Tours in Morocco

Morocco is arranged in bands. The Atlantic runs down the west side; the Rif and the Mediterranean close the north. The Middle and High Atlas cross the middle, and behind them the land dries into the Sahara.

So the first decision is not what to see but which band to sleep in.

• Marrakesh — the busiest base, and the departure board for mountains and desert.
• Fes and Meknes — the older imperial pair, craft guilds and madrasas, Roman Volubilis between them.
• Rabat — the capital: a kasbah over the estuary, a minaret nobody finished.
• Casablanca — the working city and the main airport, with the Hassan II Mosque over the water.
• Tangier and Chefchaouen — the north: Spain visible across the strait, and a town painted blue in the Rif.
• Essaouira and Agadir — the Atlantic: wind and ramparts in one, sheltered beach and warm winters in the other.
• The High Atlas — Berber villages, Toubkal at 4,167 m, snow on the passes from December.
• Merzouga and Zagora — the two ways into the desert, the tall dunes of Erg Chebbi or the stony run to Erg Chegaga.

Distances are the catch. Marrakesh to Fes is a full day by road, seven hours by train. Merzouga sits 560 km from Marrakesh, which is why the desert is sold in days rather than hours.

The medinas are what most people come for, and they are worked rather than preserved. Tanners, dyers and coppersmiths still hold their own lanes. A guide is the difference between shopping and understanding. Cooking classes begin at a market stall.

Outdoors is the other half. The High Atlas gives day walks out of Imlil and a two-day plod up Toubkal. The Atlantic gives cold water and the surf breaks north of Agadir. The desert is a different purchase again: long 4x4 transfers, a camel hour at dusk, a night under canvas.

Almost everything sells in two shapes. A seat in a shared minibus costs about what a good dinner costs. A private car runs several times that, and it moves when you do.

Practical

• Seasons. The best time to visit Morocco is spring or autumn. Inland summers pass 38C in July and August while the coast stays in the twenties. Winter brings rain to the Rif, snow to the High Atlas and near-freezing desert nights.
• Ramadan. The month moves eleven days earlier each year. Medina cafés shut in daylight, hotel restaurants do not, and everyone eats at sunset.
• Money. The dirham is a closed currency, so you cannot buy it before you land. Cash rules the souks; cards work in hotels and chains.
• Between cities. Trains link Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Fes and Marrakesh; the fast line does Tangier to Casablanca in two hours. Everything else is a CTM or Supratours bus, or a car with a driver.
• Tipping. Round up in cafés, five to ten per cent in restaurants, a few dirhams for the man watching your car.
• Guides. Licensed ones carry a badge; the men waiting at medina gates do not, and their tour ends in a shop.
• Mosques. Non-Muslims cannot enter working mosques here, with the Hassan II in Casablanca the one large exception.