The best things to do in Morocco.

Marrakech rewards travellers who slow down: a walled medina of souks and palaces opens onto serene gardens, rooftop cafes and the snow-capped Atlas beyond. From sunrise calls to prayer to the nightly theatre of Jemaa el-Fna, here are the experiences worth your time.

Morocco's spiritual and craft capital rewards slow exploration. From the maze of Fes el-Bali to working tanneries, Merinid medersas and ancient Roman ruins nearby, here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Fes is Morocco's spiritual and cultural capital, and its walled medina, Fes el-Bali, is the world's largest car-free urban area. Two days let you go beyond the headline sights into the artisan quarters and the hills around the city. Here is a paced two-day plan for the imperial city.

With only one day in Fes, the goal is to see the medieval medina's great landmarks in a sensible, walkable order rather than chase everything. This route starts at the Blue Gate, threads down through the souks to the spiritual heart of Fes el-Bali, takes in the tannery and the woodwork museum, and finishes at a hilltop viewpoint for sunset. Because Fes el-Bali is the world's largest car-free medina and famously easy to get lost in, going with a local guide for at least the medina section makes a single day far less stressful and far more rewarding.

Fes is widely regarded as the craft capital of Morocco, and its medina is as much a vast working workshop as it is a place to live. Skills here are passed down through families and guilds, and many of the techniques have changed little in centuries. This guide covers the great Fassi crafts — zellige tilework, the famous Fes-blue pottery and ceramics, brass and metalwork, cedar woodwork, weaving and textiles — and where you can watch artisans at work and buy what they make responsibly.

The medina of Fes el-Bali is one of the world's great market cities, and for centuries its trades have been organised into specialised quarters — each lane and square given over to a single craft or commodity. This guide is about the souks themselves and the experience of shopping in them: which souk sells what, the sounds and smells that fill the air, how haggling works and why there's no need to feel pressured to buy. It covers wandering and getting pleasantly lost, what's genuinely worth carrying home, the fixed-price alternative for a calmer browse, and the practicalities of shipping larger pieces.

Fes el-Bali, founded in the 9th century, is the world's largest car-free medina — a UNESCO World Heritage maze of roughly nine thousand lanes. It can overwhelm on a first visit, so these are the landmarks and quarters to anchor your wandering around.

Fes sits within reach of Roman ruins, a holy hilltop town, cedar forests with wild monkeys and the gateway towns to the Sahara. These are the best day trips from the imperial city, with honest drive times so you can plan a realistic day.

Fes can feel intense for younger travellers — the medina is a busy, narrow maze — but the city pairs that history with green spaces, big viewpoints and hands-on crafts that children enjoy. With a little planning (and an easy day trip into the cedar forest), Fes makes a memorable family stop.

The tanneries are Fes's signature sight — medieval leather works where hides are still cured and dyed by hand much as they were centuries ago. The largest and most famous is the Chouara, but the medina has others, and knowing how the process works and how to visit makes the experience far richer.

The Chouara is the largest and most famous of Fes's medieval tanneries, worked by hand for centuries in the heart of Fes el-Bali. Its honeycomb of round stone vats — white ones for curing, coloured ones for dyeing — is the single most iconic image of the city. You do not walk among the pits; you look down on them from the rooftop terraces of the leather shops that ring the site. This guide covers how to reach a terrace, why you are handed a sprig of mint, how the leather is softened and dyed, what to buy, how to photograph it respectfully, and how to fit the visit into a day in the medina.

The Bou Inania Madrasa is a 14th-century Marinid college founded by Sultan Abu Inan Faris around the 1350s, set just off Talaa Kebira in Fes el-Bali. It is widely considered one of the finest surviving examples of Marinid architecture, with exceptional carved cedar, deep stucco work and tile mosaic (zellige) framing a marble courtyard, all beneath a green-tiled minaret. Unusually, it served as both a teaching madrasa and a congregational mosque, and it remains one of the few religious buildings in Fes that non-Muslims may enter. Across the narrow lane stands the Dar al-Magana, a house that once held a famous medieval water clock. This guide covers what to see, the craftsmanship to look for, the courtyard, the water clock opposite, dress and etiquette, how long to allow, and how to combine the visit with Talaa Kebira and Bab Boujloud.

