( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Hassan II; coffee Dh8; h8am-late)
Our favourite of the laid-back cafes lining Ave Hassan II. Order up a robust cafe noir, tune in to the bouncy 1960s Spanish pop music, and take in views across the street of the cool art-deco profile of the Cine Avenida. The friendly owner speaks good English.
Hôtel BellevueBAR
( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Pl Hassan II; h11am-11pm)
On a terrace above the beach, the bar at Hôtel Bellevue is a pleasant spot for a beer. Avoid the cheaper Stork brew and order a Casablanca lager instead. Atlantic views come with a side order of complimentary olives.
8Information
See www.ifniville.com for images, music and information pertaining to Sidi Ifni.
Local bank branches offering ATMs and exchange facilities include Attijariwafa Bank ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Mohammed V; h8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri), BMCE ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Mohammed V; h8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri) and Banque Populaire. ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Mohammed V; h8.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri)
Hassan Cyber ( GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Hassan I; per hr Dh4; h10am-2pm & 5pm-midnight Sat-Thu, 5pm-midnight Fri)
Hospital ( GOOGLE MAP ) Sidi Ifni's main medical centre.
Pharmacies can be found along Ave Mohammed V.
Police Station ( GOOGLE MAP ) Just off Ave Mohammed V.
Post Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; Ave Mohammed V; h8.15am-4pm Mon-Fri)
8Getting There & Away
Bus
CTM ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 78 00 50; www.ctm.ma; Ave Hassan II) has daily departures to destinations including Casablanca (Dh270, 12 hours), Marrakesh (Dh170, 7½ hours), Agadir (Dh70, four hours) and Laâyoune (Dh180, eight hours). Lux bus ( GOOGLE MAP ) 18 travels via Mirleft (Dh10) to Tiznit (Dh20).
Taxi
The grand-taxi station ( GOOGLE MAP ) is on the east side of town. Taxis serve Goulimime (Dh25), Legzira Plage (Dh13), Mirleft (Dh13), Tiznit (Dh27) and Agadir (Dh60).
Around Sidi Ifni
The most popular location around Sidi Ifni is the beach and spectacular natural archway at Legzira Plage.
Legzira Plage
El Gzira, usually called Legzira Plage, is a superb secluded bay 10km north of Ifni, with excellent sand and a dramatic natural stone arch reaching over the sea. Until September 2016, there were actually two arches, but the smaller one further south towards Sidi Ifni collapsed in the dark of night. The arch that remains standing is the more spectacular of the two, and the beach is still definitely worth visiting.
It’s accessible from Rte 104 but better reached by walking along the beaches and cliffs. This is only possible at low tide, so check tide times before you start walking. Tourism development is slowly spreading down the access road from Rte 104, but the beach itself remains pristine and largely undeveloped.
4Sleeping & Eating
Beachfront cafes charge around Dh50 for mains and the seafood is always good.
Beach ClubPENSION€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0670 52 28 00; www.legzirabeachclub.com; s/d from Dh175/275)
Beach Club has the best rooms along Legzira Plage, some with shared sea-facing balconies. You'll find the accommodation at the quieter northern end of the beach.
Sables d’OrPENSION€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0661 30 24 95; [email protected]; r Dh150-300)
Sables d’Or has small but comfortable rooms, opening onto terraces with sea views. Public areas have recently been renovated, and the restaurant is adorned with colourful Berber carpets and wall hangings.
8Getting There & Away
Grands taxis stop on Rte 104 between Sidi ifni (Dh10) and Mirleft (Dh15). Buses also run from Sidi Ifni (Dh10) and Mirleft (Dh15).
Mesti
This Berber village is 25km southeast of Sidi Ifni on the road through the prickly-pear-covered hills to Goulimime. At the turnoff for Mesti and the back road to Tiznit, you can do a tasting at the shop of honey cooperative Miel Afoulki.
Mesti has no accommodation and is best visited from Sidi Ifni.
7Shopping
Miel AfoulkiFOOD
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0661 47 24 33; www.cooperativeafoulki.net)
The shop of Miel Afoulki, a honey cooperative, sells some extraordinary local flavours, including orange and euphorbia. Hours are flexible but someone usually shows up to let visitors in.
Tafyoucht CooperativeFOOD, BEAUTY
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 21 84 16)
The Tafyoucht Cooperative, at the Berber village of Mesti, 25km south of Ifni on the Goulimime road, is a women’s cooperative that produces oil and cosmetic products from the versatile argan tree. Opening hours are flexible but visitors are welcome.
