Tangier Travel Guide

The Caves of Hercules lie in the sea cliffs near Cape Spartel west of Tangier, a natural grotto hollowed by the waves. An opening in the wall shaped like the African continent — the 'Map of Africa' — makes it Tangier's most imaginative coastal wonder, tied to the legend of Hercules resting here. Outside, strong sea winds meet a clifftop lighthouse and coastal path, best lit for photos at dusk.

The Palace Museum, known in Swahili as Beit al-Ajaib (House of Wonders), stands prominently on the seafront of Stone Town in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and ranks among the most iconic historic structures on the East African Swahili Coast. Constructed in 1883 by Sultan Barghash of Zanzibar, the building served as the sultan's principal palace and seat of government, and holds the distinction of being the first building in East Africa to be equipped with an elevator. The architecture represents a remarkable fusion of Arabic, Persian, Indian, and European stylistic influences, featuring tall arcaded galleries, intricately carved wooden doors, and massive coral stone walls that have withstood the tropical marine environment for over a century. The museum's permanent exhibitions illuminate Zanzibar's pivotal role as a hub of Indian Ocean trade, covering the lucrative clove trade that earned the islands the title "Spice Islands," the dark history of the East African slave trade, the rich traditions of Swahili culture, and the rise and fall of the Omani Sultanate. The museum serves as an essential window for understanding East African maritime civilization and the vast Indian Ocean trading network that connected Africa, Arabia, India, and Europe for over a millennium.

Cape Spartel lies west of Tangier, a headland on the southern shore of the Strait of Gibraltar — the gateway where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. Beneath its lighthouse, cliff forests and sea wind overlook the meeting of two seas, the western edge of a maritime age. Forest trails and lookouts along the cape overlook two seas — a quiet place to trace ancient Greek navigators.

Cinema Rif stands at the far end of the Grand Socco at the entrance to the Tangier old town. Opened in 1938 as Cinema Rex in an Art Deco building, it was a landmark cinema of Tangier, an international city, drawing audiences from many countries. It was later redeveloped by artist and filmmaker Yto Barrada into the Cinémathèque de Tanger (film archive), with two screening rooms, an archive, and a café furnished with vintage furniture and old film posters. Today it is a centre for Moroccan independent cinema and cultural events.

The American Legation Museum stands in Tangier's Grand Socco, the first piece of real estate the United States owned abroad, holding over two centuries of diplomatic history. Andalusian courtyards and an Arabic manuscript library weave together — the best window into Tangier's cosmopolitan soul. It also holds North Africa paintings and Moroccan diplomatic archives — a three-dimensional file of Tangier's international story.

The Marrakech Museum (also known as the Museum of Moroccan Arts) stands on Place Ben Youssef in the Marrakech medina. It occupies the former 19th-century private palace Dar Menebhi, itself a magnificent Andalusian-style building whose centrepiece is a huge ornate Moroccan brass chandelier. The collection brings together art, artefacts and ethnographic objects from across Morocco, just steps from the Ben Youssef Madrasa.