How to plan the ultimate trip to Morocco

Few countries can claim to be as multifaceted as Morocco. Staunchly Islamic and overtly spiritual, this land of minarets crowning Africa is also a heartland for Amazigh (Berber) mountain people and has been fought over for millennia. The vast, colonnaded ruins of Volubilis stand as testament to Morocco’s strategic importance to the Romans, but it was the country’s medieval Arab rulers who set the scene for modern Morocco, building kasbahs, ksars (fortified villages) and medinas. Jews exiled from southern Europe migrated en masse during the 15th century, adding another rich dimension — especially to Morocco’s unique cuisine. But the country has also been buffeted by the cruel winds of colonialism; coastal towns such as Essaouira and Asilah were fought over and fortified by the Portuguese in the 15th century, before Spain and France moved in to snatch territories over the subsequent centuries.

Despite all this — or perhaps, because of it — Morocco has a distinct identity. Since the country gained independence from France in 1956, it’s no surprise that its travel industry has boomed. Many travellers come to tour the imperial cities — Marrakech, Rabat, Meknes and Fez — and discover vestiges of a culture intertwined with the ancient desert trading routes in mud-brick fortress settlements like Aït Benhaddou.

Over the decades, the country’s popularity has been helped by some high-profile fans, too. Between the early 1900s and the 1960s, the literati of Europe and the US found a home in freewheeling Tangier, alongside film stars, artists and musicians, from Cary Grant to Matisse and Jimi Hendrix. All eyes turned to Marrakech when fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé made a home in the art deco villa that once belonged to French artist Jacques Majorelle, saving the strikingly blue building from destruction in the 1980s. Repurposed as a design museum and public garden after Yves Saint Laurent’s death in 2008, the Jardin Majorelle has become one of Morocco’s most-visited attractions. Today, Marrakech’s rose-hued medina is packed with restored palaces, fusion restaurants and design boutiques, making the city a popular short break.

Morocco’s natural assets are just as powerful as its historical ones. The broad beaches of Agadir draw families, while the string of small, breezy communities around the town have found favour with surfers, dreamers and birdwatchers. Then there’s the waterfall-flushed mountains of the High Atlas — topped by Mount Toubkal (13,665ft), the highest peak in North Africa — which draw hikers and bikers. But the showstopper of any Moroccan tour is likely to be the Sahara Desert, the great eastern sand sea that knows no masters or borders, where Tuareg men lead travellers on camelback to desert camps under starry skies, to sleep in the folds of majestic dunes. Here, we look at two itineraries that encapsulate Morocco’s charms.

Itinerary 1: Southern highlights

Millions of travellers make it to Marrakech each year, but not enough allocate time to explore the rest of the country. This tour is a classic loop of the highlights, veering from saffron-scented medinas to mountain villages, giant sand dunes and fortified fishing towns.

From Marrakech, the road ascends into the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass. Mount Toubkal — North Africa’s tallest mountain — is popular with peak-baggers, but there’s also a wonderful clutch of mud-brick hotels in the highland valleys; linger a few days to walk with shepherds and learn about Amazigh culture.

Beyond the mountains, roads lead east to the Sahara. Along the way, crumbling kasbahs and ksars — once strongholds of Amazigh warlords — still dot the ancient African trade routes. Stop off at ochre gorges and hidden hiking valleys, where locals in sapphire-blue turbans appear as if from nowhere to offer sweet mint tea. Sleep amid the dunes in a Saharan camp before making the long journey back west to the coast. Many travellers head straight for the fortified fishing town of Essaouira, but you could also continue on to the bohemian surf and yoga camps at Tagazout, or the family-friendly beach at Agadir.

1. Yves Saint Laurent’s Marrakech
The French-Algerian fashion designer’s impact on Marrakech — and the city’s influence on him — was significant, and this mutual appreciation continues thanks to the Jardin Majorelle and Musée Yves Saint Laurent. The latter, a striking museum, focuses on the designer’s fashions and how he was influenced by Morocco, while the photogenic gardens have a small museum dedicated to Amazigh fashions.

2. Ouirgane Valley
Juniper, olive and walnut trees fill the dips and curves of Ouirgane in the High Atlas. It’s one of several valleys ideal for gentle foothill hikes, but receives far fewer visitors than most as it’s off the Marrakech day-trip circuit. Locally owned Chez Momo II, a mud-brick hotel with cottages surrounding a pool, is a good base.

3. Aït Benhaddou
In the early 1960s, location scouts for the film Lawrence of Arabia saw the magic in this rammed-earth ksar. Its starring role in the movie — and many other big- and small-screen outings since, including Game of Thrones — has made it a highlight of the drive to the Sahara. In recent years, locals have invited artists to set up galleries inside the fortified village’s abandoned houses, launched the Orality House, an Amazigh cultural centre, and opened a teahouse called Tawesna, a social enterprise run by women.

