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Writer's pictureAnna Cooper

Getting arty in Assilah & touristy in Tangiers

When we came to Morocco I had a few places on my check list, and in the most part we've done them (with the exception of one or two). Gaz arrived in Morocco with one desire, to ride a camel - which was achieved so he is happy. But, as we travelled we learned more about the country and its people, and new destinations were added to our list. One such place that we hadn't heard of before setting foot in Morocco was the small town of Assilah.



Assilah is a vibrant town on the north atlantic coast of Morocco, reknowned for its annual art festival. It is widely popular with national and international visitors for the arts and its inherent beauty, but this wasn't always the case. The portugese arrived in 1471 and built the fortifications that are still standing today. I was fascinated to learn that the town has passed between Morocco and Spain several times since and was even used as a base by pirates in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Ultimately the town was largely abandoned and its inhabitants quite poor, until a painter moved to the town in 1978 and became determined to promote it as a commercial and artistic centre, launching the annual arts festival that is now a really big deal. The town has benefitted from the surge in attention and local businesses are thriving.


We arrived outside of tourist season, so it was fairly quiet, but the street paintings from the arts festival were great to stumble upon as we wandered around the old medina and town ramparts. Assilah has been well photographed, but a photo doesn't capture the friendliness of the people. We spent a while chatting to a man who sells coral jewellery that his wife makes. His english was really good and as we have found time and time again in Morocco, people love to stop and chat practising their English - ultimately with the aim of selling you something, but still. We also met an artist who wanted to tell us about his work, drawings on the back of paper from cement sacks.


We were lucky enough to meet Sinje Gottwald who is a female solo motorcyclist who has been travelling the world on various trips since 2017. She is currently trying to break the record for the longest journey undertaken on an electric motorcycle and is travelling from Spain to South Africa over the next few months on her own. We met Sinje just a couple of days into her journey so it was still all to experience for her. If you are interested in following her journey, check out her socials... IG: @sinje.gottwald FB: @Okimototravals


Assilah is a must for anyone visiting Morocco. Restaurant recommendations are a must in this town - you must try Chez Pepe for delicious Spanish food and Ali Babas for great Moroccan food and great seafood.


From Assilah we travelled the last 20Km to Tangiers for our last couple of nights in Morocco. Tangiers offered little new to us than what we had seen and experienced already, so we focused our time on the cosmopolitan north shore and the surrounding places of interest.


We visited Cape Spartel, the most northerly point to take in the amazing view of the coast and see where the Atlantic Ocean gives way to the Straits of Gibralter and the Med beyond. Despite the weather being changeable it was a nice place to visit. Gaz particularly enjoyed avoiding the questionable looking carpark man by driving round him when he approached us for payment.


We also went to Hercules Cave for a nosey about. It was smaller than we expected, but

still pretty cool. Legend has it that Hercules rested in the cave after destroying Atlas the mountain creating the straits of Gibraltar. All that is left behind is the Rock of Gibralter and the headland of Morocco. The limeston cave itself has lots of round markings in the walls which were created by local people carving millstones. The Sea entrance to the cave was believed to have been created by the Phoenecians who fashioned it into the shape of the continent of Africa (when viewed from the sea). Gaz wasn't in the history of the cave, but spent his time attempting to recreate herculean efforts lifting rocks and holding up the cavern roof!!

It was nice to explore this area before our time was up and we had to make our way (through dense fog over mountainous terrain) to the ferry in Ceuta to travel back to Spain.

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