Located in between wild mountains rising up from the Mediterranean Sea, at clear days with the southern tip of Spain visible, Tetouan has everything going for it. With one of the nicest large cities in Morocco, several great beaches half an hour drive away and a dubious reputation, Tetouan holds all the fascination you would expect from Morocco. For long, Tetouan had a highly deserved reputation of being the least tourist friendly of all of Morocco. But thankfully, things can change, and local police has hit hard on "unfriendly guiding" — men who follow you around trying to get you into their cousin's art shop, and charging hefty tipping for simply following you around. Walking around Tetouan now is as pleasant as walking around the always tranquil Essaouira. The few guides that still operate, have had to change styles from aggressiveness into polite attempts of getting your attention. The setting of Tetouan is beautiful, with dramatic mountains in the south and west, right across the narrow valley from which Tetouan rises. But as soon as you have entered the medina this disappears from your view. The medina is certainly not colourful, its grayish white walls are only challenged by the sporadic green tile roofs. Tetouan is one of the whitest cities you will get across in Morocco, and even the new city follows this codex. Tetouan's modern streets get real crowded at nights, and even when the clock gets close to 24, there are still many women and girls out, something that is not common in most Moroccan cities.
