Private tour · Tangier medina
Tangier Shopping Tour Through the Souks
Three hours in the Tangier medina with a licensed guide: spices, argan oil and natural Moroccan products, leather, carpets, embroidery, handicrafts and the bazaar for football shirts. A five-minute lesson in every shop, then you shop.
From $30 per person
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- Private: your group only
- Shops chosen by your guide
- You pay the shops directly
- About 3 hoursIn the medina souks
- 6 to 8 shopsChosen by your guide
- 5-minute lessonsIn every shop
- Private guideLicensed, on your side
- No depositPay on the day
How it works
A shopping tour with a lesson in every shop
This Tangier shopping tour is a private three-hour walk through the medina souks with a licensed guide. You stop at six to eight shops: spices and herbs, natural Moroccan products such as argan oil and black soap, leather, carpets, embroidery, handicrafts, and the bazaar for football shirts, t-shirts and souvenirs.
In each shop the owner gives a five-minute lesson on the craft: how ras el hanout is blended, how a rug is knotted, how to tell cosmetic argan oil from culinary. Then you browse and buy only what you like, with your guide beside you to explain, translate and help with the price.
Tell us what you are looking for with the shopping list below, and your guide plans the route around it.
- 3 hoursAt your pace
- 7 kinds of shopFrom spices to carpets
- Licensed guideEnglish, French, Spanish, Arabic
- PrivateYour group only
The route
Seven shops, seven lessons
The usual route through the souks. Your guide changes the order, or skips a shop, to fit your list.
Stop 1 · Spices and herbs
The spice shop
Sacks and jars of cumin, paprika, saffron and dried rose buds, and the shop's own ras el hanout.
The five-minute lesson
How a spice seller blends ras el hanout, the house mix of a dozen spices or more; how to tell real saffron; which spices go into a tagine and which into mint tea.
Check before you buy
- Real saffron threads colour warm water slowly, gold rather than red
- Spices sold by weight, sealed for the flight
- Ras el hanout
- Saffron
- Cumin
- Paprika
- Dried rose buds
- Mint tea blends
Stop 2 · Natural Moroccan products
Argan oil, black soap and rose water
The herbalist's shelves: argan oil for cooking and for the skin, black soap and ghassoul clay for the hammam, rose water and orange-blossom water, amber and musk.
The five-minute lesson
Culinary argan oil, pressed from roasted kernels, against cosmetic argan oil from raw ones; how black soap and ghassoul are used in the hammam; what amlou is and how it is eaten.
Check before you buy
- Cosmetic argan oil is pale gold with a light, nutty smell
- Culinary argan oil is darker, with a toasted smell
- Sealed glass bottles
- Argan oil
- Black soap (savon beldi)
- Ghassoul clay
- Rose water
- Amlou
Stop 3 · Leather
Bags, babouches and jackets
Bags, belts, poufs, jackets and babouches, the soft pointed slippers, cut and stitched in the medina's workshops.
The five-minute lesson
How the hides are tanned and dyed, how a bag is stitched and lined, and how to look after Moroccan leather at home.
Check before you buy
- Real leather smells of leather, never of plastic
- Even, tight stitching and a lined inside
- Babouches with leather soles for indoors
- Bags
- Babouches
- Belts
- Poufs
- Wallets
- Jackets
Stop 4 · Carpets and rugs
The carpet bazaar
Berber rugs from the Atlas, flat-woven kilims, cushions and blankets, unrolled one after another, often over a glass of mint tea.
The five-minute lesson
Hand-knotted rugs against flat-woven kilims, Berber wool and natural dyes, and what the patterns say about the region a rug comes from.
Check before you buy
- Turn it over: on a hand-knotted rug the pattern shows clearly on the back
- Wool feels soft and springy; synthetics feel slippery
- Shipping a large piece? Agree the price in writing
- Berber rugs
- Kilims
- Cushion covers
- Blankets
Stop 5 · Embroidery and textiles
Embroidery, kaftans and scarves
Tablecloths, cushion covers, kaftans and djellabas, with the hand embroidery that Fes and Tetouan are known for.
The five-minute lesson
Hand embroidery against machine work, the stitches of Fes and Tetouan, and how a kaftan is cut and finished.
Check before you buy
- Hand embroidery is slightly irregular on the back; machine work is perfectly even
- Natural fibres: cotton, linen, wool, silk
- Embroidered tablecloths
- Kaftans
- Djellabas
- Scarves
- Cushion covers
Stop 6 · Handicrafts (artisanat)
Pottery, lanterns and brass
Hand-painted tagines and bowls, pierced brass lanterns, teapots and tea glasses, and boxes of fragrant thuya wood.
The five-minute lesson
Cooking tagines against decorative ones, how a lantern is pierced by hand, and why mint tea is poured from high above the glass.
