Morocco is one of the most visually diverse countries on earth. Within a single day’s drive you can move from Atlantic ocean to Sahara desert, from Roman ruins to medieval medinas, from snow-capped Atlas peaks to flowering oases. These nine places are where the beauty is most concentrated.
1. Erg Chebbi, Merzouga
The Sahara’s most spectacular dune field. Nothing else in Morocco — or perhaps anywhere — prepares you for the sight of 150-metre sand dunes turning red at sunset.
2. Chefchaouen Medina
Every wall, staircase and doorway painted blue. The Rif Mountains rising behind. Cats sleeping in doorways. This is Morocco at its most painterly.
3. Aït Benhaddou
The UNESCO-listed ksar rising from the Drâa Valley — a cluster of earthen towers and kasbahs that has appeared in more Hollywood films than any other Moroccan location.
4. Todra Gorge
Three-hundred-metre walls of pink limestone just metres apart. The light at midday turns the stone luminous. One of the great natural spectacles of North Africa.
5. Fès el-Bali
The medieval medina of Fès is the largest car-free urban area in the world. Getting genuinely lost in its 9,000 alleys is not just possible — it is the whole point.
6. Drâa Valley
A 200-kilometre oasis of palm groves, kasbahs and villages stretching south from Ouarzazate toward the desert. The road through it is one of the great drives in Africa.
7. Essaouira Ramparts
Walking the sea walls of Essaouira at sunset, with the Atlantic crashing below and seagulls overhead, is an experience of extraordinary serenity.
8. Marrakech at Night
Jemaa el-Fna after dark, when the food stalls are lit and the storytellers are performing, is the most theatrical public space in the world.
9. Ourika Valley
Just 30 kilometres from Marrakech, the Ourika Valley in the High Atlas offers waterfalls, Berber villages and some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in Morocco.
