Earnings Per Unit of the Operating Partnership (Details) (Tanger Properties Limited Partnership [Member], USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011
Schedule of Components of Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Unit [Line Items]
Net Income Availalbe to Partners	$ 16,163,000	$ 14,194,000	$ 37,487,000	$ 35,853,000
Undistributed Earnings Allocated to Participating Securities	(209,000)	(164,000)	(576,000)	(521,000)
Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Unitholders, Basic	15,954,000	14,030,000	36,911,000	35,332,000
Weighted Average Common Units, Basic	24,432,000	24,248,000	24,414,000	23,512,000
Incremental Common Units Attributable to Notional Units	220,000	158,000	216,000	158,000
Incremental Common Units Attributable to Conversion of Debt Securities	0	29,000	0	29,000
Incremental Common Units Attributable to Share-based Payment Arrangements	23,000	18,000	20,000	18,000
Weighted Average Common Units, Diluted	24,675,000	24,453,000	24,650,000	23,717,000
Earnings Per Unit Basic Concept	$ 0.65	$ 0.58	$ 1.51	$ 1.50
Earnings Per Unit Diluted Concept	$ 0.65	$ 0.57	$ 1.50	$ 1.49
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Unit, Amount	0	46,250	41,950	46,250
Senior Notes	547,964,000		547,964,000		547,763,000
3.75% Senior Exchangeable Notes [Member]
Schedule of Components of Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Unit [Line Items]
Number of Days in a Trading Period the Average Market Price of Common Stock Exceeds Exchange Price to be Dilutive			20
Number of Consecutive Trading Days in the Period for Determining the Dilutive Effect of Senior Exchangeable Notes			30
Debt Instrument, Convertible, Conversion Price	$ 17.83		$ 17.83
Senior Notes	$ 0		$ 0