Anne-Charlotte PasseraTravel to the town of Tetouan in Morocco can easily be done as a day trip from Tangiers. We went there last January during our road trip or should I say a train trip around the North of Morocco.
The city of Tetouan is very accessible and worth visiting if you have extra time on your itinerary. Located only 1h20 min from Tangier, it makes for an easy day trip from the cities of Tangier or Chefchaouen.
Getting there
You can either rent a car, which I think for a day is not worth it. Instead, take the bus or hire a grand taxi. Taking the bus will probably be cheaper and take just about the same time.
From there, you can move on to Chefchaouen, which we did, by car.
The Blue Pearl
The town of Chefchaouen, located in the Rif mountains is a hidden gem of Morocco.
Read MoreSince we had a car and were on our way for an overnight stay in Chefchaouen, we made a pit stop to visit the city of Tetouan. We ended up getting a ‘small’ car and to this day I don’t know how we managed to fit 5 people in it with all of our bags including our sink from Fès! Yeah, I messed up during the reservation. I thought we were 4 when we were actually going to be 5.
Visiting the City of Tetouan (Morocco)
Tetouan was our least favorite place to travel to in Morocco after Casablanca. I don’t know if it was because of the crappy weather or something else. We just weren’t impressed, but all we saw was the Medina with the mosque and the Royal Palace. There is obviously a lot more to visit and see when you travel to Tetouan, but driving there was not so easy, especially with a packed car. We were lucky to get to the Medina and find parking just outside a gate.
The Arts
The town of Tétouan is famous for its school of arts and crafts (Dar Sanaa), a beautiful building, and the National Institute of Fine Arts which testify to an ancestral tradition and an opening onto the world today.
I had wanted to visit the Royal Artisan School of Tetouan, but we didn’t have much time to spare in Tetouan due to unforeseen schedule change and Jacky being sick. This is a great place to see and to learn the whole process of the different trades of craftsmanship in Morocco. It is also the only place in Morocco that teaches this.
For a 10 dirham admission fee, anyone can visit the school on weekdays and see students at work, but what you’ll get out of that visit will be limited
If you want a more thrilling experience and actually learn something, check out Green Olive Arts, an artist residency program, and collaborative art space. Tetouan’s best-kept secret is that it is an important center for the arts, both traditional and modern. Green Olive Arts builds on that by supporting artistic cultural exchange.
One of the programs that Green Olive Arts runs helps fund their primary mission of hosting artists. They offer a private guided visit to the Royal Artisan School and of the Medina. One of the advantages of the guided visit is that you will truly learn about Moroccan crafts and techniques. The price is, however, 550dh per person, with a minimum of 2 and then 250dh for an additional person for a group total of 6.
Visiting the Medina of Tetouan (Morocco)
Did you know that the Medina of Tétouan is a UNESCO world heritage site? Surrounded by a historic wall of approximately 5 km in length it has seven gates linked to the main streets. Thanks to this urban design, you can easily access open spaces (squares and smaller squares).
Within the Medina, you can also find public buildings such as mosques, and also an artisan and commercial districts.
There are three distinct sections of the Medina: the Andalusian, the Jewish, and the Berber sections, though the untrained eye (US) might have trouble distinguishing between the three.
The Medina, I found, was more difficult to navigate than the one in Fès for some reason. It is flat and it all looks the same. We did not find anything worth buying there. As in Fès, it has some wood beams hovering over the alleys, providing some shade. The Medina is cleaner and looks more modern in some places than some we went to.
Where to eat
We did have lunch at Restinga restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. The prices are great and they actually serve alcohol (a rare find). If you eat there, order the fish, the specialty, it is delicious and the service is wonderful. It is located in an inner courtyard just off the main street, so it is quiet.
In Tetouan, just like in Fès, we had someone who tried to ‘guide’ us. As we were now ‘pros’, or so we thought, we brushed him away. We ended up getting lost haha.
Our final thoughts to travel to Tetouan (Morocco)
As we weren’t there long, just for lunch, I don’t have much to say about this city. We did pay a yellow jacket guy for parking outside the Medina and did not have any problems.
If you are limited on time, you don’t need to stop here. However, as a pit stop, this is a great option.
