Things to do in Morocco

Morocco reads as bands. The Atlantic runs the whole west side; the Rif and a short Mediterranean shore close the north. Three ranges of Atlas cross the middle, and behind them the land dries out.

The four imperial cities

Four cities have held the court, and the title is all they share.

• Fes — the oldest, the spiritual capital, and the least rearranged for visitors.
• Meknes — Moulay Ismail's seventeenth-century capital, with Roman Volubilis half an hour north.
• Marrakesh — the southern base, and the departure board for mountains and sand.
• Rabat — the capital: ministries, a kasbah over the river mouth, an unfinished minaret.

Two coasts and the ranges between

The Atlantic side is long, cold and windy. The Mediterranean corner is short and green. They behave nothing alike.

• The Atlantic — Casablanca and the main airport, then Essaouira and Agadir, cold water and steady wind.
• The north — Tangier facing Spain, Tetouan and blue Chefchaouen behind it in the Rif.
• The Middle Atlas — cedar forest and lakes around Ifrane and Azrou, snowy in winter.
• The High Atlas — Berber valleys, and the wall between the fertile north and the pre-Sahara.

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck the High Atlas in September 2023. Close to three thousand died, most in the valleys south-west of Marrakesh. A five-year rebuilding programme followed.

How far the desert is

Merzouga and Erg Chebbi sit 560 km from Marrakesh, nine hours by road over the Tizi n'Tichka pass. That road passes Ait Ben Haddou, UNESCO-listed since 1987. M'Hamid and Erg Chegaga are the other way in.

The desert therefore sells in loops of days, not as an outing.

Practical

• Seasons. Spring and autumn are the best time to visit Morocco. Inland summers pass 38C, the coast stays in the twenties, and the High Atlas holds snow from December.
• Between cities. Al Boraq does Tangier to Casablanca in 2h10, and the classic line reaches Fes, Marrakesh and Oujda. South of that it is a CTM coach or a hired driver.
• Money. The dirham cannot be bought abroad. Cash rules the souks; cards work in hotels and chains.
• Ramadan. It falls eleven days earlier each year. Medina cafes shut in daylight, hotel restaurants do not, and everyone eats at sunset.
• Tipping. Round up in cafes, five to ten per cent in restaurants, a few dirhams for a parking attendant.
• Guides. Licensed guides carry a badge. The men at medina gates do not, and their tour ends in a shop.
• Mosques. Working mosques are closed to non-Muslims, bar one exception in Casablanca.