Marocko

Monkeys and fragrant cedar forest trails are what draw visitors to Azrou, but the town itself is a thoroughly unhurried, relaxing spot in which to wind down if you're feeling frazzled after too many big cities. It's an important Berber market centre deep in the Middle Atlas, with a shaggy mane of woods and high meadows that burst into flower every spring.

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.

Humble villages and gentle mountain trails offer a charming counterpoint to imperial cities and ancient ruins in this area of Morocco. The fertile plains of the north have acted as Morocco’s breadbasket for centuries. The Romans left remains at Volubilis, followed in turn by Muslim dynasties who created Morocco’s grandest imperial city: Fez.

Prepare for your senses to be slapped - Marrakesh's heady sights and sounds will dazzle, frazzle and enchant. Put on your babouches (leather slippers) and dive right in.

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.

Compared to the sensory overload provided by the medina, the Ville Nouvelle can seem boring: very modern, but with little actually going on. But for most Fassis, the Ville Nouvelle is where it’s at and, far more interesting and progressive than crumbling Fez El Bali. In the past few years, huge amounts of money have been poured into the area, the benefits of which can best be seen along the long boulevard of Ave Hassan II, with its manicured lawns, palm trees, flower beds and fountains. This is the 'real' Morocco as much as any donkey-packed lane in the old city. That said, Fez's Ville Nouvelle still lacks the panache of its equivalents in Marrakesh and Casablanca, and there's very little of interest here for visitors.

As the local saying goes, the wind has a son who lives in Boumalne, which is why he rips down this valley to visit him in winter. Sitting in the rain shadow of the Central Atlas, the Dadès Gorge presents a dramatic landscape: ancient rust-red and mauve mountains stripped back to zigzagging layers of strata and knobbly rock formations. A rush of springtime water puddles in the valley where irrigation channels siphon it off to fields of wheat and orchards of fig, almond and olive trees. A series of crumbling kasbahs and ksour (fortified villages) line the valley in the Berber villages of Aït Youl, Aït Arbi, Aït Oudinar, Aït Ouffi and Aït Toukhsine.

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.

In its heyday, Fez attracted scholars and philosophers, mathematicians and lawyers, astronomers and theologians. Craftsmen built them houses and palaces, kings endowed mosques and medersas (religious schools), and merchants offered exotic wares from the silk roads and sub-Saharan trade routes. Although Fez lost its influence at the beginning of the 19th century, it remains a supremely self-confident city whose cultural and spiritual lineage beguiles visitors. Something of the medieval remains in the world’s largest car-free urban area: donkeys cart goods down the warren of alleyways, and while there are still ruinous pockets, government efforts to restore the city are showing results.