Tetouan: A Gentle Guide to Morocco's Andalusian White Dove

Most travellers pass Tetouan by. They land in Tangier, point the car at Chefchaouen's blue lanes, and barely glance at the white city spread across the foot of Jebel Dersa. That is precisely why we like it.

Tetouan is one of the smallest medinas in Morocco and, by common consent, one of the best preserved. It was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain, which earned it the affectionate name "Granada's daughter". Four centuries later the Spanish came back, made Tetouan the capital of their protectorate from 1913 to 1956, and laid a grid of pale Art Deco avenues right against the medina wall.

The result is a city with two speeds and one lovely consequence for older travellers: when the old lanes tire you, a flat café terrace with a Spanish awning is never more than ten minutes away.

A little history

Long before the medina existed, there was Tamuda: an ancient Berber settlement on the Martil valley floor, later topped by a Roman military camp. Its stones still lie a few kilometres outside town.

The Tetouan we walk today began again in the late 1400s, when families fleeing the Reconquista in Spain raised walls and filled them with houses. They brought Andalusian building habits with them, and the medina became a study in how two traditions can share one street: Moroccan plans and courtyards, Hispano-Moorish plasterwork and tiles. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage List in 1997, describing it as an unusually complete example of Andalusian influence in the Muslim west.

The Spanish protectorate years added the second layer. Officials, architects and painters arrived, built the Ensanche district in neat blocks from 1912 onwards, and founded schools to keep local crafts alive. Tetouan has never quite stopped being bilingual in style — or, among older residents, in language.

Tetouan seen from the old medina, with the Rif hills behind the city.

What to see

Tetouan asks for slow looking rather than long walking. Three or four of these in a day is plenty.

The medina

The old city is compact, whitewashed and largely residential, which gives it a domestic calm that bigger medinas have lost. Enter at Bab er-Rouah near Place Hassan II and let the main lanes carry you east; you will pass covered markets, carpenters, a leatherworkers' quarter and small fountains set into the walls. It is not flat — the medina climbs the hillside — so choose one route rather than trying to see everything.

Place Hassan II and the Royal Palace

The great paved square between the medina and the new town is the city's hinge, with the Royal Palace filling one side and cafés around the others. Flat, open and pleasant at dusk, it is the easiest sightseeing in Tetouan.

The Ensanche

Cross the square and the streets straighten into a grid of white facades, balconies and shaded arcades, laid out during the protectorate. Plaza Moulay el Mehdi, with its church, is the centre of it. This is level ground and good for an aimless hour.

Museums and craft schools

The Archaeological Museum holds finds from Tamuda and the region, including mosaics. The Centre of Modern Art occupies a handsome former railway station of 1918, all white walls and green arches. Near Bab el-Okla, on the medina's eastern edge, the Dar Sanaa craft school and the ethnographic museum show the embroidery, woodwork and zellij that Tetouan still teaches.

A street in the medina of Tetouan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Where the two cities meet

Our favourite Tetouan ritual costs nothing. Late in the afternoon, when the light turns the walls cream, take a chair on Place Hassan II or just inside the Ensanche and watch the city change shift: families out walking, shopkeepers closing, the medina gates busy with people going home.

It is also the most practical thing you can do. The square is the natural meeting point for taxis, it is flat, there is shade and seating, and both halves of the city begin from here. Many visitors try to conquer the medina in one push and leave exhausted. Tetouan rewards the opposite approach: a short foray into the lanes, a long sit, then another foray in a different direction.

Evenings are safe and sociable in the central streets, and dinner is eaten late, so there is no need to rush back to your room at sunset.

The Royal Palace in Tetouan, which faces the city's main square.

A day trip nearby

Tetouan sits close to the Mediterranean, and the coast is the obvious half-day escape.

Martil is roughly 10 km away, about 15–20 minutes by taxi: a long sandy beach, a flat seafront promenade and simple fish restaurants. M'diq, a little further north, is a working fishing harbour with a similar easy layout, and Cabo Negro adds a green headland between them. All three are level walking, which makes them a gentle counterweight to the medina's slopes.

