Summary
A gateway to the cultures of the southern Mediterranean for centuries, Morocco is as varied as it is captivating. Its landscapes shift from family-friendly beaches to a succession of snow-capped mountain ranges featuring North Africa’s highest peak. Our guided tours in Morocco make it incredibly easy to explore cosmopolitan cities including Casablanca and Rabat, the nation’s capital. They vie for attention with those still to shake off their medieval street plans, creating a warren of spice-scented souqs awaiting discovery in the likes of Fes and Marrakesh. Here you’ll find Berber and Arab citizens rubbing shoulders with European and African travellers keen to experience the wonders of the nearby Sahara Desert for themselves
Explore Morocco
Morocco
Description
Whether your heart lies in the city or in the country, in visiting art galleries or hiking lofty mountain trails, you won’t be disappointed, since Morocco has it all. To head to one of the nation’s four richly-laden Imperial Cities – Rabat, Fes, Meknes or Marrakesh is to delve into a wonderworld of sights, sounds, colours and scents rarely experienced in everyday life in Europe.
Marrakesh, once synonymous with Morocco itself to European travellers, is rightly the most popular with visitors on escorted tours to Morocco. Situated in the southern half of the country, beyond the Atlas Mountains, Marrakesh has moved to the beat of its own drum since its foundation almost a millennia ago.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site worthy of the name, the city’s pedestrian-only medina or old town is a happy maze of narrow alleys leading to half-hidden riads (courtyard residences, many of which are now boutique hotels), hammams (bath houses) and souqs with market stalls piled high with goods from across the region.
Many stand just metres from beautifully-maintained buildings such as the much-mimicked Koutoubia Mosque, which is almost as old as the city itself. Nearby, Jemaa el Fna Square is packed with vendors, food stalls and entertainers throughout the day.
But its cities are just part of Morocco’s astonishing charm, and the southern location of Marrakesh makes it an ideal start point for tours to the otherworldly landscapes of the Moroccan Sahara. Along the way, the best guided tours of Morocco take in Ourzazate, a Hollywood of the desert whose kasbah is a mesmeric example of mud architecture.
Then there are nights under canvas in Berber camps among the dunes. Free of light pollution, the camps reveal the night sky in all its glory. Daytime hours are divided between learning about the culture of the Berber, desert dwellers since time immemorial, and capturing the magic of the Sahara’s ever-changing landscapes on foot, by camel, and by 4x4.
These explorations continue to oasis towns such as Rass Nkhal and Skoura. Here, surrounded by deep sands, date palms provide cooling shade to the sound of chirruping birdsong, and the sunsets have stolen the souls of visitors for decades.
Think Morocco is for you? Be sure to check out our latest Moroccan adventures for your chance to take in the top sights this North African nation has to offer.
