Marocko

Caught between the crashing waves of the Mediterranean and the rough crags of the Rif Mountains, northern Morocco is one of the most charming parts of the country. Tangier, the faded libertine of a port that links Africa and Europe, has shed its shady past to enjoy a rebirth as fashionable Moroccan riviera. To the east, the coast is dotted with high cliffs and sandy coves; the area booms as a Moroccan holiday destination.

Ceuta is one of a handful of Spanish possessions on the coastline of Morocco. Located on a peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean, it offers a compact dose of fantastic architecture, interesting museums, excellent food, a relaxing maritime park and bracing nature walks. The city is particularly beautiful at night, a skyline of artfully lit buildings and bursting palms.

Need a break from the medina hustle? Head to Marrakesh’s Ville Nouvelle (new town), full of leafy parks, cafe culture, a thriving contemporary art scene and the best bars and gourmet restaurants in town. Gueliz is the central shopping hub, while Hivernage is a high-class neighbourhood bordered by gardens and home to a few remnants of art deco architecture.

Welcome to North Africa’s highest mountain range, known by local Berbers as ‘Idraren Draren’ (Mountains of Mountains), and a trekker’s paradise from spring through to autumn. The High Atlas runs diagonally across Morocco for almost 1000km, encircling Marrakesh to the south and east from the Atlantic Coast just north of Agadir to Khenifra in the northeast. Its saw-toothed Jurassic peaks act as a weather barrier between the mild, Mediterranean climate to the north and the encroaching Sahara to the south.

One of Morocco's most significant national parks and bird reserves, Souss-Massa stretches down the coast from Inezgane, a block of more than 330 sq km of protected land between the main north–south highway and the beach. It is a spectacular and wild place of cliffs, sand dunes, farmland, coastal steppes and forests.

By the time caravans laden with gold and spice reached Skoura, the camels must’ve been gasping. After a two-month journey across the Sahara, blue-robed Tuareg desert traders offloaded cargo from caravans in Skoura, where Middle Atlas mountaineers packed it onto mules headed to Fez. Ouarzazate, 39km west, is now the region’s commercial center, but Skoura’s historic mudbrick castles remain, and traders throng Monday and Thursday souqs brimming with intensely flavorful desert produce. When market days are done and palm-tree shadows stretch across the road, no one seems in a hurry to leave.

From Ouarzazate, the N9 plunges southeast into the Draa Valley, formed by a narrow ribbon of water from the High Atlas that occasionally emerges triumphantly in lush oases, particularly between Agdz and Zagora, a stretch of about 95km. The drive from Agdz to Zagora takes three to four hours, though the more scenic Circuits Touristiques route follows the piste through the oasis. Beyond that, a road takes you 96km further south to M’Hamid, a town 40km short of the Algerian border that marks the end of the road and the start of the desert proper.

Though not as atmospheric as other Moroccan cities, Casablanca is the best representation of the modern nation. This is where money is being made, where young Moroccans come to seek their fortunes and where business and the creative industries prosper.

In July and August, this town transforms into a heaving holiday resort popular with Moroccan families. A compelling reason for travelers to head here is to visit the Unesco-listed 16th-century Cité Portugaise, and this is something that can easily be done in an hour or two en route between Casablanca and towns further down the coast.