4. Erg Chebbi
Riding a camel through the sands of the Sahara is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The most accessible tours run from the village of Merzouga to Erg Chebbi — where the dunes rise to 160 metres and stretch for 17 miles — but even then it takes around nine hours by car from Marrakech to reach them. The dunes are at their most majestic when they turn amber at sunset. Most excursions end at a cushion-strewn camp with simple beds, a fireside feast, Amazigh music and inky skies electrified by the Milky Way.

5. Essaouira
Although it has a broad, sandy beach, this fortified coastal town is fanned by strong Atlantic breezes that make it better suited to kitesurfing than sunbathing. Colourful sails can be seen out at sea between April and August, surfers ride the waves from September to March and the port is always a hive of small fishing boats. Behind the town’s coastal ramparts, there’s also a charming blue-and-white medina, packed with artist studios. It’s particularly lively in late June when Essaouira hosts the Gnaoua World Music Festival.

Itinerary 2: Northern circuit

As the mountains sweep north through Morocco, the High Atlas peter out into the Middle Atlas and then give way to the Rif Mountains before hitting the north coast. The weather becomes a little more temperate and the valleys more fertile than in the south, giving rise to wineries and fragrant cedarwood forests. This region sees noticeably fewer travellers, but that doesn’t mean it’s low on sights.

Tangier, with its mellow, kasbah-topped medina, is a gateway into Morocco for overland travellers coming by ferry. Just 22 miles from Spain, the country’s northernmost city has long celebrated its close links to Europe and cosmopolitan foundations. High-speed trains from Casablanca now whiz travellers up to Tangier in two hours, but hiring a car provides more freedom to explore other, lesser-visited coastal towns like artsy Asilah, as well as the UNESCO-listed Roman city of Volubilis and wineries around the ancient city of Meknes.

The exceptionally photogenic city of Chefchaouen — high in the Rif Mountains, washed in blue and surrounded by hills of spruce — is a big draw between Fez and Tangier, but day-trippers have created overtourism issues. Stay overnight to experience the town at quieter times or consider other rural outposts such as the charming pilgrimage town of Moulay Idriss, before circling back to the nearby city of Fez — a spiritual, cultural and gastronomic heartland for many Moroccans, and the world’s largest car-free urban area.

1. Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
This seafront landmark is one of only two mosques in Morocco that can be visited by non-Muslims, and tours offer a rare opportunity to learn about the country’s faith. Built by King Hassan II in the early 1990s, it’s the largest mosque in Morocco and one of the biggest in Africa, catering to over 100,000 worshippers at a time. Descend into the basement to see the exquisite marble ablution fountains before visiting the five-acre prayer hall — a masterclass in traditional Moroccan craftsmanship. Afterwards, join locals promenading along the coastal corniche.

2. Asilah
Essaouira’s alter-ego, this fortified coastal town has a similarly blue-and-white aesthetic to its cousin further south, but has retained a more traditional atmosphere and receives nowhere near as many visitors. It’s famous for its street art: every year, the whitewashed medina buildings are repainted by new artists-in-residence as an ever-evolving outdoor gallery. The medina’s defensive walls were built by the Portuguese, who briefly captured the port in the 15th century before Spanish rule prevailed. Beyond lies a string of beaches popular in summer with holidaying Moroccans.

3. Tangier’s teahouses
Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger and Beat generation writers including Jack Kerouac have all passed through Tangier’s fabled cafes over the decades. Morocco’s northernmost town developed a cosmopolitan personality between 1912 and 1956, when it operated as an international zone before the country’s independence from France and Spain. Today, the town has become a breeding ground for designers and chic boutiques, but echoes of its louche past can still be felt on the seaview terraces of 1920s Cafe Hafa, inside the hip cafe of the art deco Cinema Rif and through the arabesque windows of shabby Cafe Baba, where hip-hop mingles with mint tea.

4. Moulay Idriss Zerhoun
Named for Morocco’s first Islamic ruler — the eighth-century sultan said to be descended from the Prophet Muhammad — Moulay Idriss Zerhoun is a whitewashed pilgrimage town scenically scattered across two hills close to the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Only opened to non-Muslims in 1912, the town still has just a handful of riads and lots of traditional charm. To reach Volubilis, travellers can walk downhill for three miles through the countryside, or hire donkeys to take them from Dar Zerhoune guesthouse.

5. Fez el Bali
Once you come to terms with the fact you’re guaranteed to get lost in Fez’s never-ending medina, it’s a fascinating place to wander. Donkeys still carry leather hides to the tanneries, locals take their bread to the ferran (communal wood-burning oven) and artisans hammer metal, dye fabrics and carve wood in hidden squares and funduqs (roadside inns). Atmospheric Fez el Bali is the oldest district, founded in the eighth century and home to medersas (religious schools), mansions, museums and minarets that crescendo with melodic calls to prayer throughout the day.