Tetouan
Just outside Bab El Okla is the best artisan centre in northern Morocco. This is a fascinating opportunity to see masters teaching apprentices traditional…
Must-see attractions in Morocco
Musée des Arts et Traditions de la Valleé du Draa
Zagora
Follow the signs to this fascinating small museum, where three floors are dedicated to traditional life in the Draa Valley. Look out for tribal jewellery…
Melilla
Perched over the Mediterranean, Melilla la Vieja is a prime example of the fortress strongholds that the Spaniards built along the Moroccan littoral…
Melilla
Nieto’s art-deco Palacio de Asamblea, whose floor plan depicts a ducal crown, is an operating town hall, although the staff at the entrance are willing to…
Ceuta
The most impressive sight in Ceuta is the medieval Royal Walls, which date back over 1000 years and have been passed from Arab to Portuguese to Spanish…
Anti Atlas Mountains
Poet and calligrapher Moulid Nidouissadan paints Amazigh (Berber) proverbs and colourful compositions from natural inks. Free to every visitor is a…
Merzouga
Shape-shifting over 28km from north to south and reaching heights of 160m, the great sand sea of Erg Chebbi is extraordinarily scenic. The rose-gold dunes…
Tetouan
Tetouan's medina is an authentic time machine, with buildings that have witnessed centuries of history. The medina is also very traveller-friendly, with…
High Atlas Mountains
The largest building in Zaouiat Ahansal dominates the surrounding village. Still home to the saint's descendants, the village's oldest building also…
Larache
Set on a hill with spectacular views over the Loukos Estuary, the Carthaginian and Roman ruins of Lixus are evocative reminders that settlements on this…
Rabat
First came the Phoenicians, then the Romans took control of this beautiful hilltop site above the fertile Bou Regreg river plain around 40 CE. From 1154,…
Meknes
The focus of Place El Hedim is this huge gate, perhaps the grandest of all imperial Moroccan gateways. The gate is well preserved, if a bit dulled by soot…
Tazekka National Park
More than 20m wide and 230m deep, the Gouffre de Friouato is said to be the deepest cavern in North Africa, and the cave system is possibly the most…
Rabat
Rabat's historic citadel occupies the site of the original ribat (fortress-monastery) that gave the city its name. Predominately residential, its narrow…
Northern Atlantic Coast
An ochre-walled warren of winding streets, whitewashed houses and hole-in-the-wall shops, Azemmour's medina has yet to undergo an all-encompassing…
Fez
Built in the 17th century to serve the megorashim (Jews descended from those expelled from Spain), this synagogue is trimmed in pretty herringbone green…
Azrou
Azrou's weekly souq is one of the largest in the Middle Atlas and truly a sight to behold, but it's not a souvenir-fest: mountain people come from…
Agadir
If anyone in your party is partial to a reptile, it's almost worth making a special trip to Agadir to visit this park, absolutely teeming with Nile crocs…
Larache
Entered through the Bab Al Khemis, an imposing Hispano-Moorish structure, Larache's blue-and-white medina has changed little over the years. Mostly…
Fez
These lush gardens are a breath of fresh air after the intensity of Fez's medina, and a good walking route between Bab Bou Jeloud and the mellah (Jewish…
Larache
Built by the Spanish, who called it Plaza de España (some locals still do), this grand oval-shaped plaza is the town's focal point. Decorated with palm…
Draa Valley
Non-Muslims cannot visit the green-roofed mausoleum but the remarkable library inside the adjacent Quranic school is open to all – providing the keyholder…
Taroudant
This particular palais defies categorisation: it's a hotel, a museum and the former residence of deceased Chilean painter Claudio Bravo, who selected the…
Rabat
The present king’s father (the late Hassan II) and grandfather were laid to rest in this marble mausoleum, which is decorated with exquisite examples of…
Tetouan
Tetouan boasts one of only two schools of fine arts in Morocco (Casablanca has the other), so it's fitting that this museum should live here. The building…
Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum
Casablanca
This privately owned house-turned-museum showcases Abderrahman Slaoui’s outstanding collection of Moroccan decorative arts, from Orientalist travel…
Fez
The largest car-free urban area in the world, Fez El Bali (Old Fez) is a warren of twisting lanes and centuries-old monuments and mosques. As well…
Kâat Ben Nahid & Bab Debbagh
Leather working is one of Morocco's medieval trades, and the tanneries around Bab Debbagh – ideally situated next to the river from where they draw water…
Marrakesh
If you think a cacti garden isn't worth travelling across the bumpy lunar pistes of outer Marrakesh for, think again. Cactus Thiemann is one of North…
Tangier
St Andrew's Church is one of the more charming oddities of Tangier. Completed in 1894 on land granted by Sultan Hassan, the interior of this Anglican…
Gueliz & Ville Nouvelle
In 2019 MACMA's painting archive was moved to its sister venue, the Orientalist Museum, and this modern gallery shifted its focus to photography,…
Northern Atlantic Coast
Don't miss a boat trip on the Merja Zerga (Blue Lagoon), roughly 1km south of town. Part of a 70 sq km namesake national park (4 sq km of water, the rest…
Medina
Founded in 1325 in the heart of the medina, this school is a marvel of elegant mosaic tiles, magnificent cut plaster as fine as lace and beautiful…
Marrakesh
Travel to Timbuktu and back again via Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint’s art collection, crammed inside this ornate medina riad. Each room represents a…
Fez
If you're interested in how Fez's beautiful pottery and tiles are made, head to Ain Nokbi, a district just outside the medina where potters were relocated…
Akchour
About 45 minutes from Akchour (1.5km), a huge reddish-brown stone arch towers 25m above the river Oued Farda. Unbelievably, the bridge wasn't carved by…
Ouarzazate
Built in the 17th century and extended by the Glaoui clan in the 18th, this commanding hilltop kasbah has now been converted into a privately owned…
Skoura
One of Morocco’s grandest kasbahs, this 17th-century marvel once appeared on the Dh50 note. Signposted just a few hundred metres from the main road, this…
Kâat Ben Nahid & Bab Debbagh
Berber boucharouites (rag rugs made from recycled cloth) may be a poor cousin to the famous jewel-toned Moroccan carpets, but this beautifully collated…
High Atlas Mountains
The many-tiered Cascades d’Ouzoud are stunningly beautiful, with several distinct falls, the largest a massive 100m drop. The area is also one of the most…
