Which area of Tangier is best to stay in?

Tangier has a magic that's quite unlike anywhere else in Morocco — a faded cosmopolitan glamour, a literary past (Bowles, the Beats, Matisse all fell for it), and the extraordinary geography of standing on Africa looking across the Strait of Gibraltar to Europe. Where you stay shapes which Tangier you get, so let me lay out the two faces of the city.

The medina and especially the Kasbah at its summit are the romantic heart. The Kasbah crowns the old town on the hill, and from its ramparts and the famous terraces you look out over the Strait to Spain — on a clear day you genuinely see two continents and two seas meeting. Up here the lanes are steep and atmospheric, dotted with restored riads, design hotels, art spaces, and rooftop cafés where Tangier's bohemian streak still lingers. Staying in the Kasbah or upper medina gives you the city at its most evocative, with sea views and that storied, slightly dreamlike air the writers came for. The trade-off is the usual one — steps, lanes, and luggage carried in by hand.

Below and beyond lies the Ville Nouvelle and the long seafront Corniche curving around the bay. This is the practical, comfortable Tangier: modern hotels, wide streets, cafés and restaurants, and easy access to the city beach and the port. It's where I place travellers who want a room a car can reach, a pool, a sea-view balcony, and an easy stroll along the front, with the medina a short taxi or walk away. It feels more like a Mediterranean resort city and less like old Morocco, but it's spacious and relaxed.

My usual advice: if you've come for Tangier's soul — the views, the art, the literary ghosts, the labyrinth — stay up in or just below the Kasbah and embrace the climb. If you want comfort, the beach, and easy logistics, base yourself on the Ville Nouvelle side near the Corniche and dip into the old town by day. Tangier is compact enough that either way you can have both, and it's one of my favourite cities precisely because that meeting of continents, cultures, and eras runs through every street.