Travel + Leisure Features Tangier Among 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023

Rabat – Morocco’s northern coastal city Tangier has featured in Travel + Leisure’s list of top 50 places to visit in 2023.

Morocco’s Tangier was recommended by the American travel magazine under the “cultural riches” category. Other countries featured under the same category were Virginia’s Alexandria, Egypt’s Cairo, and Nevada City among others.

Travel + Leisure divided the 50 top destinations into seven categories including destinations for cultural riches, food and wine, big-city thrills, moments on the water, fresh air and nature and beach vibes as well as destinations for a look at the future.

Tangier’s distinct history and cultural richness guaranteed the city a top spot in the list with the magazine describing it as a favorite destination for “a stream of bohemian expats including, most famously, beat-generation writers Paul Bowles and William S. Burroughs.”

Besides the city’s tourist reputation it was also described “as a place where foreigners went to live, rather than simply visit,” Travel + Leisure argues that this “could change this spring” with the opening of new hospitality institutions such as the Fairmont Tazi Palace Tangier. The hotel is Accor’s third Fairmont property in Morocco, it features 133 rooms and suites.

In addition to being a favorite destination for foreign expats and tourists, Tangier has recently developed into a major trade hub in the Mediterranean with Tanger Med port ranking as the most efficient port in North Africa and Europe, according to the global container port performance index (CPPI). The city has long served as a transit point to Europe given its geographic proximity to Spain.

Tangier’s easy accessibility by sea, land, and air makes the city an appealing travel destination for tourists interested in learning about its geopolitics and history. The city once served as an international zone during the colonial era. It was also occupied by Francoist Spain between June 1940 and October 1945. Traces of Tangier’s colonial history remain reflected in its architecture.