Earlier this month we made a trip to the north of Morocco, where the Rif mountains are situated. It was a trip we'd been meaning to take for a longer time, but covid intervened.
We could take a direct flight from Brussels, with Air Arabia. Though low cost, I must say it was quite allright. New plane, spacious seats and friendly service. By the way, people in Morocco are generally friendly towards strangers and they don't hang around you like people do in for example Egypt, where they press you to buy anything.
We stayed in Tangiers, where our hotel was somewhat away from the old center, in a quiet new neighbourhood. Service there was also impeccable. Tangiers is an interesting town on its own, and from there it is easy to reach other places in the north.
On our first day there, we did a exploration tour of Tangiers, with a local guide. He showed us around the kasbah and the soukhs, also took us to Cap Spartel, where the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean flow together, and where also Hercules' cave is situated.
As a woman walking around on her own, Tangiers is quite safe. We went out strolling more than once and were never bothered by men. The Moroccans don't mind if you dress Western, but I guess you should not exaggerate either. We always wore bermuda's or pants and not-to-revealing tee shirts.
Another day trip went to Chefchaouen, the blue city. This is a unique village high into the Rif mountains, where people still live as many centuries ago. It is famous for its blue-painted houses, which can be seen on many postcard. The ride by car to Chefchaouen took about two and a half hours.
We also visited Tetouan, another town in the north. Here the houses are build in Spanish style, as Spanish jews came over to start a new life there.
Quite different in style once more, there's Assilah, the coastal town of artists. It's a quiet place, with cosy streets filled with pieces of arts, like murals and statues. Very nice to walk around there, while you sniff the special air coming from the Atlantic.
