Tangier Airport (TNG)
Tangier Ibn Battouta is the entry point to Morocco's north — the city's medina and port, and the famous run inland to the blue streets of Chefchaouen.
Book your transferTangier Ibn Battouta is the entry point to Morocco's north — the city's medina and port, and the famous run inland to the blue streets of Chefchaouen. It is about 15 km west of the centre, an easy 20-minute drive, and the launch pad for the Mediterranean coast around Tetouan, Asilah and M'diq.
Quick takeaways
- Ibn Battouta sits about 15 km west of Tangier — a 20-minute drive to the medina, kasbah and port.
- It's a compact, modern single terminal; arrivals are quick and you walk straight out to the taxi rank and pickup zone.
- Chefchaouen, the blue city, is the most-booked route: ~117 km and about two hours southeast on the N2, with no direct public transport.
- A fair daytime taxi into Tangier centre is around 150 MAD; settle the fare before you load your bags.
- There's no train at the airport — the Al Boraq high-speed line leaves from Tanger Ville station in the city.
- The north is also the springboard for Tetouan, Asilah, the Med beaches at M'diq and Martil, and the Ceuta border at Fnideq.
Transport options
Getting from the airport to the city
Transport options
Everything for your transfer
Taxis, private transfers, shuttles, car rental and hotels around Tangier airport.
Terminals & arrivals
Ibn Battouta is a single, modern terminal that handles arrivals and departures under one curved roof, and it rarely feels crowded. After landing you clear passport control — usually brisk, since traffic here is a fraction of Casablanca's — then collect your bags from one of the small carousels and reach the public hall in a few minutes. There you'll find ATMs, a café or two, the car-rental desks and the SIM kiosks of Maroc Telecom, Orange and inwi.
Step outside and the official petit- and grand-taxi rank is right in front of the doors, with the pre-booked pickup point — drivers holding name boards — alongside it. There's no rail station at the airport: every option into Tangier, on to Chefchaouen, or along the coast goes by road. The whole arrival, wheels-down to curbside, often takes under half an hour, which is part of why a fixed-price driver waiting outside makes such an easy start in the north.
Arrival tips
Ibn Battouta is a compact, modern single-terminal airport. Arrivals move quickly; outside you'll find the taxi rank and the pickup zone. Public transport into Tangier is limited, so most travellers take a taxi, transfer or rental car.
For the city, a quick taxi or transfer covers the short hop in twenty minutes. For Chefchaouen — the most-booked route from this airport — a pre-arranged car is the sensible move: it's a two-hour mountain drive with no direct public link from the airport, so settling the price and driver in advance saves a lot of hassle.
Arriving at night
If you land in the evening and plan to push on to Chefchaouen or the coast, don't improvise at the rank. A pre-booked driver who knows the mountain road and your guesthouse makes a late arrival in the north far less stressful.
Tours & experiences
Popular tours & day trips from Tangier
Tangier opens the north — the blue city of Chefchaouen, the Caves of Hercules at Cap Spartel, Andalusian Tetouan, and a kasbah walk over the strait.
- Chefchaouen blue-city day trip
- Kasbah & medina tour
- Caves of Hercules & Cap Spartel
- Tetouan & the Andalusian medina
- Strait of Gibraltar boat trip
Good to know
When to visit
Spring (April–June) and early autumn (September–October) are the best windows: warm, clear days for the medina and the coast, and comfortable temperatures for the drive up to Chefchaouen. Tangier catches Atlantic and Mediterranean breezes, so summer stays milder than inland Morocco, though July and August fill the Med beaches and push hotel prices up. Winters are mild but wet, with grey spells coming off the Strait and snow possible on the high Rif passes. The light over the water is sharpest in spring, when the hills behind the city turn green.
Getting to Chefchaouen
Most people who land at Ibn Battouta aren't staying in Tangier at all — they're heading for Chefchaouen, the blue-washed town tucked into the Rif mountains. It's about 117 km southeast, roughly two hours by road, mostly on the N2 as it climbs and twists through green hills and olive terraces. There's no direct public transport from the airport, so you either pre-book a private car or taxi straight from arrivals, or take a city taxi to the CTM station and catch a coach.
Pre-booking is the sensible move: you skip negotiating a long mountain trip with a tired arrival's leverage, the price is fixed before you fly, and the driver knows the road and where to drop you. Chaouen is car-free in its old town, so you'll be left at a gate near your guesthouse with the last stretch on foot, up steep blue lanes — bring a bag you can carry rather than wheel.
No airport train — and the Al Boraq from town
Tangier is the northern terminus of Al Boraq, Africa's first high-speed line, which reaches Casablanca in just over two hours via Rabat. It's a genuinely good train — but it doesn't touch the airport. Al Boraq runs from Tanger Ville, the main station in the city, about 15 km east of Ibn Battouta. So if your plan is to fly in and take the fast train south, you first need a taxi or transfer from the airport to Tanger Ville (20–25 minutes, roughly 150 MAD by day), then board there.
The same goes in reverse for departures: leave town early enough to clear the city traffic before check-in. Book Al Boraq seats ahead in summer and on weekends, when the Casablanca and Rabat runs sell out. For the airport itself, treat rail as a city-centre option, not an arrivals-hall one — everything between the terminal and town is by road.
The Mediterranean coast and the Ceuta border
East of Tangier the country turns Mediterranean. Tetouan, with its UNESCO-listed Andalusian medina, is about an hour away over the Rif's coastal flank; from there the resort towns of M'diq and Martil string along sandy bays that fill with Moroccan families in summer. Asilah, a whitewashed former Portuguese port, sits the other way down the Atlantic side, under an hour south.
None of these have a direct airport link, so a fixed-price transfer or a rental car is the practical way to reach them. Further east at Fnideq lies the land border with Ceuta, the Spanish enclave — a busy crossing made on foot rather than by hire car, since rentals usually can't leave Morocco. Plan border days carefully: queues swing from quick to hours-long depending on the season and the hour, and you'll want your passport, patience and small cash to hand.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get from Tangier airport to Chefchaouen?
There's no direct public transport; a pre-booked private transfer or taxi covers the ~117 km mountain drive in about two hours.
How far is Tangier airport from the city?
About 15 km — a 20-minute drive to the medina and port area.