Morocco · Oriental
Where to Stay in Nador, Oriental
Nador is a city of the Rif coast in northeast Morocco on the Mar Chica lagoon, a Berber town on the Mediterranean below Mount Gourougou, close to Spanish Melilla.
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Where to stay in Nador
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in Nador turns on the town or the lagoon. The streets along the waterfront keep the promenade, the market, and the port within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the city. The blue lagoon lies below.
Rif hills rise behind. Out along the lagoon and the coast, the town gives way to the marina shore, the sand bar, and the road to the cape. A room by the lagoon trades the streets for the still water, the bird flats, and the beaches of the coast.
Long sand bars edge the water. Stay downtown for the port, or by the lagoon for the shore. The lagoon city rests below the Rif.
About Nador
Nador is the lagoon city of the Rif.
What is Nador known for?
On the Mar Chica lagoon on the Mediterranean coast of northeast Morocco, it grew as a Berber port town, and it keeps the great lagoon that shelters its shore, the cape and lighthouse of Trois Fourches, the slopes of Mount Gourougou above, and the busy border with Spanish Melilla nearby. The blue lagoon lies calm. Rif mountains rise behind.
What are the main landmarks in Nador?
The Mar Chica lagoon is the pride of Nador. The great blue lagoon along the shore, sheltered from the sea by a long sand bar, is the emblem of the city, downtown. A cape juts into the sea.
The wild headland of Trois Fourches, with its lighthouse, reaches out to the north, while Mount Gourougou, the Melilla border, and the Rif coast mark the country around Nador.
What is the history of Nador?
Nador grew by the great lagoon. On the shore of the Mar Chica, sheltered from the sea, Berber fishing villages long worked the calm waters. The Spanish came from Melilla.
In colonial days Spain ruled this coast from nearby Melilla and mined the iron of the Rif, and Nador grew as a port and mining town on the lagoon. The town rose after the mines. When the mines closed and Morocco won its freedom, Nador grew fast as the chief city of the eastern Rif, drawing Riffian families from the mountains.
The lagoon became a resort. In our own age the Mar Chica was made a place of marinas and birds, and Nador grew as the lagoon city of the coast, keeping its Berber ways, its lagoon, and its cape. The calm lagoon still shelters the shore.
Nador keeps its Rif coast on the Mediterranean.
Where is Nador?
Nador lies in the northeast of Morocco, on the Mar Chica lagoon on the Mediterranean coast. The city sits between the sea and the mountains of the Rif, on the shore of the great lagoon, with Mount Gourougou rising to the north and the Spanish town of Melilla just up the coast. Its lagoon lies flat and blue.
The Rif rises steep behind.
What is the climate of Nador?
Nador has a mild, dry Mediterranean climate. Warm dry summers and mild wet winters cross the coast, with hot sun in the summer and rain on the Rif in the cold months. The summer stays warm and dry.
Winter rains green the hills.
How do you get to Nador?
Nador lies on the Mediterranean coast of northeast Morocco, near the Algerian border. Trains and the highway run to it from Fès and Oujda, and its airport flies to Europe. Ferries cross to Spain.
Melilla lies just up the coast.
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Updated August 2026