Is Tangier worth visiting, and is it safe?

Tangier carries an old reputation as a seedy, slightly lawless port — the Interzone of writers, smugglers and spies — and that history is part of its romance, but it badly undersells the modern city. Over the last decade Tangier has had one of the most dramatic makeovers in Morocco: a rebuilt corniche and marina, a cleaned-up medina, a huge new port (Tanger Med, now one of the busiest in the Mediterranean) moved out of the city centre, and the high-speed Al Boraq train connecting it south. The result is a city that feels genuinely revitalised, confident and easygoing, and most visitors are pleasantly surprised by how pleasant and walkable it now is.

On safety, my honest take: Tangier is about as safe as Casablanca, Marrakech or Rabat — which is to say, safe for tourists who use ordinary city street-smarts. Violent crime against visitors is rare; the realistic concerns are pickpocketing in crowded spots, the occasional persistent faux-guide or hustler around the medina and the port (a firm 'la shukran' handles them), and the usual advice to keep valuables discreet and stay aware late at night. Solo travellers, including women, visit comfortably, though as anywhere the medina lanes feel different after dark and a confident, purposeful manner helps. The old Tangier-is-dangerous idea is largely outdated.

Is it worth visiting? I think so, and especially if you appreciate atmosphere and history over big-ticket monuments. The kasbah and medina are wonderfully evocative, with the Petit Socco cafes where Beat writers and Bowles held court, the Kasbah Museum, and viewpoints over the Strait of Gibraltar where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean and Spain sits on the horizon. Add the cafe culture (the famous Cafe Hafa, perched over the sea), the legacy of Matisse and the international writers, the Caves of Hercules and Cap Spartel just outside town, and the breezy seafront, and you have a city with a flavour found nowhere else in Morocco.

Where Tangier really earns its place is as a gateway and a contrast. It is the natural entry or exit point if you are combining Morocco with Spain (the fast ferry from Tarifa is about an hour), and it makes a brilliant base for the wider north — Chefchaouen, Tetouan and the pretty arts town of Asilah are all within easy reach. I would not necessarily build a whole trip around Tangier, but a night or two to soak up its unique between-two-continents character, before heading down into Morocco or across to Europe, is time very well spent.