8Getting There & Away
Public transport to Mesti is very sporadic and is best visited with your own transport or in a petit taxi from Sidi Ifni.
Goulimime كثلميم
Pop 118,300
Once the ‘Gateway of the Sahara’, dusty Goulimime (or Guelmim) sprang up as a border town where farmers from the fertile Souss traded with nomads from the south. If you have come from the north, you will still recognise Goulimime as a border town: for the first time, you will see Saharawi in the majority.
The main reason to stop here is the Saturday-morning souq, which includes a camel market and takes place a few kilometres from town on the Tan Tan road. A week-long moussem (festival) and camel fair is held here around the end of July.
There are plans for an international airport to be built at Goulimime, and subsequent hope this could increase visitor numbers to this relatively remote area of southern Morocco.
4Sleeping & Eating
Many Goulimime hotels are basic and some may not appeal to women. If you have transport, there is better accommodation outside town. An exception to this is the newly opened Oasis Palm Hotel.
Around the bus station and north of the post office are good areas for cafes and restaurants.
Hôtel IjdiguenHOTEL€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 77 14 53; Blvd Ibnou Battouta; s/d Dh80/160)
Across the road from the grand-taxi station, Ijdiguen (‘Ichdigen’) is clean and welcoming, with tiled corridors, reasonable rooms and shared showers.
Oasis Palm HotelHOTEL€€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 77 93 00; www.oasispalmhotel.com; Rte d’Agadir RN1; s/d incl breakfast from Dh660/825; aWs)
Located 10km northeast of the city near the airport, Goulimime's newest and most comfortable hotel has more than 100 rooms arrayed around pleasant palm-fringed patios and an expansive swimming pool. Facilities include three restaurants and two bars, as well as two hammams and gyms. As a haven from Goulimime's busy and dusty streets, this new opening really is an oasis.
Hôtel HamzaHOTEL€€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 39 75; off Rte d’Agadir; s/d Dh360/460; aiW)
In this quiet and welcoming caravanserai near the tourist office, expansive corridors lead to cool and spacious rooms with bathrooms of varying quality.
Hôtel Adil MoussafirHOTEL€€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 77 29 30; Ave Mohammed V, off Rte d’Agadir; s/d Dh480/550; W)
One of Goulimime’s grander options, the Adil Moussafir has a restaurant (mains Dh70) and spacious, comfortable rooms with slightly tired bathrooms.
La Plage BlancheMOROCCAN€
( GOOGLE MAP ; Ziz garage, Rte d’Agadir; meals Dh50-80; h8am-10pm)
Near Pl Bir Anzarane, this Westernised snack bar serves dishes ranging from pizzas, burgers and spaghetti to tajines and pil-pil prawns. On Friday, join the locals and treat yourself to the couscous, while the masses pray outside the mosque across the road.
8Information
Pl Bir Anazarane is the centre of town, and near here you’ll find banks, internet cafes and the post office.
Tourist Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 29 11; www.crt-guelmim.com; 3 Résidence Sahara, Rte d’Agadir; h8.30am-4.30pm Mon-Fri) Around 400m northeast of Pl Bir Anzarane on the main road to Agadir.
8Getting There & Away
Air
RAM (www.royalairmaroc.com) links Goulimime
Airport to Casablanca.
Bus
The bus station (Gare Routiére; GOOGLE MAP ) is a 10-minute walk north of Pl Bir Anazarane.
CTM ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.ctm.ma; Blvd Ibnou Battouta) and Supratours ( GOOGLE MAP ; www.supratours.ma) have regular departures to the following places: Agadir (Dh85, five hours), Casablanca (Dh295, 12 hours), Dakhla (Dh330, 16 hours), Laâyoune (Dh170, 7½ hours), Marrakesh (Dh195, 7½ hours), Rabat (Dh325, 13½ hours), Tan Tan (Dh50, two hours) and Tiznit (Dh40, 2¾ hours). Daily Satas ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 22 13; Gare Routière) buses are a slightly cheaper option to most of these destinations.
Taxi
You can catch grands taxis from behind the bus station to Inezgane (Dh80), Laâyoune (Dh220), Sidi Ifni (Dh25), Tan Tan (Dh50) and Tiznit (Dh40).
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
AROUND GOULIMIME
Tighmert oasis makes a scenic drive from Goulimime, with views of the distant Anti Atlas. You can drive a circuit of this palmeraie (palm grove) in an hour or two on Rte d'Asrir, returning to town along the Goulimime–Assa road.
