Tanger (Morocco)

Though I say it myself, my feet are rather nice; no corns, not smelly and quite dainty. However, they are awfully itchy, an itch for which I can find no remedy. Here I am trying hard to save lots of money for a four month trip around the Black Sea next year when my feet decide to dip into the money (not literally - these mixed metaphors can be so unpleasant sometimes) and toddle off to Andalusia for a couple of weeks. There's only one thing harder to control than my itchy feet and that's my unrelenting curiosity. It never fails to get the better of me. I try to say no but panic starts to set ... more

this is where he would stick the suppository. As you can guess its not my favourite place. I have travelled to 109 countries on this planet and this is the only place that I wish never to return. Well this and Casablanca. My reasons are simple. The people are so aggressive towards westerners. They are either spitting and cursing you or trying to sell you a flea infested carpet. Sometimes both at the same time. Now whilst I respect every man or womans right to earn a living I do not appreciate being physically manhandled into every shop in the city. In one particulally memorable visit, I had ... more

Do not got to Tangier if your are female. The relentless attentions of hawkers and beggars is problematic enough here, but if you are female you can expect to have, quite literally, not one second's peace. I seemed to be particularly targetted and was told this was because I was blonde. I don't know about that, but I do know this was the worst holiday of my life. The food, wherever we went was inedible, we narrowly avoided being mugged several times in the casbah, the hotel was dirty (as were they all, apparently). Many of the people who'd arrived on the plane with us demanded to be taken home ... more

Tangiers has a truly exotic feel. If you've done the usual jaunts to Spain and Greece, it can be a bit of a culture shock. It hasn't got that Could-be-anywhere-in-Europe "safe" feeling. And it's this that some people find unsettling. On my first day in Tangiers I saw a man herding three goats down the busy main road...you don't get that in Alicante or Athens! The shops sell a lot of locally produced goods that can be bought at very cheap prices, and the beaches are some of the best anywhere...and often empty. Most hotels are better quality than you get in Europe for a similar price. The other ... more

Tangier is the usual port of arrival for those coming from Europe. Unfortunately we made the mistake of not stopping there on our arrival, on the basis we would stop on our return, and then we ended up being late on our return, so that the most we can tell you is on the port. We were told that the Kasbah is worth a visit. As far as crossing the sea is concerned, on both occasions we did not have any problem. We had pre-arranged our tickets because we had been told that during the weekend it was not possible to buy them in Tangier, but this is probably incorrect, since we found some resellers ... more

We stopped off at Tangier as one of the stopovers on our cruise. If doing the same thing be warned, and they do warn you aboard ship, that when you get off the ship there are a queue of guides that hassle you into letting them be your guide. This is indeed a good idea especially if you want to visit the old Tangiers with it's tiny alleyways. But don't go for the first that approaches. Don't be afraid to decline and keep walking - they will be persistant but just keep walking - we foun dourselves a young morrocan student and was gals to pay him the £2 he requested. Not only that but he knew we ... more

Tanger is the gateway to North Africa from Spain and presents quite a contrast to its European 'neighbour', you know that you've left Europe when you hit Tanger! When approaching by sea Tanger has a very mystical look, the buildings seem to resonate a certain dangerous energy and with a lot of them set on a hill, with a formidable castle on top it certainly makes a big first impression. Now I have travelled to a lot of countries and been pestered by no end of beggars, would be guides, prostitutes etc etc but I feel that the credit for the most persistent of these would have to go to the ... more