TO VISIT IN THE REGION OF TANGIER

ASILAH

The white town of Asilah is a nice stop if you are heading towards the south.

Most trains from Tangier towards Rabat-Casablanca or Meknes-Fés arrive at the train station of Asilah after half an hour.

As a small and tranquil fortress town, with tiny alleys and a nice beach, it has become a home town for artists.

CAVES OF HERCULES

These caves at not even half an hour taxi drive from Tangier might not be spectacular in themselves... In fact, they are not spectacular at all.

And to be completely honest, anyone ever having seen just a photo from an entertainment park without having his glasses on, will find these caves utterly boring.

Which is great, so now there are no longer any entertainment park people around you, and you can just have a lovely hour learning a whole new meaning of the expression "a whisky on the rocks". You'll see.

The trip by Grand Taxi gives you the possibility to get a glimpse of an other, more rural Morocco - as well as parts of Tangier that you otherwise would have missed.

Did Hercules really sleep in this cave? Who can tell. Where is the snow of last year?

MEKNES

If we can call 3,5 hours by train still 'region', which we can, since we make up the rules ourselves, then, if you can... stop in Meknes.

Never ever skip it on your way to somewhere else...

This grand and imperial city provides the traveller with a true Moroccan experience and a touch of 'Arabia'.

Meknes is the last major city of Morocco that is truly untouched by mass tourism.

FES

And just one half hour further, there is The One and Only Top Highlight Of Morocco, Fes.

You guessed it. In the eternal football game between Marrakech-fans and Fes-aficionados, we are the latter.

It's McDonalds versus refined cuisine. Sorry Marrakchi!

 

>> TARIFA

Tarifa makes a beautiful start of your time in Spain. This wonderful and laidback town is Europe's capital of windsurf and kitesurf, and in the months of July and August a loungy and hip town, with very nice restaurants and bars but still very relaxing.

You can also take a ferry to Algeciras, but this ferry takes longer, and even inhabitants of Algeciras itself often say there is nothing to see in their city. You would need another drive/bus/train to get anywhere.


WHERE TO GO FROM TARIFA?
You can not do much wrong. This is the southernmost tip of a continent, so you can only take two directions : take the west coast or the east coast. Costa del Sol or Costa de la Luz ? What do you like, calm or busy?


The east coast (direction Algeciras-Marbella-Malaga) first follows the Gibraltar Strait, and then becomes the hyper touristic Costa del Sol. The internet is literally saturated with information about this hyper touristic coast, so we will stick to the more unknown coast...The Costa de la Luz.

THE COSTA DE LA LUZ

This beautiful coast already starts in Tarifa itself. Just a 5 minute walk from Tarifa Ferry Port, which is in the centre of this small town, and you are on the first of the never ending beaches. This is the Atlantic Coast, which means very windy outside of the summer season, and consequently avoided by mass tourism.

You are talking fabulous beaches, dunes, nature, nature lovers and the largest surf crowd to be found in Europe, resulting in cosy spots, hip campings and beach bars ("chirinquitos"), vegetarian food, tiny hotels and white villages.

You take this direction if what you are looking for is : tranquil days on the beach, surf, walks, relaxing, or visiting villages and the most Cuban of all Spanish cities: Cadiz.