"Must sees in our region"

This is only a 'problem' for the kind of tourist that follows other people's 'must see' lists to visit things they are not really interested in,just because someone else thinks they should.

Exactly.
And to me that, not actually enjoying things a lot, is travel "snobbery".

Never bothered with the Casablanca mosque either.
Would have much preferred visiting old ones in the royal cities.
I also enjoyed Fes a lot. More so than Marrakesh.
Though the mosques and shrines of Iran still get my vote for the most impressive Islamic architecture. The Taj doesn't even come close in my eyes. :-)

Did you do much hiking in Morocco Laszlo? It's one of my favourite countries for hiking.

The mosque I really wanted to get into was in Moulay Idriss, since everyone else in the town was going into the mosque. The grand one in the middle of Fez looked very inviting as well. Aw well. At least some countries let you into the mosques. Like Turkey. And Pakistan.

It has always surprised me that Morocco, which is so open to Western tourists, has adopted a stricter stance than other, less welcoming Muslim countries.

Most Muslim countries let you into their mosques, I think.

I did some hiking in Morocco but not much.
I found the mountains too barren and the people far less friendly than in most Muslim countries.

Fes was something really special for me, more traditional than Marrakesh.

The Taj is basically a Persian styled building, built with Indian materials and craftsmen. Whatever the masons of Esfahan had, they didn't have Rajasthani marble, nor the pietra dura artisans of India to decorate it.

But I'll happily go to Iran and test out your theory, whenever they give me a visa.

Really?? That's rather different. I found the people in Morocco's mountains remarkably friendly and hospitable. Perhaps the most hospitable people I've ever met, in fact, at least in some of the villages.

I'm not well traveled in the Arab world, but Malaysia and Indonesia are two places where some of the mosques will let you in and some won't. A very small number of mosques that I visited in India wouldn't allow non-Muslims in; mostly mosques in touristy areas, where I think they were afraid of getting mobbed with misbehaving tourists disrupting prayers. I don't think I visited any mosques when I was in Iraq, now that I think about it...

And to me that, not actually enjoying things a lot, is travel "snobbery".

Travel snobbery has always been the biggest thorn in the Thorntree. The supercilious and self-important contributors need to understand that they don't "do travel" better than anyone else but I doubt that will happen anytime soon as it needs a life-change to change a character.

But just like food, cities, towns and temples are all different. It's only a matter whether you can tell the difference or not.

No - that's not true ... that is blaming the victim.

And to be honest, it's insider snobbery - whether we are talking about food, wine, fashion, perfume, films, cars ... or indeed Italian historical centres. I'm quite Bolshie about this - additional "Knowledge" about a field of endeavour does not privilege anyone, over the average punter.

It's pure snobbery and exclusion. Foodies (and middle-aged men riding bicycles) I despise the most.

Sounds more like "tall poppy syndrome". I understand it' an Australian specialty.

Interesting comment.

I agree that there's always a risk of thinking that one's own experiences are definitive/the acme, and that everyone else ought to do the same (I exhort myself). Hence over-inflated opinions of one's usefulness here.

Yes,you said it thomas ;-)

There are some contributors who would be missed a lot,and others......