Check before you buy
- Ask whether a tagine is for cooking or for display
- Hand-painted pieces differ slightly from one to the next
- Tagines
- Painted bowls
- Lanterns
- Teapots and glasses
- Thuya boxes
Stop 7 · The bazaar
Football shirts, t-shirts and souvenirs
The last stop for gifts: Morocco national team football shirts, club shirts, t-shirts, caps, magnets and babouches for the children at home.
The five-minute lesson
Your guide explains the difference between the official shirts, sold in the brand shops of the new town, and the souvenir shirts of the souk, and helps you find the sizes for everyone at home.
Check before you buy
- Official shirts carry the maker's labels and cost more
- Check the size on the label, not on the rack
- Football shirts
- T-shirts
- Caps
- Magnets
- Children's babouches
Plan it
Build your shopping list
Tick what you would like to find. Your guide plans the route around your list, and you send it to us in one tap.
Good to know
Before you book
Duration
About 3 hours
Longer if you want it: tell your guide on the day.
Start time
You choose
Best from 10 am, when every shop in the medina is open.
Meeting point
Where you are
Your hotel or riad, the port, the ferry terminal or the airport in Tangier.
Walking
About 2 km
Cobbled lanes and a few steps in the medina, at an easy pace.
Your purchases
Paid to the shops
You pay the shops directly for what you buy, in cash or by card where they take it.
Languages
English, French, Spanish, Arabic
Your guide translates in every shop.
Group
Private
Your group only, whatever its size. Children welcome.
Payment
No deposit
Pay the tour on the day in cash, by PayPal or by bank transfer. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before.
From Spain
Fits between ferries
Three hours fits easily into a day trip from Tarifa: we meet you at the Tangier Ville port.
Clear terms
What's included and what's not
Included
- A private licensed guide for about three hours
- Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel, riad, the port or the ferry terminal in Tangier
- The five-minute lesson in each shop
- Help with translating and with the price
- A route planned around your shopping list
Not included
- Your purchases, paid to the shops directly
- Shipping of large items
- Tips for your guide
- Travel to Tangier
Why with a guide
Shopping the souks, the easy way
A guide on your side
Your licensed guide explains, translates and helps you agree a fair price.
The crafts, explained
A five-minute lesson in every shop, so you know what you are buying and why it costs what it does.
Your list, your pace
The route follows your shopping list. Linger where you like and skip what you do not need.
Book direct, pay on the day
No deposit, no agency fees, and free cancellation up to 48 hours before.
Guest reviews
What travellers say about our guides
Rated 4.9 from 85 reviews on Google.
★★★★★
Fadi explained everything clearly and made the whole day fun and interesting. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Laura S.Tangier Full Day Tour
★★★★★
Fadi took great care of us, showed us hidden gems, and made us feel like locals. Highly recommended!
John S.Tangier Full Day Tour
★★★★★
Fantastic guide, very knowledgeable, patient, and friendly. He brought the history of Tangier to life. Truly a memorable day.
Mark D.Tangier Full Day Tour
Good to know
Tangier Shopping Tour: Questions Before You Book
What travellers ask before they book.
What is the Tangier shopping tour?
A private three-hour walk through the Tangier medina souks with a licensed guide, stopping at six to eight shops: spices, natural products such as argan oil, leather, carpets, embroidery, handicrafts and the bazaar for football shirts. Each shopkeeper gives a five-minute lesson, then you shop.
What should I buy in Tangier?
Spices, argan oil and other natural products, leather bags and babouches, carpets, embroidery, pottery and handicrafts, and souvenir football shirts (the official shirts are sold in the brand shops of the new town). The tour stops at each kind of shop, with a short lesson so you know what good quality looks like.
Do I have to buy anything?
No. The lessons are part of the tour, and you buy only what you like.
How do I pay in the shops?
Directly to each shop. Small shops prefer dirhams in cash; the larger bazaars and carpet shops usually take cards.
Can a carpet be shipped home?
Many carpet shops ship abroad. Agree the shipping price and the delivery time in writing before you pay, and your guide helps you ask.
Can we do it on a day trip from Spain?
Yes. Three hours fits between a morning ferry from Tarifa and an afternoon or evening ferry back. We meet you at the Tangier Ville port.
Reserve direct
Book your shopping tour
Send your date, your group size and your shopping list. We reply with a plan within 12 hours, with no deposit and free cancellation up to 48 hours before.
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Pair it with another day out
Photos from Wikimedia Commons, cropped: the Souk Dakhel gate by Farajiibrahim (CC BY-SA 4.0); spices by Dan Lundberg (CC BY-SA 2.0); argan oil by Arnaud 25 (CC BY-SA 3.0); leather bags by SalmaMarois (CC BY-SA 4.0); babouches by Eevone11 (CC BY-SA 4.0); carpets by AdilElouarti (CC0); pottery by Jafri Ali (CC BY-SA 4.0); football shirts by A.Nawfel (CC BY 4.0). Most show souks elsewhere in Morocco; the Souk Dakhel gate is in Tangier.
