Where to go in Morocco
Morocco Travel Destinations
Our local guides to Morocco travel destinations: the cities, desert, mountains and coast
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Where to go in Morocco
Morocco packs imperial cities, Saharan dunes, snowy mountains and Atlantic beaches into one country. Each guide below covers the best time to visit, the top 10 attractions, where to stay and easy day trips, written from our own local experience. First time? Most visitors combine Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara, then add Fes and Chefchaouen if they have 10 days or more.
Morocco is bigger than it looks on a map. The drive from Tangier in the north to Merzouga in the Sahara takes more than ten hours, so the best trips focus on two or three regions instead of trying to see everything. Start by counting the days you have, then match them to the Morocco travel destinations you care about most. With one week, pick one city and one landscape: Marrakech with the Atlas Mountains, or Fes with the desert. With ten days to two weeks, you can link the imperial cities, the Sahara and the coast.
01
The imperial cities and culture
If you love history, markets and architecture, start with the imperial cities. Marrakech is the easiest first stop, with the most flights and riads. Fes has the oldest medina and the best crafts. Rabat, the capital, is calm and easy to reach on the high speed train. Meknes is the quietest of the four, with the great Bab Mansour gate and the Roman ruins of Volubilis half an hour away, and it sits forty minutes from Fes by train.
MarrakechThe Red City of busy souks, quiet riads and Jemaa el Fna square, where the music and food stalls start every evening.Read the guide 
FesThe world’s largest living medieval medina, with thousands of lanes, old tanneries and craftsmen still working by hand.Read the guide 
RabatMorocco’s calm, green capital by the Atlantic, with a blue and white kasbah, wide gardens and a relaxed old medina.Read the guide 
MeknesThe imperial city of Moulay Ismail, with grand gates, quiet streets and the Roman ruins of Volubilis next door.Read the guide 02
Desert wonders and mountain villages
The Atlas Mountains start about an hour from Marrakech, with village walks and the Toubkal trek. Beyond them you will find gorges, kasbahs and the dunes of Merzouga, the desert trip most visitors picture. Most people reach the dunes on a three day tour from Marrakech or Fes, sleeping in a kasbah on the way and in a desert camp on the second night.
03
The north and the Atlantic coast
In the north, Tangier looks across the strait to Spain, and Chefchaouen sits in the Rif Mountains between Fes and Tangier: small and relaxed, so one or two nights is enough. On the Atlantic, Casablanca is where many international flights land, and Agadir has the long sandy beach and the most sunshine, with the surf villages near Taghazout slower and cheaper. For sea air without a long drive, Essaouira is three hours west of Marrakech and makes an easy overnight stop.
TangierWhere Africa meets Europe on the Strait of Gibraltar, with sea views, an old kasbah and a long story of artists and writers.Read the guide 
ChefchaouenThe blue town of the Rif Mountains, with painted lanes, easy mountain walks and a slower pace than the big cities.Read the guide 
CasablancaMorocco’s modern Atlantic city, home to the huge Hassan II Mosque, a long ocean walk and a lively food scene.Read the guide 
AgadirSunshine most of the year, a long sandy bay for easy beach days and good surf just up the coast in Taghazout.Read the guide Choosing
How to choose your Morocco travel destinations
If you’re unsure where to begin, start with Marrakech. It has the most direct flights, and the mountains, the desert and the coast are all within a day’s travel from there. Save the northern cities for a second trip, or fly into Tangier and work your way south. Each of our Morocco travel destinations guides covers the best time to visit, the top sights, how to get there and where to stay, written from our own trips. Pick the places that match your days, then use the guides to plan your route, and if you only have a long weekend, one city and one day trip beats three cities and a lot of driving.
Plan your route
How to combine destinations
5 to 7 days
Marrakech, Atlas & Sahara
Two or three nights in Marrakech, a night in the mountains, then a three day desert tour to Merzouga.
10 days
The imperial loop
Marrakech, the Sahara and Fes, finishing in Chefchaouen and Tangier with the fast train home via Casablanca.
14 days
Cities, desert & coast
Add Rabat, Essaouira or Agadir to the loop for a slower trip with beach time.
New to Morocco?
Read our complete Morocco 101 guide before you choose your route.