Marocko

The Rocade (coastal road) from Al Hoceima to Nador (81 miles/130km) is a delight to travel. It passes through red cliffs, verdant gorges and, midway, an enormous sculpture of deeply eroded hills.

Established by the Spanish in 1844 and formerly called Villa Cisneros, Dakhla lies just north of the Tropic of Cancer on a sandy peninsula stretching 40km from the main coastline. It’s a very lonely 500km drive from Laayoune (more than 1000km from Agadir) through endless desert, and Dakhla is actually closer to Nouâdhibou (Mauritania) than any Moroccan city.

For pure mountain air that cuts through the heat and leaves you giddy, don’t miss the highest mountain in North Africa: snowcapped Jebel Toubkal (4167m), situated in the heart of the Toubkal National Park. Mountain trails criss-crossing Jebel Toubkal start from Imlil, which is located at the end of the Mizane Valley. On the way to Imlil, you could make a pit stop 47km south of Marrakesh at Asni for roadside tajines and the Saturday souq.

After crossing the rocky and forlorn expanses of the hamada (stony desert) south from Tarfaya, the Western Saharan city of Dakhla is an appealingly relaxed destination. A constant feature is the cobalt intensity of the Atlantic Ocean, softened here by palm trees, a pleasant oceanfront esplanade and a shallow island-studded lagoon.

Against the soaring peaks of the Atlas mountains, picturesque Berber villages, palm-filled oases and undulating desert landscapes set the stage for an extraordinary range of adventures. There's hiking along craggy clifftops overlooking the stunning scenery of Todra Gorge and Dadès Gorge, mule treks through Skoura and lush river valleys, and desert wanders by camel amid the sculpted sand dunes surrounding Merzouga and M’Hamid.

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.

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.

Quieter and smaller than its grand neighbour Fez, Meknes feels rather overshadowed and receives fewer visitors than it should. It’s more laid-back with less hassle, yet still has all the winding narrow medina streets and grand buildings that it warrants as an imperial city and one-time home of the Moroccan sultanate.

An industrial center and thriving port, Safi is a lot less picturesque than neighboring coastal towns but does offer an insight into the day-to-day life of a Moroccan city. Most tourists stop here en route to or from Essaouira to visit the giant pottery works that produce the typical brightly colored Safi pottery.