Tangier Morocco, Tanger-Ville
Morocco

650 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

Azamara Club Cruises (26 Cruises)

Celebrity Cruises (43 Cruises)

Celestyal Cruises (26 Cruises)

Celestyal Discovery

1828 Passengers
Visit the ship's page

Costa Cruises (111 Cruises)

Cruise COS Costa Cruises Pacifica ship

Costa Pacifica

4118 Passengers
114500 tons
Visit the ship's page

Costa Smeralda

6900 Passengers
182700 tons
Visit the ship's page

Cunard (17 Cruises)

Explora Journeys (18 Cruises)

Holland America Line (14 Cruises)

MSC Cruises (61 Cruises)

Oceania Cruises (20 Cruises)

Ponant (13 Cruises)

Regent Seven Seas Cruises (32 Cruises)

Royal Caribbean Cruises (17 Cruises)

Seabourn Cruise Line (36 Cruises)

Silversea Cruises (19 Cruises)

Viking Ocean Cruises (113 Cruises)

Viking Jupiter1

Viking Jupiter

Visit the ship's page
Viking Neptune1

Viking Neptune

Visit the ship's page
Viking Vela.

Viking Vela

Visit the ship's page

Tangier, Morocco | Cruise Port Guide

Barely fourteen kilometres separate Africa from Europe here. From the deck, on a clear day, you can make out the Spanish coast across the Strait of Gibraltar, and the whole history of Tangier lies in this face-off: a city of passage, of merchants, spies and writers, long an international zone where all the languages of the Mediterranean met. The Tanger Ville terminal puts passengers 800 metres from the old town. Ten to fifteen minutes' walk, a steady climb, and you step into another world.

Climbing to the kasbah

The easiest approach is to take a petit taxi to the upper gate of the kasbah, then walk back down: the city then unfolds before your eyes instead of having to be earned through effort. The citadel occupies the highest point of the medina. Behind its walls, the former sultan's palace, Dar el-Makhzen, houses a museum devoted to Mediterranean cultures, with Roman mosaics, ceramics and manuscripts. From the nearby terraces, the view stretches all the way to Spain.

The medina, from top to bottom

Heading back down, the white and blue lanes follow one another on a gentle slope toward the Petit Socco, the former square of bankers and literary cafés where Paul Bowles and the Beat Generation writers were regulars. Stalls offer leather, spices, weavings and brass lamps; artisans often work in full view of passers-by. Getting lost is part of the pleasure, but never for long: every descent eventually leads back to the lower gates of the walls. Studded doors, zellige fountains and glimpsed terraces punctuate the way.

The Grand Socco and the new town

At the foot of the ramparts, 9 April Square, which everyone still calls the Grand Socco, links the old town with the modern districts. Mint sellers sitting in the shade, the Moorish façade of the Cinema Rif, palm trees and cheerful traffic: this is the beating heart of Tangier. A few steps away, the Mendoubia Garden offers a bench beneath century-old ficus trees, and the terraces let you watch the comings and goings while sipping tea.

The American Legation

In the lower part of the medina lies a unique building: the American Legation, the first property acquired by the United States abroad, a gift from the sultan in 1821. Now a museum, it tells the story of the long-standing ties between the two countries and displays paintings and mementos of cosmopolitan Tangier. With its patios and staircases, the building is as worth the detour as its collections.

Café Hafa and the open sea

If time remains, two options vie for the end of the day. The first: Café Hafa, founded in 1921, whose terraced levels tumble down the cliff facing the strait; you drink mint tea where the Rolling Stones and generations of dreamers have sat, among students and card players watching the freighters go by. The second: a taxi ride to Cape Spartel, about 14 kilometres away, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and to the Caves of Hercules carved into the nearby cliff.

Walking guide

PlaceFrom the terminalAccess
Medina entrance800 mOn foot, 10 to 15 minutes
Kasbah and museum1.5 kmPetit taxi recommended for the climb
Grand Socco1 kmOn foot through the lanes
Cape Spartel and Caves of Hercules14 kmTaxi or excursion

These lanes inspired Matisse, Delacroix and dozens of novelists, and you understand why as you walk back up the gangway: the light of the strait changes from hour to hour, as if refusing to be pinned down. You leave feeling you have turned the pages of a novel with many chapters still left to read.

Frequently Asked Questions

At the Tanger Ville terminal, 800 metres from the old town. Ten to fifteen minutes on foot, including a steady climb, and you step into another world.
Take a petit taxi up to the upper gate of the kasbah, then walk down. The city unfolds in front of you instead of having to be earned uphill, and every descent eventually leads back to the lower gates of the walls.
The kasbah and its museum, the walk down through the medina to the Petit Socco, then the Grand Socco and the American Legation. With time left, the Café Hafa or Cape Spartel.
The former sultan's palace, Dar el-Makhzen, which houses a museum of Mediterranean cultures: Roman mosaics, ceramics and manuscripts. The citadel occupies the highest point of the medina, and from the nearby terraces the view reaches Spain.
Yes, in clear weather: barely fourteen kilometres separate Africa from Europe here. From the ship's deck or the kasbah terraces, the Spanish coast is visible across the Strait of Gibraltar.
The old square of bankers and literary cafes at the bottom of the medina, where Paul Bowles and the Beat Generation writers were regulars. The white and blue lanes run down to it on a gentle slope from the kasbah.
The first property the United States ever acquired abroad, a gift from the sultan in 1821, in the lower medina. Now a museum, it recounts the long ties between the two countries and displays paintings and mementoes of cosmopolitan Tangier; its patios and staircases are as worthwhile as the collections.
A cafe founded in 1921 whose stepped terraces tumble down the cliff facing the strait. You drink mint tea where the Rolling Stones and generations of dreamers have sat, among students and card players watching the freighters pass.
Cape Spartel, about 14 kilometres away, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and the Caves of Hercules cut into the nearby cliff. Allow a taxi ride and a good part of the afternoon.
The Moroccan dirham, which cannot be taken out of the country: change on arrival and spend before you leave. Cards work in the new town, far less in the medina.