• Mediterranean Morocco with the busting gateway port of Tangiers, home to artists and raconteurs and adventurers. There are inland villages and market towns, beautiful beaches and some Spanish enclaves.

• Atlantic Coast – home to Rabat, the laid back capital and Casablanca, a modern city by the sea. The big open beaches here are wonderful for those who like large Atlantic rollers – ideal for surfing and body boarding. The town of Essaouira is a busy fishing port with quiet beaches outside of the main summer season and a relatively stress free medina. Dakhla is a beautiful city, famous for quieter beaches and sardines.

• Agadir on the southern Atlantic Coast is a tolerant city with a proud local Berber community, and is surrrounded by the Atlas Mountains and Sahara Desert.

• High Atlas – the mountain home of the Berbers – indigenous North Africans who have inhabited the region for thousands of years, epitomised in the earth adobe houses in the villages, and earthen tones of the city of Marrakech – famous for its souks and ruins within the medina.

• Middle Atlas – with Fez, former capital, and one of the largest medieval cities in the world. Meknes which is smaller and more laid back than Fez but with an equally beautiful old city. Plus numerous sleepy Berber villages and towns, away from the tourist routes.

• Sahara Desert and Oases – the vast desert region between Morocco and Algeria. Very hot, dry and pictuesque. The region is full of small villages and oasis towns. Ouarzazate is the capital. An ancient city worth a visit.

• Trekking in the Rif or Atlas Mountains is a wonderful experience, as is at least one overnight in the Sahara desert and a camel ride.

• Haggling for artisan products in the souks – an art form to become good at!

• Moroccan cuisine – world famous dishes include cous cous with a tangine (spicy long-cooked stew), harira soup and bastella pastries. Go on a cookery and gastronomy tour or afternoon cookery masterclass with a leading Moroccan Chef to learn how to prepare delicious Moroccan dishes at home.

• Riads – staying in a traditional riad is a wonderful experience, most are small boutique hotels in converted houses around a central courtyard. For more about riads see our Riads of Morocco Blog.

• Hammam – visiting an authentic hammam where locals go, or one of the more tourist orientated versions – both are an authentic Moroccan experience.

Morocco Locations

Souks, Sahara, Kasbah, Oases, and Ancient Cities

Meknes

Meknes is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, also known as ‘Petit Paris’ for its bohemian art and music scene, festivals and along with renowned Moroccan wines.

Yet the city is beautifully decorated with historical sites – the old medina, ramparts and forts (including the enormous Bab Mansour gate) are the epitome of kasbah architecture. As a result UNESCO has proclaimed the entire area a World Heritage Site.

It is a great place to stroll around the donkey filled souks, linger over a mint tea in a secret courtyard teahouse, and overnight in an ornate historic riad.

For lovers of history and crafts the Dar Jamai Museum was originally a palace with ornate interiors housing a huge and eclectic collection of traditional crafts, and the vast size of the royal granaries shows how wealthy this city once was.

Just 40 minutes away you should visit the UNESCO Roman City site of Volubilis where you can still see the paved streets, buldings and mosaics.

Once again, due to the depth of history and culture here, a good local guide is recommended.

Fez

Another of the four Imperial cities, Fez (or Fes) has two old towns, of which the walled city is UNESCO listed and a modern commercial new town. Over the ages different races and religions have left their mark – Arabs, Spaniards, Jews and Turks.

Wealth came from trade along the gold route with Timbuktu, creating a city of learning with libraries and universities and culture, along with the scholars, philosophers, theologians and astronomers. And trade along the silk route also brought wealth. At one point the city was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, so the city has very different feel to it.

The city has warrens of car-free twisting lanes, vibrant souks, ramparts and artisan quarters along with one of the countries oldest Jewish quarters. One of the highlights is the famous tannery quarter where you can see leather making techniques unchanged since the middle ages. Although the old city is the perfect place to wander and get lost, while taking in the myriad layers of history and culture, a good guide is recommended to help inform you, and also ward off the various street touts.

Erfoud

Erfoud is the entrance to the Saharan dunes. You drive through the lush Ziz Valley Oasis to reach it, and with it’s location on the Algerian border it has a bit of a Wild West feel.

The town is known for its ancient fossils and photogenic Ksar M’Aadid – not to mention its moist sweet dates which you can buy in the local souq. If visiting in October try to time your visit with popular date festival with dancing and music.