There are a few basic guesthouses in the oasis, mostly located some 20km southeast of Goulimime off Rte d’Asrir. Maison d’Hôtes Nomades ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0667 90 96 42; off Rte d’Asrir; d/tr from Dh200/250, breakfast/dinner/picnic Dh30/80/50) is a family-run guesthouse deep in the oasis (there are some tight corners on the drive there), with rugs and farming implements decorating the pisé walls and simple rooms with shared or private bathroom. Accommodation is also available in a Berber tent (Dh60 per person) and dinner features dishes such as dromedary tajine. Camel rides and other activities are offered, but you may prefer to just lounge on the roof terrace taking in the views.
Accessed from the N12 between Goulimime and Tata (or along back roads from the Anti Atlas), the oasis village of Id-ïssa, also known as Amtoudi, after the gorge it occupies, has walking trails to two agadirs, a waterfall and cave paintings. One of the agadirs is particularly impressive, towering above the village on a spindly outcrop. In the second half of September, a festival and fantasia (musket-firing cavalry charge) takes place in the nearby village of ït Herbil, also known for its rock engravings.
Id-ïssa is 30km from the N12, signposted from near the village of Taghjicht. To get there by grand taxi from Goulimime, you will likely have to change in Bouizakarne and Souk Tnine-Nouadai. A shared/private taxi from Bouizakarne costs about Dh35/210. From Tata, pick up a ride to Goulimime or Bouizakarne and alight in Taghjicht, from where a private taxi costs Dh120.
On the other side of Goulimime, French resort Fort Bou-Jerif ( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 30 39; www.fortboujerif.com; campsites from Dh70, s incl half-board Dh490-600, d incl half-board Dh800-1000, khaïma per person incl half-board Dh320; s) offers a taste of the desert, 40km northwest of town via the Sidi Ifni and Plage Blanche roads (it’s well signposted).
8Getting There & Away
Tighmert can be reached by a grand-taxi from Goulimime, but private transport – preferably 4WD – is needed to reach Fort Bou-Jerif.
Tan Tan & Tan Tan Plage طانطان
Pop 50,000
South of Goulimime, across the dry Oued Drâa, you enter the Sahara proper. The 130km of desert highway to Tan Tan is impressive for its bleak emptiness and harsh hammada (flat, stony desert).
If you weren’t stopped by security on the way in, you could probably drive along the N1 (known as Ave Hassan II within Tan Tan’s boundaries) without realising you were in the town, which spreads mostly south of the highway. The majority of the inhabitants are nomads who settled here, and blue robes are a big feature. The army and police presence is also noticeable, due to the proximity of the disputed Western Sahara.
Tan Tan Plage, also known as Al-Ouatia, 25km west of Tan Tan, is a dilapidated seaside resort overlooking a long, windswept beach. The town only briefly comes to life during the Moroccan summer holiday, but staying here is nonetheless preferable to Tan Tan.
Tan Tan was founded in the 1940s during the Spanish Protectorate, but had its moment in 1975, when the area was the departure point for the Green March. It’s a rundown place with tough but not unfriendly inhabitants. The Sunday souq is held 1.5km south of town.
zFestivals & Events
Tan Tan MoussemCARNIVAL
(www.moussemdetantan.org/en)
A Unesco-protected moussem takes place in September, featuring camel racing and music.
4Sleeping & Eating
In Tan Tan, there are cheap eateries on Ave Hassan II, Ave Mohammed V and around the gare routière, although many close at lunchtime or take a while to rustle up food. Hôtel Sable d’Or is a popular choice. Fresh seafood is a standout in the cafes of Tan Tan Plage. The town's interesting main square has everything from bakeries to grill restaurants specialising in meaty cuts of camel and lamb from adjacent butcheries.
Hôtel Belle VueHOTEL€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 91 33; Ave Mohammed V, Tan Tan Plage; s/d from Dh150/300; W)
This appropriately named family-run seafront hotel has basic en-suite rooms, reached along white corridors hung with cheery paintings. The cafe-restaurant (breakfast and meals Dh25 to Dh90) is one of Tan Tan Plage’s best, serving tajines, omelettes, sardines and calamari.
Hôtel Sable d’OrHOTEL€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 80 69; Ave Hassan II, Tan Tan; s/d Dh150/200; W)
Next to the banks on the main road, this friendly family-run hotel has comfortable en-suite rooms with flat-screen TV. Ask for a room at the rear, away from the main road. There’s a cafe-restaurant with a pool table.