Inland, the ruins of Tamuda lie only about 5–6 km from town, low stone foundations rather than standing monuments — best appreciated after a visit to the Archaeological Museum.

And yes, Chefchaouen is about 65 km away, roughly 1.5 hours by road. It makes a long but manageable day out. We would gently suggest the reverse: base yourself in Tetouan, and let Chefchaouen be the excursion.

Kasr Rimal beach near Tetouan, on Morocco's Mediterranean coast.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• The medina is hilly. It climbs the slope of Jebel Dersa, and the lanes are narrow, sometimes stepped and often uneven underfoot. Stick to the main thoroughfares, which are gentler, and treat the steep side alleys as optional.
• Sleep in or beside the Ensanche. Hotels there sit on flat, wide, well-lit streets, a five to ten minute stroll from Place Hassan II and the medina gate. A riad deep inside the medina means carrying luggage on foot.
• Shoes matter more than fitness. Smooth-soled shoes slip on polished cobbles, especially after winter rain. Bring something with grip and a closed toe.
• Guides are worth it here. The medina's layout defeats most first-timers. An official guide arranged through your hotel can shape a route around your walking range and save a lot of backtracking.
• Heat is modest but real. July and August regularly reach the low 30s °C. Plan medina walking for the morning and the seafront or a terrace for the afternoon.
• Taxis are short and plentiful. Small petits taxis cross the city in minutes; agree the fare or ask for the meter before setting off. Use one instead of walking the last uphill stretch.
• Carry cash. ATMs cluster in the new town, but medina workshops and small cafés are cash-only.
• Fewer tourists, more attention. Tetouan sees fewer visitors than Fez or Marrakesh, so expect friendly curiosity and occasional invitations to shops. A calm "no, thank you" is understood and respected.

Rue Chahboun in the medina of Tetouan, typical of the old city's narrow lanes.

What to eat

Tetouan's kitchen is lighter than central Morocco's, with more fish and a distinctly Andalusian sweet tooth.

Look for rghaif, flaky griddled flatbreads eaten with honey or cheese; bissara, a warming split-pea soup that appears on winter mornings; and tagines that lean on the region's oranges, almonds and pomegranates. Grilled and fried Mediterranean fish is the local pride, at its simplest and best in Martil and M'diq.

The pastries are the city's inheritance from Granada: almond-rich, honeyed, and made in small bakeries that have been doing it for generations. Ask for whatever is freshest rather than by name.

A practical note: main meals run late, and lunch is the bigger one. Cafés serve mint tea and coffee all day, and many older visitors find one good midday meal plus an evening snack suits the rhythm — and the heat — far better than a heavy dinner at ten.

Getting there

Our verdict

Tetouan is not a grand spectacle, and it does not try to be. It is a small, white, lived-in city where an Andalusian medina and a Spanish new town lean against each other, and where a visitor with unhurried legs can see a great deal in two days without ever feeling rushed.

We recommend it especially to travellers who have already done the big Moroccan cities and found them loud. The medina here is human-sized. The crowds are locals. The hardest part is the slope, and the slope can be managed with taxis, sensible routes and a willingness to sit down often.

Come in spring or autumn, stay in the flat new town, walk the old city in the cool of the morning, and give your afternoons to a terrace and a glass of mint tea. That is Tetouan at its best — and it is a kinder city than its more famous neighbours.

Tetouan at night, when the streets around the main square come alive.

“Granada's daughter still keeps her mother's windows, her white walls and her taste for almonds and honey.”

Photo credits

• Tetouan from near the Qasbah 2: Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Tetouan city from the Old Medina: Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Tetouan Medina 1: javidean1, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Royal Palace in Tetouan Morocco: Degeefe, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Kasr Rimal beach, Tetouan, Morocco.: GuHKS, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Rue Chahboun Medina Tétouan MedinaStories Mlnzwyibz 09112020: Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Tetouan at night: Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons