Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG)

Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG) sits about fifteen kilometres southwest of the city, on the road where Africa and Europe trade glances across the strait. It is named for the city’s most famous traveller, and it serves two kinds of arrivals: planes, and the ferries from Tarifa and Algeciras that dock at the port below the kasbah.

Getting online at TNG

City shops: Maroc Telecom, Orange and inwi all have shops in Tangier, where a prepaid SIM costs around 20 dirhams including 20 dirhams of credit and is registered to your passport.

An eSIM instead: the natural answer here, because it covers both doors into the country. Install it before you leave home, and whether you land at TNG or step off a ferry, the phone is already online as a Moroccan line on a local plan. The plans page has the options.

The ferry detail

The EU’s roam-like-at-home rules stop at the strait: crossing from Spain, your home line leaves its free-roaming zone, and most carriers charge from the moment the boat nears Morocco. Check your home plan before the crossing, switch the eSIM on when you arrive, and keep your home line’s data roaming off.

Practical notes

1. Getting into town: about thirty minutes by road from the airport; the ferry port is closer, below the medina.
2. Weather: the strait moderates everything: mild winters, warm summers, and wind that keeps the coast pleasant in August.
3. Money: the dirham is a closed currency; city exchange desks and ATMs take it from there.
4. The city: the kasbah, the Petit Socco, the Café Hafa and the white walls above the port. The Tangier page takes it further.