Interesting Places in Morocco: A Complete Travel Guide

Morocco is one of the world’s most layered travel destinations — a country where ancient Berber, Arab, Andalusian, and French influences have fused into something entirely its own. From the Sahara in the south to the Rif Mountains in the north, the Atlantic coast to the edge of the Saharan plateau, Morocco’s geography is as varied as its culture. These are the most extraordinary places to visit.

1. Marrakech

Marrakech is Morocco’s most visited city and its most intense. The Djemaa el-Fna square — a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage site — transforms daily from a morning market into an afternoon of storytellers, snake charmers, and food stalls, then an evening carnival of sound and smoke. The souks behind it sell everything from hand-beaten copper to freshly dyed leather. The Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace, and the Majorelle Garden (restored by Yves Saint Laurent) are the principal sights. Stay in a traditional riad in the medina for the full experience.

2. Fes

Fes el-Bali — the ancient medina of Fes — is the world’s largest car-free urban area and one of the best-preserved medieval cities on earth. Founded in the 9th century, its 9,400 narrow lanes contain mosques, madrasas, caravanserais, and the famous Chouara tanneries (where leather has been dyed in the same stone vats using the same methods for centuries). The University of al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859, is considered the world’s oldest continuously operating university. Allow two full days minimum.

3. Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen — the “Blue City” — is the most photographed place in Morocco. Every surface in its old quarter is painted in shades of blue and white, creating an atmosphere unlike anywhere else. The town sits in the Rif Mountains and has a gentler energy than the imperial cities — smaller scale, more relaxed, and with genuinely good hiking in the surrounding hills. The blue paint has roots in Jewish tradition and was expanded over decades into the defining aesthetic of the whole medina.

4. The Sahara at Merzouga

The Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga are Morocco’s most dramatic landscape — orange sand dunes rising to 150 metres from a flat hammada plain. A camel trek at sunset into the dunes, followed by a night in a desert camp under an exceptional sky, is one of travel’s most elemental experiences. The pre-dawn return across the cooling sand as the first light touches the dune crests is the specific moment that most visitors cite as the best of their Morocco trip.

5. Essaouira

Essaouira is Morocco’s most relaxed coastal city — a 18th-century fortified port on the Atlantic with a whitewashed medina, consistent trade winds (making it one of Africa’s best kite and wind surfing destinations), and a creative atmosphere that has attracted artists and musicians for decades. Jimi Hendrix famously visited; Orson Welles filmed Othello here. The ramparts at sunset, with the Atlantic crashing below, are one of Morocco’s most beautiful views.