Bab Boujloud — also written Bab Bou Jeloud — is the grand western gateway into Fes el-Bali and the medina's most recognisable landmark. The ornate monumental gate seen today was built in 1913, during the early French protectorate, in a Moorish and Marinid-revival style, replacing a plainer older entrance. It is famous for its glazed zellige tilework: predominantly blue on the outer, city-facing side, which gives it the nickname the "Blue Gate", and green on the inner, medina-facing side, green being the colour associated with Islam and with Fes itself. Frame your view through its three horseshoe arches and you catch the minarets of the Bou Inania and Sidi Lahcen mosques rising beyond. The gate opens directly onto the two great arteries of the old medina, Talaa Kebira and Talaa Seghira, and is ringed by cafe terraces that make it a classic spot for a mint tea and a long session of people-watching. This guide covers the gate and its tilework, the framed-minaret view, the cafe terraces, photography, and how to use Bab Boujloud as the front door to a medina walk.

The Al-Attarine Madrasa is an early-14th-century Marinid college founded by Sultan Abu Said Uthman around the 1320s, set right beside the Qarawiyyin mosque-university in the heart of Fes el-Bali. It takes its name from the adjacent Attarine souk, the lane of spice and perfume sellers it sits within. Though small, it is widely regarded as one of the jewels of Marinid craftsmanship, with exquisite zellige mosaic, finely carved cedar, delicate stucco and a marble courtyard set around a central fountain. Unlike the neighbouring Qarawiyyin, the madrasa is open to non-Muslim visitors, making it a rare chance to study this decoration up close. This guide covers what to see, the courtyard and upper student cells, the craftsmanship to look for, its setting in the spice souk, dress and etiquette, how long to allow, and how to combine the visit with the Qarawiyyin exterior and the Nejjarine quarter.

The Andalusian Quarter (Adwat al-Andalus) is the eastern half of Fes el-Bali, set across the Oued Fes river from the famous Qarawiyyin side. According to long tradition it was settled in the 9th century by Andalusian refugees from Córdoba, just as the opposite bank received refugees from Kairouan in Tunisia, which is why the old city has two historic quarters facing each other across the river. Today the Andalusian side is quieter, more residential and far less touristed than the Qarawiyyin core, with steep lanes winding up the hillside toward the Bab Ftouh gate and its cemetery. At its heart stands the Andalusian Mosque (Jamaa al-Andalus, the Mosque of the Andalusians) with its grand monumental gateway, and nearby is the Sahrij (As-Sahrij) Madrasa, prized for its fine zellij. This guide covers the history of the two banks, the Andalusian Mosque and its gate, the Sahrij Madrasa, the quiet residential lanes and local life, the Bab Ftouh gate and cemetery, how to cross from the Qarawiyyin side, photography, and visiting respectfully.

Place R'cif, the square around Bab R'cif, is one of the main gates and gathering places of Fes el-Bali, set in the lower part of the old medina near the course of the Oued Fes — the river that runs through the city and is largely built over or covered as it passes through the heart of the medina. It is a busy, working hub rather than a polished monument: the R'cif Mosque with its green-tiled minaret rises above the square, a daily market spreads out with produce, fish and everyday goods, and the square is one of the key petits-taxis pick-up and drop-off points for the old city. For many visitors R'cif is above all an orientation landmark, a relatively open space roughly between the Qarawiyyin and Andalusian quarters that makes it far easier to enter or leave the maze. Nearby, the river resurfaces in places, and old bridges and the memory of water mills recall the medina's long hydraulic past. This guide covers Place R'cif as a gate, square and taxi hub, the R'cif Mosque, the market and everyday life, the Oued Fes and the medina's water heritage, using R'cif to navigate, respectful photography of local life, and combining it with the Qarawiyyin and Andalusian quarters.

