Marocko

Who would expect to find hundreds of modernist buildings, the second-largest such collection outside Barcelona, in North Africa? Yet here they are, along with one perfectly preserved medieval fortress, several fascinating museums and a wealth of tapas bars. The result is Melilla, a great place to spend the weekend.

Erfoud makes a pleasant pit stop on the journey heading south to Merzouga from Fez or Meknes, with wood-fired madfouna (Berber 'pizza'), fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years and the photogenic ancient Ksar M’Aadid, 5km north of town. The souq at the southern end of Erfoud sells local dates and fresh produce, and in October the town has an increasingly popular date festival, with dancing and music.

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.

Morocco’s political and administrative capital may be short on top-drawer tourist attractions, but it compensates with plenty of charm. The ville nouvelle's palm-lined boulevards are clean, well kept and relatively free of traffic – a blessed relief for those who have spent time in Casablanca. There's a clean central beach, an intact and evocative kasbah, and an attractive walled medina that is far less touristy than those in other large cities. All in all, the city is a good choice for a short sojourn.

As foreign tourists head to the medinas for a taste of the "real" Morocco, Moroccan tourists find more favor with places such as Ifrane. Tidy, ordered and modern, it feels more like Switzerland relocated to the Middle Atlas than North Africa. Its clean air, scrubbed streets and leafy outlook make it popular with tour groups.

The small Berber town of Sefrou is a picturesque place situated on the edge of the Middle Atlas. Its annual Cherry Festival was inscribed in the Representative List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2012. As such, its medina walls have been restored, and some fanadiq (ancient inns used by caravans) are being rebuilt. Sefrou once hosted one of Morocco’s largest Jewish communities (as many as 8000 people, according to some accounts), and it was here that Moulay Idriss II lived while overseeing the building of Fez.

Tetouan is a jewel of a town in a striking location at the foot of the Rif Mountains, and just a few kilometres from the sea. Despite seeing relatively few foreign visitors, there's an air of authenticity here that adds great value to a visit. The ancient medina, a Unesco World Heritage site, looks like it has not changed in several centuries. The modern center that abuts it gleams in white, its Spanish facades given a recent facelift to seductive affect.

Beautifully perched beneath the raw peaks of the Rif, Chefchaouen is one of the prettiest towns in Morocco, an artsy, blue-washed mountain village that feels like its own world. While tourism has definitely taken hold, the balance between ease and authenticity is just right. The old medina is a delight of Moroccan and Andalusian influence with red-tiled roofs, bright-blue buildings and narrow lanes converging on busy Plaza Uta El Hammam and its restored kasbah. Long known to backpackers for the easy availability of kif (cannabis), the town has rapidly gentrified and offers a range of quality accommodation, good food, lots to do and no hassles to speak of, making it a strong alternative to a hectic multicity tour. This is a great place to relax, explore and take day trips to the cool green hills.