From here we suggest a 4 x 4 desert adventure with an overnight trip at a desert camp.

Ouarzazate

Ouarzazate is a majestic desert city, rising almost impossibly above the golden sands on a high plateau. Despite housing one of the world’s biggest film studios (it is also known as the Moroccan Hollywood) the city is pretty laid back and tranquil.

There’s no ancient medina as such here – the reason to visit is simply the natural beauty of the area, its relaxed feel and the magnificant 17th centry Taourirt Kasbah and hilltop Tifoultout Kasbah ruins.

The city makes a good base to explore the surrounding countryside, towns and hillside villages, and conveniently lies between the Oasis city of Tinghir and walled market city of Taroudant. Although it can also be done as a (long) day trip from Marrakech.

Marrakech

The ‘red city’ of Marrakech is the fourth great Imperial city, and was capital for three of Morocco’s greatest dynasties. The ancient medina is a walled medieval city dating to the Berber empire. A maze of alleyways with souks and mosques.

The city is terrifically photogenic with rose red houses and palm tree lined gardens and couryards, against a backdrop of the High Atlas Mountains.

The city is far from old-fashioned however. It is known as the Moroccan capital of chic – with a world-class soccer stadium, world famous film festival, and World Music Festival among others. There are many trendy bars, world-class restaurants, art galleries for folk and modern art.

The central square Djemaa el Fna is a microcosm of what you imagine Morocco to be – with bazaars, mosques, cafes, snake charmers, and fortune tellers! There are fascinating museums and handicraft areas to wander around -a reminder of the city’s long-standing position on ancient trans-Sahara, Asian and Mediterranean trade routes.

Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen (or Chaouen) is a small fortress (Kasbah) city in northwest Morocco, originally founded to fight the Portuguese invaders in the 15th Century.

The city feels more like a country village with its blue-washed walls and an artsy, boho chic feel to it. It’s a place to come to chill and relax and just enjoy the vibe – far away from the hawkers and touts of the major tourist hotspots.

Agadir and the South

Agadir, on the southern Atlantic Coast is a major winter beach resort for Europeans, rebuilt after its destruction by an earthquake in 1960. Inland and to the south are the Souss and the Anti-Atlas, home to Berber populations.

Taroudant, capital of the wide and fertile Souss valley, has massive walls, and animated souks. In the Anti-Atlas mountains, Tafraoute and its valley are stunning with smaller villages in a stunning landscape of pink granite and vast rock formations.

North of Agadir the beaches are less developed and touristy, including Taghazout, Morocco’s number-one surfing resort, and further north the likeable low key resort of Essaouira, with its 18th century fortified town, blue shuttered houses, sardine fishermen and winds which make it a popular kite-surfing destination.

To the south of Agadir, the beaches are scarcely developed with few places to stay. Sidi Rbat is one of Morocco’s best locations for birdwatching – and Sidi Moussa d’Aglou, is worth a stop for its Art Deco colonial architecture and old port area (it was only relinquished by Spain in 1969).

Tangiers

Tangiers is a complicated, yet fascinating city – at the meeting point of two seas, the gateway to the Mediterranean, and the link between Europe and Africa, it has been fought over since ancient times. The Romans took it from the Mediterranean traders, and it was subsequently fought over by European powers. The city became and ‘Independent International City’ and even had its own laws and administration until given to Morocco in 1956.

Tangiers gained a reputation for European-influenced vice and extravagance due to its independent status with no government as such to answer to. With lax taxation and free port status it found itself the home to exiles, refugees, expats, spies, royalty, dubious banks and corrupt companies – all taking advantage of the lenient currency transactions and laws. Writers and artists also came here to escape persecution – among the William Burroughs, Joe Orton and Tennessee Williams.

However, this same libertarian spirit also attracted hustlers and unsavory types, and the hedonism of the brothels of the ‘International City’. After independence much of this was cleaned up, and in recent years the city has been striving to remodel the port and marina and clean up its image.

Today the seedy image has been replaced by a vibrant, modern Mediterranean Beach resort, but you can imagine it as it was as you wander around the Ancient Medina’s alleyways, and ramble around the Ville Nouvelle, where the architecture reflects the predominantly Spanish population in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Inland the Rif Mountains have been largely neglected, and there are some fascinating less-visited fishing villages, walled medinas, sites and remains dating back to the Romans, Carthaginians and Phoenicians, including many legends and sites pertaining to the legendary hero Hercules, who apparently visited here during his labours.