Could This City-Beach Break be Morocco's Next Big Hit?

It was the Amazigh — the Indigenous mountain people of Morocco — who originally named Tetouan as Titawin, meaning ‘the eyes’. It’s not a bad epithet for a fortified city that has stood watch over the country’s Mediterranean coast for centuries. First it was a base for pirates to attack the ships of its neighbour Spain, then, in a twist of fate, it served as capital of Morocco’s Spanish protectorate between 1913 and 1956.

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’s 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’s Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay beach resort in 2024, means Tetouan is emerging as an accessible beach-plus-city-break destination.

The Mediterranean coast offers Morocco’s 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.

Day 1: The White City

Morning

The markets of Tetouan’s 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 — alongside stalls piled with vegetables, you’ll 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 — the district built around the medina in the Spanish era — the castle-like landmark started life in 1918 as a railway station.

Afternoon

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 — 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 for a bird’s-eye view, then settle on cushions for a feast of sardines, spiced with paprika and turmeric.

Evening

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’s Medi-Spa, where a galaxy of underwater ‘stars’ reflects a giant moon-like orb hanging from the ceiling.

(Related: Stay like royalty in a resort owned by a king.)

Day 2: Coast & Climbing

Morning

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 — 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.

Afternoon

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 — which translates from Arabic as ‘land of foals’ — 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’s 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.

Evening

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 Señora de las Victorias — one of the most impressive surviving Catholic monuments in northern Morocco. Beyond it lies Avenue Mohamed V, home to some of the district’s most ornate examples of art deco and art nouveau design. This includes Edificio La Unión y El Fénix — a grand Spanish building topped with a giant green-winged goddess. Spanish influences can also be found on the menu of Le Méditerranée restaurant, back at Tamuda Bay — a fine place to toast the weekend, with sea views, a long list of paellas and Mediterranean seafood.

Five Ways to Trace Moroccan History in the North

1. Kasbah Museum of Mediterranean Cultures, Tangier

One of the world’s 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’s housed in an 18th-century fort overlooking the sea, just over an hour’s drive from Tetouan, and covers the importance of Battuta’s explorations, from China to India and Mecca. It also delves into the Marinid dynasty under which Battuta lived.

2. Cap Spartel

Marking the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, this windswept headland is etched with coastal walking paths. It’s where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet — 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’s a 19th-century lighthouse — Morocco’s oldest — housing a maritime museum and a restaurant.

3. Ceuta

Spain still retains control over this tiny enclave on Morocco’s 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 Marítimo del Mediterráneo — a 56,000sq metre swathe of greenery designed by avant-garde Canarian artist César Manrique.

4. Cafe Baba

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 — 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’s medina.

5. Royal Artisan School, Tetouan

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 offers guided tours.