safe’ on arrival for a loo stop, we found a bit of air conditioned toilet action. The Mall also contained a cute little food hall which only seemed to be used by locals. So we had some food! It is up on the top floor towards the back, serving cracking kebabs, pizza slices and fries alongside a few local specialities.

Snail Van. So fantastically decorated that they make the pages of arts blogs, these Mercedes vans selling snails and snail soup to hungry groups are locals can be found at a few locations around the City. We simply couldn’t walk past that many times without trying some - so tentatively rocked up to the one parked on the seafront near the Marina Bay hotel.

I have no idea why I didn’t just order a small portion, but we were now faced with a huge bowl of snails and snail soup. B, give him credit for a 7 year old, tried one and pulled a very interesting face, whilst the two of us stuck about the task of not insulting Mr Snail Van.

Nahda Fish. The reviews of this place are not too good - however we were wandering and hungry, and it looked fairly busy. We applied a bit of my late mum’s logic to this - “it’s full of local looking people, it must be OK” - and if nothing else the high turnover of food should be keeping it fresh. We sat next to a mixture of locals and visitors, with typically friendly yet abrupt service (something to just get used to in some countries) - listening to a group from somewhere in the south of England complain about their (absolutely fine looking) meals. The food was fine - we wouldn’t rush back for a second go, but rotisserie chicken, fries, salad, and bread did the job.

Dopamine Tea and Coffee. Just as you enter the old town through the walls off the bend in the Rue du Portugal, there’s a small, tasty looking coffee shop. We walked past a few times and it always looked busy - so after dinner one night dived in. The small pastries are fantastic, and we enjoyed traditional tea, coffee and a bubble tea which B really enjoyed.

DO. There’s a lot of walking involved - the streets in the old town are small and narrow, and there’s plenty of hills. However, if you keep in the shade where you can, and take plenty of water, there is so much to be discovered in the city. We didn’t take trips out of Tangier itself due to the short time we had - however there is the opportunity to do a number of interesting day trips from here to the beach, desert, blue town and much more. We spent quite a bit of time by the pool - it was lovely and warm, and we could enjoy a beer there (although beer was pricey due to the fact it wasn’t widely available) - but got out and about each day to explore what Tangier had to offer.

Old Town and Medina. You could get lost for hours in the warren of streets in the old town. It' was great to simply go in and wander, exploring alleyways, shops and old stepped streets. You will always somehow pop out onto one of the outer streets and be able to quickly re-orientate, so you can’t get all that lost!

The Souk. Right in the centre of the old town you’ll find lots of streets with shops selling everything from soap to clothes to spices and everything inbetween. It can be a little overwhelming, but the variety of sights, sounds and smells is at the same time intriguing. A good place to wander around and maybe but some souvenirs. This area is very much catered towards the day tripper from Spain and cruise ship visitors.

Ibn Battouta Museum. There are a few museums in the old town - but this one took our fancy most as it told the history of the city itself and more specifically the man who founded the city. It was a nice, peaceful space in which we spent about 45 minutes understanding the story of Tangier.

The Beach and a Camel Ride. The beach here is probably best avoided in general - we found that it was a bit dirty and there was a bit of broken glass and such like in places. However, we could see the camels from our hotel balcony and thought it too good a chance to miss. It is not every weekend you can go for a camel ride. We put aside whether or not this was ‘ethical’ - after all we’d not think twice about a donkey ride at Blackpool or Bognor Regis, and agreed a price (£5) with the camel handler. It was fun - the guy seemed to like that we tried to engage in a bit of conversation (English/French) and B really enjoyed being on the camel. Disappointingly, we didn’t get a good video of the camel’s seat getting stuck on dismount, and throwing both B and T up and over its head! The man was profusely apologetic and we think he thought he wasn’t going to get his money, but this stuff happens and at the end of the day no one was hurt - and we have an additional memory.

Food Market. Maybe not for the faint hearted, or faint nosed, the market on the edge of the old town is still a working, traditional food market. The spice, nuts and olives section is amazing, and you can get small bags to eat as you go - however we would recommend avoiding the meat and fish sections unless you are used to that sort of smell and the sight of a lot of blood and guts!

Tangier was an amazing adventure, all on a pretty low budget and over a long weekend. Win!

Tangier, Morocco

It’s not every day you get to spend a weekend in Africa!

Go. Stay. Eat. Do.

gsed@gmx.co.uk