Earnings Per Unit of the Operating Partnership (Details) (Tanger Properties Limited Partnership [Member], USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Tanger Properties Limited Partnership [Member]
Numerator
Net income attributable to partners of the Operating Partnership		$ 19,878	$ 17,747	$ 35,297	$ 33,975
Less allocation of earnings to participating securities		(481)	(231)	(910)	(425)
Net income available to common shareholders/unitholders of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc./the Operating Partnership		$ 19,397	$ 17,516	$ 34,387	$ 33,550
Denominator
Basic weighted average common units (in shares)		98,916,000	98,079,000	98,818,000	97,983,000
Effect of notional units (in shares)		0	784,000	0	777,000
Effect of outstanding options and restricted common units (in shares)		74,000	92,000	72,000	99,000
Diluted weighted average common units (in shares)		98,990,000	98,955,000	98,890,000	98,859,000
Basic earnings per common unit:
Net income, basic (in dollars per share)		$ 0.20	$ 0.18	$ 0.35	$ 0.34
Diluted earnings per common unit:
Net income, diluted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.20	$ 0.18	$ 0.35	$ 0.34
Number of notional units converted to restricted common units	933,769
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)		276,500	0	276,500	0