Tucked into the heart of Fes el-Bali, the Nejjarine quarter takes its name from the carpenters and woodworkers ("nejjarine" means carpenters) whose souk has clustered here for centuries. The square's centrepiece is the beautiful Nejjarine Fountain, a richly tiled public fountain framed in carved cedar and zellige that is one of the most photographed in the medina. Beside it stands the Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts, housed in a superbly restored early-18th-century fondouk, a galleried courtyard caravanserai that once lodged travelling merchants and their goods. Inside, the museum displays antique Moroccan woodwork, doors, musical instruments and craftsmen's tools, and a rooftop terrace café offers sweeping views over the rooftops of Fes. This guide covers the fountain, the fondouk architecture, the woodwork collection, the rooftop view, the surrounding carpenters' souk and the scent of cedar, how long to allow, dress and etiquette, and how to fold the visit into a wider medina walk.

On the edge of Fes el-Bali, a short walk from the Blue Gate of Bab Boujloud, the Dar Batha Museum (Musée Dar Batha) occupies a late-19th-century summer palace built in a Hispano-Moorish style. Begun under Sultan Hassan I and completed under his successor Moulay Abdelaziz, the palace was later given over to the state and opened as a museum of Moroccan arts and crafts. Today it gathers some of the finest examples of traditional Fassi craftsmanship under one roof, and it is especially renowned for its collection of "Fes blue" faience ceramics and zellij tilework, alongside carved and painted woodwork, embroidery, carpets, astrolabes and manuscripts. For many visitors the highlight is not a single object but the large Andalusian garden at the heart of the palace, a tranquil walled courtyard shaded by a grand old tree. The museum is also associated with the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music, which has used the garden as a concert setting. This guide covers the palace architecture, the ceramics and zellij collection, the woodwork and other crafts, the Andalusian garden, how long to allow, dress and etiquette, photography, and how to combine the visit with Bab Boujloud and the medina.

Set between Fes el-Bali and Fes el-Jdid, just below the Blue Gate of Bab Boujloud, the Jnan Sbil Gardens (Jardin Jnan Sbil, also known as the Bou Jeloud Gardens) are one of the oldest public gardens in Fes. Laid out as a royal garden — generally dated to the 18th century — and historically watered from the Oued Fes, the gardens were later opened to the public and underwent a major restoration, reopening to visitors around 2011 after several years of work. Today they offer a tranquil green retreat from the noise and crowds of the medina: tall date palms and mature trees, stands of bamboo, fountains and a central lake or water basin, with Andalusian-style plantings arranged along shaded paths. For Fassis and visitors alike the gardens are a favourite spot for an unhurried stroll, a cool pause in the heat of the day, and an easy, family-friendly green space within walking distance of the old city's main gates. This guide covers the garden landscape and its lake, the history and restoration, the calm escape it offers from the medina, families and strolling, how to get there by Bab Boujloud, the best time to visit, combining it with the medina and Dar Batha, and photography.

On the hillside that rises to the north of Fes el-Bali stand two of the city's best vantage points. Borj Nord is a 16th-century fortress built in the Saadian period under Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, set on the slope to command and overlook the old medina; today it houses the Arms Museum (Musée des Armes), with a large collection of weaponry spanning many periods. A short way along the same ridge are the ruined Merinid (Marinid) Tombs, weathered fragments of a royal necropolis from the Marinid dynasty. Together this hillside gives the classic panorama over the whole walled medina, a sweep of flat rooftops, minarets and city gates that is especially striking at sunset, when the call to prayer rolls up the valley from the mosques below. This guide covers the viewpoint and panorama, the Arms Museum at Borj Nord, the Merinid Tombs ruins, the best light, how to get up there, photography, and how to combine the climb with a wider visit to the medina.

Fes el-Bali is a deep, sunken labyrinth. Its lanes are narrow, walled and often roofed, and the great mosques and madrasas turn their richest faces inward to courtyards, so there are very few street-level vantage points from which to see the city as a whole. In Fes, the views are up. The finest panoramas come from above: the rooftop terraces of riads, cafés and restaurants tucked among the medina's rooftops, where you can sit over a glass of mint tea and look across a sea of flat roofs and minarets; the upper terraces of the leather shops that ring the Chouara tannery; the rooftop of the Nejjarine museum; and, just outside and above the medina on the northern hillside, the classic citywide panorama from Borj Nord and the Merinid Tombs. This guide explains why the views are up in Fes, where to find rooftop terraces and how to be a respectful guest, the tannery and Nejjarine rooftops, the Borj Nord and Merinid Tombs hillside, the best light at sunset, and photography and etiquette on the roofs.

