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Tétouan,
Morocco.

Rif mountains · Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma

Plan a Tétouan trip
From Marrakech
501 kmas the crow flies
How long
1–2 nights
Nearest airport
Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG) + 1h drive
Best time
April–June and September–October

Far north of the Red City — Tetouan's UNESCO Andalusian medina, a whitewashed Rif counterpoint to Marrakech's ochre.

Tétouan is a city of roughly 400,000 on the northern slopes of the Rif mountains, 57 km south-east of Ceuta and 40 km south of the Mediterranean coast. Its UNESCO-listed medina — the most authentically Andalusian in Morocco — was built and inhabited by Muslim and Jewish refugees expelled from Spain after 1492, and still preserves a dense urban fabric of lime-washed lanes, seven-gated walls, ornate fondouks, and carved-plaster decoration unaltered since the 16th century. Tétouan served as the capital of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco from 1913 to 1956 and retains an ensanche (Spanish colonial quarter) around the Plaza de España, adding a second historical layer that makes the city one of the most architecturally complex in the country.

Where it sits

Tétouan on the map.

Tétouan is about 501 km north-east of Marrakech in a straight line; the road is longer. The line on the map is that straight line, not the route your driver takes.

  1. Akchour46 km
  2. Tangier46 km
  3. Chefchaouen47 km

Map: Marrakech to Tétouan

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

What to see in Tétouan.

  1. What makes Tétouan's medina uniquely Andalusian?

    The medina was founded in 1484 by Ali al-Mandari, a general from the Nasrid emirate of Granada, and settled by waves of Muslim and Jewish exiles after the fall of Granada in 1492. Its urban layout, whitewashed facades, internal courtyards and zellige tilework follow Andalusian rather than Moroccan convention — the result is a medina that reads architecturally as a transplanted piece of 15th-century Spain.

  2. The Royal Palace square and Andalusian quarter

    The Place Hassan II, framed by the Royal Palace gates and the Grand Mosque, is the formal heart of the city. Behind it, the Blanco Barrio (white quarter) climbs the hill in a maze of stepped lanes adorned with potted geraniums in a tradition carried directly from Andalusia.

  3. Artisan School and Tétouan Museum

    The Escola de Artes e Oficios (National School of Arts) maintains the living craft traditions of marquetry, leather, weaving and musical-instrument making. The adjacent Archaeological Museum holds Roman, pre-Islamic and Andalusian collections from the surrounding region.

  4. Cabo Negro and Mdiq beach coast

    The Mediterranean coast 12 km east of Tétouan has calm, warm swimming beaches from May to October — a complete contrast to the Atlantic surf coast of Tangier.

Trips

Tétouan, the way we would plan it.

Every itinerary is private and built around your dates, with a proper stop in Tétouan. Each one is priced in a written quote within 24 hours.

  1. Northern Morocco: Tangier, Tétouan & Chefchaouen

    4 days

    A private northern loop: the literary kasbah of Tangier, Tétouan's Andalusian medina and two nights in the blue lanes of Chefchaouen.

  2. Tétouan medina private half-day

    Half day

    A focused private walk through the UNESCO medina with an Andalusian-history guide, from the Royal Palace gates to the tanneries.

Browse every tour

Plan your Tétouan days

  • Private your group in its own car
  • 24 h a written quote
  • Free nothing to pay to ask

Tétouan, answered.

Is Tétouan worth visiting if I've already seen Chefchaouen?
Yes — they are complementary rather than repetitive. Chefchaouen is a small mountain town famous for its blue walls; Tétouan is a full Andalusian city with a complex medina, a Spanish colonial quarter and working craft traditions. The two together give a complete picture of the northern Rif region.
How does Tétouan's medina differ from Fes el-Bali?
Fes el-Bali is larger, darker and more labyrinthine, reflecting Amazigh and Arab urban traditions. Tétouan's medina is smaller, whiter and more symmetrical, built to Andalusian conventions by refugees from Granada — lighter facades, more open courtyards and a distinctly Iberian spatial logic.
What is the best way to visit Tétouan from Tangier?
A private day or overnight from Tangier is ideal — it's one hour by motorway. We recommend arriving in the morning for the medina, visiting the Artisan School and the museum, and staying overnight to see the Plaza Hassan II at dusk when it empties of day visitors.

Before you go.

Getting there
1h (57 km) south-east of Tangier on the A4 motorway; 45 min from Ceuta border crossing
Combine with
Tangier (1h north), Chefchaouen (1h30 south-west) and the Mediterranean coast at Mdiq
Language
Darija, Spanish widely understood in the ensanche quarter

Have your Tétouan days planned by a local.

Tell us your dates, group size and pace. We send a written proposal within 24 hours: private guides, transfers, riads, the lot.

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