No. 01The red city
Photograph: Rol247*, CC BY 4.0
Marrakech, read the Marrakech guide
A red-walled medina, Jemaa el-Fnaa at dusk and the Atlas on the horizon.
Read the Marrakech guide
No. 01The Morocco issue
Morocco, one city at a time.
Where to go, how many days to give it, what to eat, and what to sort out before you fly.
ContentsThe places
Six places, and what each one is for.
No. 02The old capital
Photograph: Jorge Franganillo, CC BY 2.0
Fes, read the Fes guide
Fes el-Bali: a UNESCO-listed medina of tanneries, madrasas and lanes too narrow for cars.
Read the Fes guide
No. 03The Rif
Photograph: Mark Fischer, CC BY-SA 2.0
Chefchaouen, read the Chefchaouen guide
A blue-washed town in the mountains, best walked early, before the day-trippers.
Read the Chefchaouen guide
No. 04Erg Chebbi
Photograph: Sergey Pesterev, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sahara, read the Sahara guide
The dunes at Merzouga: a camel ride in, a night in camp, sunrise from the crest.
Read the Sahara guide
No. 05The Atlantic
Photograph: DimiTalen, CC0
Essaouira, read the Essaouira guide
A port of white walls, blue fishing boats and a wind that rarely drops.
Read the Essaouira guide
No. 06The High Atlas
Photograph: Erokhin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Atlas, read the Atlas trekking guide
Amazigh villages, terraced valleys and Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa.
Read the Atlas trekking guide
The featureRiads, dunes, lanes
Behind the plain doors
Three pieces for a first trip: the bathhouse, a night in the dunes, and the old lanes.
Most of Morocco's beauty is kept indoors. The street gives you a plain wall and a closed door; the courtyard behind it is the reason you came.
Etiquette
What to expect in a hammam
What to bring, what to keep on, and how the scrub works, for a first visit to a public or spa hammam.
The desert
Choosing a camp at Erg Chebbi
Simple, comfortable or luxury: how the Merzouga camps differ, and what a night in the dunes is really like.
The medina
How to find your way in a medina
Landmarks, not street names: reading the old cities of Fes and Marrakech without a guide.
RoutesFour itineraries
How many days do you have?
3days
Marrakech, Ourika
A long weekend in Marrakech
Bahia Palace, Jardin Majorelle, the souks, a cooking class and a day in the Ourika Valley.
7days
Marrakech, Merzouga, Fes
Marrakech, the Sahara and Fes
Over the High Atlas to a night in the dunes, then north to the Fes medina.
10days
Todra, Merzouga, Fes, Chefchaouen
Marrakech to Chefchaouen
Ait Benhaddou, Todra Gorge and Erg Chebbi, then Fes and the blue town in the Rif.
14days
Fes, Chefchaouen, Tangier, Rabat
Marrakech to Tangier
Desert, imperial cities and the north: Fes, Chefchaouen, Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca.
The tableFood
Tagine is only the start.
Msemen and mint tea for breakfast, harira when the fast breaks in Ramadan, grills in the square after dark.
AlmanacPractical
Before you go
Money, plugs, language, entry, time and the numbers to call. Check entry rules for your own passport.
- Money
- MAD
- The Moroccan dirham. A closed currency, so you get it on arrival; cash machines are easy to find in cities. Money in Morocco
- Plugs
- C and E
- Round two-pin European sockets at 220 V, 50 Hz. Bring an adapter from the UK or US. What to pack
- Language
- Darija
- Moroccan Arabic day to day, Amazigh in the mountains and the south, and French widely understood. Learn some Darija
- Entry
- 90 days
- Visa-free for many passports, including the UK, EU, US, Canada and Australia. Check the rule for yours. Visa rules
- Time
- GMT+1
- For most of the year. Clocks go back an hour, to GMT, during Ramadan. Travelling in Ramadan
- Emergency
- 19, 15, 177
- Police 19, ambulance and fire 15. Outside the cities, the Gendarmerie on 177. Emergency guide
Colophon
Our tour partner: Serenity Morocco Tours
If you would rather not plan it yourself, Serenity Morocco Tours runs private, custom trips with their own driver-guides, from their base in Casablanca. Tell them your dates and they will suggest a route.
Your request goes to our tour partner, Serenity Morocco Tours, who will reply with a quote.
Disclosure: City Tours Morocco is affiliated with Serenity Morocco Tours. Every guide on this site is free to read, whether or not you book with them.