Beside the Royal Palace in Fes el-Jdid lies the Mellah, widely described as one of the oldest Jewish quarters in Morocco, with origins in the 14th century under the Marinid dynasty. For centuries it was home to a thriving Jewish community whose presence is woven into the long history of Fes; most of that community emigrated in the mid-20th century, but the quarter and its monuments remain. The Mellah looks unlike the rest of the medina: where Muslim medina houses turn inward around private courtyards, the houses here present carved wooden balconies and windows that face directly onto the street, giving the lanes a distinctive character. Within and around the quarter you can see the restored Ibn Danan Synagogue, the hillside Jewish cemetery with its white rounded tombs, the streets long associated with the goldsmith and jewellery trade, and, close by, the magnificent brass gates of the Royal Palace at the Place des Alaouites. This guide covers the history of the Mellah, its unusual architecture, the synagogue, the cemetery, the palace gates and how to visit respectfully, with notes on combining it with the wider Fes el-Jdid district.

At the heart of Fes el-Bali stands al-Qarawiyyin, the great mosque and centre of learning that gives the medina much of its identity. It is traditionally said to have been founded in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri, a woman of a family that had migrated from Kairouan in present-day Tunisia, and it grew over the centuries into one of the most important seats of learning in the Muslim world. UNESCO and many institutions describe its associated university as among the oldest, and often as the oldest, continuously operating degree-granting educational institution in the world, and its historic library is regularly cited as one of the oldest libraries anywhere, holding a remarkable collection of manuscripts. The mosque is a working place of worship, so non-Muslim visitors may not enter the prayer hall, but you can glimpse the vast courtyard and forest of arches through its great doorways, walk the surrounding lanes that grew up around it, and visit the madrasas built nearby to house its students. This guide covers the history of al-Qarawiyyin, what you can and cannot see, the courtyard and architecture glimpsed from the doors, the restored library, the green-tiled minaret, the madrasas around it, dress and etiquette, and how to weave it into a wider medina walk.

Fes is the home of Morocco's most celebrated ceramics — the deep cobalt 'Fes blue', the intricate hand-painted patterns and the cut-tile mosaic known as zellige. Most of the city's large kilns and wheels sit just outside the medina in the Ain Nokbi potters' quarter, where the whole craft happens under one roof: digging and preparing the grey Fassi clay, throwing on the wheel, firing in wood and olive-pit kilns, hand-painting the glaze and cutting tiles by hand. This is the hands-on angle — watching the makers, understanding each stage, trying the wheel yourself, and buying authentic pieces straight from the source.

Fes is widely regarded as the culinary heart of Morocco, where refined imperial cooking meets the everyday food of the souks. A guided food walk through Fes el-Bali is the best way to taste it: the spice and produce markets, the savoury pastilla, warming bissara, Fassi sweets soaked in honey, olives and preserved lemons, bread from the neighbourhood oven, and glasses of mint tea poured high. This walk grazes the medina stall by stall, with the option of a riad cooking table along the way — eaten respectfully, with a local guide to explain what each dish is and how it is made.

Fes is one of Morocco's great cities of music and the spirit. It is best known internationally for the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music (Festival des Musiques Sacrées du Monde), an annual gathering that brings sacred and spiritual music from many traditions to atmospheric venues across the city — historic sites such as Bab Makina, the garden of the Dar Batha palace-museum, the Jnan Sbil gardens and other medina locations. The festival is generally held around late spring or early summer (often in June), but the exact dates change from year to year, so anyone planning a trip around it should always check the current official programme rather than rely on a fixed date. Alongside the main concerts there is usually a strand dedicated to Sufi culture, with nightly sama (devotional gatherings of music and dhikr) led by the city's Sufi brotherhoods — fitting for a place that is one of the deepest centres of Sufism in Morocco. Fes is also strongly rooted in the classical Andalusian (Al-Ala) music tradition, the refined orchestral heritage carried from Muslim Spain. This guide explains what the Sacred Music Festival is, its venues and its June-ish but variable timing, the Sufi nights and sama, the Andalusian tradition, where music fits into a Fes visit year-round, and how to plan respectfully — with no invented dates, prices or line-ups, only documented, hedged facts.

