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[title]Morocco is a place where ancient ruins neighbour glistening new skyscrapers, and where souks, unchanged for decades, live a stone’s throw from world-leading cultural centres. It’s also a place where one day you’re chugging through rural mountain villages, the next you’re hopping on a double decker bullet train – the first and only high-speed train in Africa and one of the fastest in the world, in fact.
Since launching in 2018, that speed shuttle (named Al Boraq) has opened up Morocco in a whole new way. It connects six Moroccan cities, including Casablaca, Marrakech and Fez, but with just three days in the country, we used it to explore two places that tend to fly a little more under the radar – Tangier and Rabat.
Tangier: where the ocean meets the sea
With the wild Atlantic ocean to one side and the warm Mediterranean sea to the other, Tangier is thought of as Europe’s ‘gateway into Africa’ – we flew there in just over two hours from London, but you can also get an hour-long ferry from Marbella. We stay in the swish but very conveniently located Hilton Tanger City Centre, but our introduction to Tangier begins further out, on the outskirts of the city.
We spend the next morning a half hour drive from the centre at Cape Spartel, the northwesternmost point of Africa. The headland, topped by the oldest lighthouse in Morocco, overlooks the exact point that the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. Spread with pine trees and roamed by wild hogs, Cape Spartel is part of a protected reserve and makes for a relieving break outside of the city centre. It rises 1000m above the straight of Gibraltar and on a clear day, you can just about see Spain. I think to myself that this would be a breathtaking place to stick around for sunset.
A five-minute drive down the road (you can, by all means, take a more leisurely walk instead) and we’re at the impressive Cave of Hercules, an ancient cave complex where it’s said Hercules slept before he went to steal the golden apples of the Hesperides in the eleventh of his 12 labours.
Café culture
Back in the city centre, we’re guided down an uneven backroad to what we’re told is one of the city’s most stylish spots. As somewhere that’s been visited by the likes of Mick Jagger and Paul Bowles, you’d expect the world-famous Café Hafa to have at least a small air of pretension about it. It doesn’t. By some kind of miracle, in spite of its global fame, it managed to avoid becoming grossly commercialised.
On initial entry, it was difficult to see why it was anything special. But once we navigate down the dishevelled brick steps, settle as comfortably as we’re able in shabby plastic chairs and place our orders with its pretty disinterested servers, Café Hafa’s selling point becomes stunningly clear. From its layered, amphitheatre-esque terraces, you can sip on hot long-pour mint tea and stare out at the ocean meeting the sea for hours and hours. No pomp and show necessary.
After that, the day is ours for the taking: we while away an afternoon following the Circuit de la Kasbah, mooching through the Mdina and slaloming through the souks of Grand Socco – if you thrive off the bargain bartering and aromatics in the Marrakech souks, you can certainly get the same kind of adrenaline here in Tangier. To wind down, stylish open-kitchen restaurant La Table du Marche right on the marina and soundtracked by live local musicians is a great choice.
Next stop, Rabat
The next day, we’re boarding Al Boraq to Morocco’s capital Rabat. Sleek, silver and darting at a maximum rate of 320kmph (199mph), Al Boraq launched in 2018 and is still one of the world’s fastest high-speed trains. Before it, the journey from Tangier to Rabat would’ve taken around five hours, but now it’s a serenely smooth and supremely comfortable 80-minute journey from Tangier Ville Railway Station, backdropped by blurry vignettes of the Moroccan countryside.
We arrive in Rabat, and at once the atmosphere is slow, still, composed. Dozens of passengers flock from the shuttle but once the crowds disperse, the capital city feels oddly sparse of tourists – a stark contrast to bustling Marrakech, which even in December is frantic and teeming.
The imperial city
And you’re not short of attractions. After touring the royal palace grounds, make a beeline for the magnificent Chellah, a Unesco-listed medieval Muslim necropolis in the south of the city. Enclosed by a one-kilometer-long Marinid wall, it’s peacefully patrolled by what seems like hundreds of stalks. They keep their beady eyes on visitors to the ancient site, gliding from the top of the prayer tower, lazing atop ruins and nesting in surreally large nests in surrounding trees like something out of a Studio Ghibli film.
But Rabat is also a city dotted by flashier, futuristic landmarks – like the fin-like silhouette of Mohammed VI Tower, which at 250m tall is set to be the highest skyscraper in Africa when it officially opens later this year. Then there’s the neighbouring Grand Theatre of Rabat, a cobra-shaped cultural complex designed by the late Zaha Hadid. It was completed in 2021 but for mysterious unknown reasons is still yet to open. When it eventually does, it’ll be the largest museum in Africa and the Arab world. Rabat may appear understated at first, but there’s a lot happening here, including new developments and a seemingly huge investment in local museums. It’s clear this city wants to become a serious cultural destination, particularly ahead of it co-hosting the World Cup in 2030. For now, though, it remains calm.
Later we stop by the slightly more touristy 800-year-old Hassan Tower and the glimmering Mausoleum of Mohammed V opposite. Closer to Rabat’s centre, we float through the pristine winding alleys of its 12th century Kasbah des Oudayas, which opens out with views over the sea and Bou Regreg River. We watch the surfers and beachgoers below before continuing into the lovely Andalusian gardens and making our way down to Le Dhow, a docked traditional Arabian style boat, to be met with spectacular plates of hake meatballs, squid pasta and swordfish skewers.
At the end of 2024, the Moroccan government announced big plans to invest further into Al Boraq. It hopes to extend the route ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which the country is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal. Work is already happening to build a line to Marrakesh via Casablanca International Airport and an extension to Agadir is also on the cards. There’s no excuse – exploring all corners of Morocco has never been easier.
Time Out travelled as guests of the National Tourism Office of Morocco. Our reviews and recommendations have been editorially independent since 1968. For more, see our editorial guidelines.
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