Morocco

Marrakesh gave its name to the kingdom of which it was long the capital. Enchantingly sited at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains, its rose-coloured walls set within lush green gardens, olive groves and palmeries, it is hard to imagine that Marrakesh, one of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities, lies on the edge of the Sahara. Its very name conjures up images of magic carpets and snake charmers – and not without reason. After dark, the central square in the medina, Jemaa-el-Fna, comes to life and puts on a show little changed since medieval times. It is a riot of enticing colour, noise and smells, with dancers, fire-eaters and acrobats, snake charmers and snake oil salesmen, story tellers and fortune-tellers and rows of trestle tables serving up smoking barbecues and mouth-watering tajines. Around this vast open space stretch the shadowy alleyways of the souks, a vast marketplace selling herbs and potions, carpets and candles, jewellery, spices, meat and metalwork. Marrakesh has long been an important crossroads and trading centre for the Arabic, Berber and black African civilisation. To the Arabic northerners, it is seen as the “beginning of the south”.
Fes

Fes (Fez) is Morocco’s oldest Imperial city and its “old town” is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Founded in the 9th century and home to the oldest university in the world, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the principal monuments in the medina – madrasas, fondouks, palaces, residences, mosques and fountains – date from this period. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country’s cultural and spiritual centre. The Medina (old town) is called Fes el-Bali and behind its high walls is a magical, medieval city just teeming with life in every one of its 9000 narrow streets.
Meknes

Meknes is smaller and a little more laid back than Marrakech and Fes yet this imperial city has similar charms. The Imperial City, built by the powerful Moulay Ismail in the 17th Century, is a showcase of Moroccan architecture complete with huge gates and impressive carvings. Nicknamed the Moroccan Versailles, Meknes contains the Sultan’s palace and grounds and a wonderfully preserved medina filled with souqs which are easy to navigate without a guide. The Roman ruins of Volubilis and the holy city of Moulay-Idriss, founded in AD 788, lie to the north.

The Atlas Mountains stretch over 1,500 miles from Morocco’s West Coast to Tunisia and are home to North Africa’s highest peak, Jebel Toubkal (4,167 m).

Given the proximity of the mountains to Marrakech (approx. 40 minutes), the High Atlas are a popular destination to escape the hustle and bustle of the souks and the medina where the tranquillity of Berber (the original inhabitants of North Africa) village life provides the perfect contrast to the hubbub of the city.

Trekking through the Toubkal National Park is highly recommended where footpaths and mule tracks mount through lush, irrigated terraces, apple orchards and walnut groves to villages where the Berber way of life has changed little for centuries and traditional values and hospitality are unaffected by the outside world.

For the less active mountain retreats offer superb panoramic views of snowcapped mountains, valleys and waterfalls.

Essaouira is a laid back coastal town that offers travellers a welcome respite from the hubbub of Marrakech just a few hours away.

Essaouira’s medina is walled like many of the old towns in Morocco and locals and visitors alike enjoy strolling along the impressive ramparts (built upon cliffs) as the sun sets. The souqs within are relativley quiet and clean and thus the medina offers shoppers a relatively relaxed experience (but not necessarily a cheaper one!) and, as it is free from cars, one can walk around at ease.

As Essaouira is on the Atlantic coast the water is pretty cold and it is also quite windy and so not ideal for swimming or sunbathing (although great for both surfing and kite surfing) but the beach is lovely for a stroll and since it runs for about 6 miles (10km) there’s plenty of it.

The port is always alive with fishing boats and watching the daily catch being sold every afternoon to the restaurants around the harbour is a fun experience.

The Erg Chebbi sand dunes, measuring 22 kms long and 5 kms wide, offer desert enthusiasts an astonishing experience.

Being the most accessible sand dunes in the Moroccan Sahara they are however still a distance to reach (being around ten hours by car from both Marrakech and Fes) and so visiting the South East of Morocco is not for those with a limited time frame.

For the determined though the journey is worth every second for sleeping under the stars in a Berber tent, enjoying a sunrise camel trek where you will see the dunes change from a pale yellow colour to a deep orange glow and witnessing a silence only the desert can offer all contribute to making it a truly unforgettable experience.