Fes is widely regarded as the culinary heart of Morocco, where refined imperial recipes meet centuries-old craft. From hands-on tagine workshops in restored riads to spice-market tours and bread baked in the neighbourhood oven, here are twelve food experiences worth your time.

Tucked into Morocco's Rif Mountains, Chefchaouen is the famous blue-washed town where lime-painted lanes, mountain waterfalls and Andalusian culture meet. Here are the best things to do in the Blue City.

Essaouira pairs a UNESCO-listed walled medina with windswept Atlantic beaches, a working fishing port and a deep Gnaoua music heritage. Here are twelve experiences that capture the salt-air spirit of Morocco's coolest coastal town.

Rebuilt after the 1960 earthquake, Agadir pairs a six-kilometre Atlantic beach with world-class surf, a hilltop kasbah, busy souks and easy access to Souss-Massa's wild coast and Paradise Valley.

Where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, Tangier blends Moroccan, Andalusian and international history. From its hilltop kasbah and tangled medina to dramatic Atlantic capes, here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Merzouga is a small Saharan village beside Erg Chebbi, a sea of wind-sculpted dunes rising up to around 150 metres. It is Morocco's classic desert base, and here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Nicknamed the 'Door of the Desert' and Morocco's Hollywood, Ouarzazate guards mud-brick kasbahs, vast film studios and palm-fringed oases at the edge of the Sahara. Here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, blends monumental gates, vast granaries and a relaxed medina with easy day trips to Volubilis. Here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Morocco's capital pairs Atlantic light with monumental history, from a riverside kasbah to Roman-and-Merinid ruins. Here are twelve experiences worth your time in calm, walkable Rabat.

Morocco's largest city and economic heart pairs Art Deco boulevards with a vast oceanfront mosque. From the Atlantic Corniche to the old medina, here are twelve experiences worth your time.

Asilah is a whitewashed Atlantic town on Morocco's north coast, famous for its mural-covered medina, Portuguese ramparts and breezy beaches. Here are twelve experiences that capture its artistic, seafaring spirit.

At 1,740 metres in the High Atlas, Imlil is Morocco's gateway to Mount Toubkal. This Berber village trades souk crowds for walnut groves, mule paths and snow-tipped peaks. Here are the experiences worth lacing your boots for.

Once a sleepy fishing village north of Agadir, Taghazout has become Morocco's surf capital. Reliable Atlantic point breaks, laid-back yoga retreats, argan groves and golden beaches make it a relaxed base on the Souss-Massa coast.

Set high in Morocco's Middle Atlas, Ifrane is an alpine town of red-roofed chalets, cedar forests and clear mountain lakes. Built in the 1930s, it offers cool air, winter snow and easy access to a national park rich in wildlife.

Tucked into the Middle Atlas near Azilal, the Cascades d'Ouzoud are Morocco's tallest waterfalls, tumbling some 110 metres in red-rock terraces. Here are the experiences worth your time around the falls.

Dakhla sits on a slender peninsula where the Sahara meets the Atlantic, framing a vast flat-water lagoon. Steady trade winds, year-round sun and turquoise shallows have made it one of the world's premier kitesurfing destinations.

Cut into the eastern High Atlas near Tinghir, the Todra Gorge funnels travellers between sheer limestone walls rising up to roughly 300 metres. River, palm groves and Berber villages reward those who linger here.

Often called 'little Marrakech', Taroudant is a walled market town in the fertile Souss Valley. Its earthen ramparts encircle bustling souks, palm-shaded squares and artisan workshops, with the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas rising on either side.

Tucked into the High Atlas about an hour south of Marrakech, the Ourika Valley pairs a rushing river with Berber villages, terraced gardens and waterfall hikes. Here are the experiences worth your day.

Around 45 minutes from Marrakech, the Agafay is a rocky stone desert of arid hills, not dunes. Its lunar hammada frames sweeping Atlas Mountain views, luxury camps and quiet adventure within easy reach of the city.