Afrinkong
Nature & LandscapesThe Draa and the Dades
Palm oases strung along the Draa, and gorges cut red through the Dades and the Todra.
Photo outajour mourad / Pexels
MOROCCO · Tourism
Where the Atlas Meets the Sahara
Four thousand metres of High Atlas within three hours of the Atlantic, four imperial cities, and the edge of the Sahara at Merzouga — a country you can cross from surf to dunes in two days.
North AfricaRegion
27Tourism experiences
Atlas, Sahara and the medinasKnown for
01
Featured destinations
Where the country actually takes you.
Nature & Landscapes
The High Atlas
Toubkal is 4,167 metres and the highest point in North Africa, walkable in two days from Imlil.
Photo Gabriel Lorca / Pexels
Ouzoud
A hundred metres of water in three stages, with macaques in the olive trees beside it.
Photo Meriem a / Pexels
The Draa River
The longest river in Morocco, mostly dry, and green the whole way where it is not.
Photo pierre matile / Pexels
The Atlantic Coast
Essaouira's wind, Taghazout's point breaks, and the long empty beaches between them.
The Cedar Forest
The Middle Atlas cedar, some of it a thousand years old, above Ifrane and Azrou.
Photo pierre matile / Pexels
02
Wildlife & safari
What lives here, and how you see it without disturbing it.
Wildlife
Barbary Macaques and the Argan Forest
Macaques in the cedar forest above Azrou, and goats standing in the argan trees near Essaouira.
Photo pierre matile / Pexels
Desert Country
Not the safari of the east — the wildlife here is desert-adapted, and you look for it at first light.
Photo Sem Bogaarts / Pexels
Oasis Agriculture
The khettara irrigation channels still working, and the argan cooperatives run by women.
Photo outajour mourad / Pexels
03
Culture & heritage
The part of a country you cannot photograph from a vehicle.
Culture
Amazigh and Arab
Three Amazigh languages, Arabic, French and Spanish, and a culture that predates all of them.
Traditional PeopleThe People of the Atlas
Village life at two thousand metres, where the year is still organised around the snow.
Photo pierre matile / Pexels
Food & CuisineTagine, Bread and Mint
Slow-cooked tagine, bread baked in the neighbourhood oven, and tea poured from height.
Photo Zak Chapman / Pexels
Moussem and Gnaoua
The Gnaoua festival in Essaouira in June, and the moussems that mark the harvest.
Traditional Arts & CraftsZellige, Leather and Wool
Tile cut by hand in Fez, tanned leather, and carpets woven to patterns held in memory.
Photo Ramon Karolan / Pexels
Volubilis and the Kasbahs
A Roman city on the plain at Volubilis, and Ait Benhaddou standing above the Ounila.
Photo Emre Koşak / Pexels
The Imperial Cities
Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes and Rabat — four capitals, each of a different dynasty.
Photo Ramon Karolan / Pexels
04
Cities & everyday life
Where people actually live between the landmarks.
Marrakesh and Casablanca
Jemaa el-Fnaa at dusk, and the Atlantic modernism of Casablanca an hour up the road.
Photo Uiliam Nörnberg / Pexels
ArchitectureRiad and Medina
Rooms built inward around a courtyard, because the street was never meant to see in.
Photo omar bouragaa / Pexels
Local LifeThe Souk in the Morning
Before the tour groups, the medina is simply where people buy their vegetables.
Photo MAG Photography / Pexels
Family & CommunityEasy Travelling
Short drives, good roads, and a train line down the coast that children enjoy.
Photo Thomas balabaud / Pexels
05
Adventure & outdoors
For travellers who would rather walk it than watch it.
Adventure
Dunes, Gorges and Surf
Trekking in the Atlas, surfing the Atlantic points, and a night out on the erg at Chegaga.
Trek, Surf, Ride
Multi-day Atlas treks, Atlantic surf schools, and horses on the Essaouira sand.
Desert Camps and Riads
Erg Chigaga camps well beyond the day-trip dunes, and riads restored room by room.
06
Travel inspiration
The frames people come home with.
Photography / Scenic ViewsLight on Earth Walls
Pisé takes late light the way nothing else does, which is why every photographer comes here.
Photo Tobias Waibl / Pexels
Chefchaouen and the Rif
The blue town in the Rif, and a mountain range most itineraries drive straight past.
Photo Diego F. Parra / Pexels
Why Visit This Country
Two Days, Four Climates
Surf in the morning, cedar forest by lunch, and the Sahara the following evening.
Two Days, Four Climates
Surf in the morning, cedar forest by lunch, and the Sahara the following evening.
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