What are the best things to do in Tangier?

Tangier has had a remarkable second act, and I am glad to send people there again. For decades it traded on its louche, faded reputation as the old International Zone — the haunt of writers, spies, and Beat poets — but the city has been thoroughly cleaned up and reinvested in, with a gleaming new marina and a revived medina. What remains is the thing that always made it special: its position on the Strait of Gibraltar, where you can stand in Africa and see the lights of Spain across the water.

The heart of any visit is the Kasbah and the medina, which tumble down the hillside toward the port. The medina is smaller and more manageable than Fes or Marrakech, and the Kasbah at the top holds the Kasbah Museum in the former sultan's palace, with sweeping views over the strait. Wandering the steep white-and-blue lanes, ducking into the Petit Socco and the Grand Socco squares, is the essential Tangier experience — atmospheric, walkable, and far less frantic than the imperial-city medinas.

Do not miss Café Hafa, perched on the cliffs west of the medina since 1921. It is rows of simple terraced tables stepping down toward the sea, where you drink mint tea and watch the ferries cross to Spain — the Rolling Stones and Paul Bowles drank here, and the view does the rest. It is one of my favourite spots in all of Morocco for doing absolutely nothing memorably. Pair it with a walk along the seafront Boulevard and the smart new marina to see the city's two faces.

The headline day trip is the short run west to Cap Spartel, the northwestern tip of Africa, where the Atlantic officially meets the Mediterranean and a 19th-century lighthouse marks the point. Just below it are the Caves of Hercules, a sea cave with a famous opening shaped — depending on who you ask — like the map of Africa, framing the ocean beyond. It is touristy and the legend is loose, but the setting is genuinely dramatic and the coastal drive there is lovely. Two days gives Tangier room to breathe.