Perdicaris Park

The park is about seventy hectares of introduced pine, eucalyptus, cypress and stone pine planted on a ridge above the sea, with paths and clearings, and locals call it Rmilat. It was the estate of Ion Perdicaris, a wealthy Greek-American who built a house here in the late nineteenth century and planted the grounds; in 1904 he was seized from it by Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, a Rif chieftain, in an abduction that became internationally famous and was later loosely dramatised in a film. The house is a ruin. What is there now is shaded walking with gaps in the trees looking down to the Atlantic and, on clear days, across the strait to Spain. It functions mainly as a place where people from Tangier come out to walk and picnic at weekends, which is the honest description; the interest is the air and the view rather than any facility.

What you actually see

• A planted ridge - seventy hectares of pine, eucalyptus and cypress above the sea.
• Gaps to the Atlantic - clearings looking down to the water and across to Spain.
• The ruined house - what is left of the estate that gave the park its name.
• A city's weekend walk - families out from Tangier rather than a visitor attraction.

When to go

Spring and autumn. Two to three hours. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Honest expectations

There are no facilities and paths are unmarked in places. Litter is a persistent problem at the picnic clearings. Weekends are crowded and parking is informal. The house is a ruin and not accessible.

Nearby

Cap Spartel and the Caves of Hercules are west; Tangier is east.