Hôtel Bir AnzaraneHOTEL€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 78 34; [email protected]; Ave Hassan II, Tan Tan; s/d Dh80/100; W)
A worn but clean place, next to the royal palace (soldiers patronise the cafe here) on the west side of the river. Above the breezy cafe, the small but neat rooms share bathrooms with squat and flush toilets.
Riad EssadiaGUESTHOUSE€€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 92 14; [email protected]; Ave Mohammed V, Tan Tan Plage; s/d from Dh400/500; W)
The best place to stay in either Tan Tan or Tan Tan Plage, Riad Essadia has eight rooms opening onto a spacious central courtyard which flows out onto the beach. The charmingly decorated rooms lack external windows so natural light is limited, but the lovely shared public spaces easily offset this. Breakfast and other meals are enjoyed with Atlantic views.
Kasba HotelHOTEL€€
( GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 98 98; www.hotelkasbatantan.com; 9 Ave Mohammed V, Tan Tan Plage; r incl breakfast Dh600-810; W)
A tad overpriced maybe, but the rooms at the Kasba are the best in Tan Tan Plage, especially the ones at the front enjoying Atlantic views. The team at reception usually speaks good English and bring an open mind to negotiation. Get a good deal and secure an ocean vista and you'll be sorted. The downstairs restaurant is also good.
La ScalaSEAFOOD, MOROCCAN€
(Chez Abdellah; GOOGLE MAP ; %0528 87 93 24; mains Dh45-70; hnoon-3pm & 6-10pm)
A short walk from Tan Tan Plage's main square, La Scala is one of the town's best seafood restaurants. The friendly owner Abdellah is eager to please visitors who've made the big trek south, and plates of octopus salad, grilled calamari and sole are very generous servings. Italian and Spanish influences also feature, with paella and pizza on the menu.
8Information
Banks with ATMs and exchange facilities are clustered around the junction of Aves Hassan II and Mohammed V in Tan Tan.
Club Internet ( GOOGLE MAP ; off Ave Hassan II; per hr Dh3; h9am-midnight) Next to Samir Oil petrol station in Tan Tan.
Post Office ( GOOGLE MAP ; Pl de la Mare Verte, Tan Tan; h8.15am-4pm Mon-Fri) Centrally located in Tan Tan.
Tan Tan Plage has a post office and two banks with ATMs and exchange facilities.
8Getting There & Away
Air
RAM (www.royalairmaroc.com) flies between Tan Tan Airport and Casablanca.
Bus
In Tan Tan CTM ( GOOG
LE MAP ; %0528 76 58 86; www.ctm.ma; Ave Hassan II, Tan Tan) has daily departures to: Agadir (Dh130, six hours), Dakhla (Dh300, 14 hours), Goulimime (Dh50, 1½ hours), Laâyoune (Dh130, five hours) and Tiznit (Dh95, 3½ hours). Supratours ( GOOGLE MAP ; %Tan Tan Plage 0528 87 96 65, 0528 87 77 95; www.supratours.ma; Ave Hassan II, Tan Tan), which stops in Tan Tan and also at its office in Tan Tan Plage, opposite the Dubai Hotel, operates similar services at slightly higher prices. Other, cheaper companies, all serving the same destinations, use Tan Tan gare routière ( GOOGLE MAP ; Pl de la Marche Verte, Tan Tan), off Ave Mohammed V, about 1km south of Ave Hassan II.
Taxi
From Tan Tan gare routière, grands taxis head to Agadir (Dh110), Goulimime (Dh50), Inezgane (Dh110), Laâyoune (Dh160), Tan Tan Plage (Dh15), Tarfaya (D160) and Tiznit (Dh80).
Grands taxis to Tan Tan Plage also leave from the top of Blvd el-Amir Moulay Abdallah, a few hundred metres south of Ave Hassan II.
Tarfaya طرفايه
Pop 6000
The fishing port of Tarfaya was the centre of the Spanish Protectorate of Cap Juby, now known as the Tarfaya Strip. A Scottish trader, Donald Mackenzie, created the original settlement in the late 19th century, building a small trading post on a rock just offshore, which he called Port Victoria. When the Spanish took over, they appropriated the building, now known as Casa Mar. The area gained independence from Spain in 1958.
Lonely Planet Morocco Page 78
