Country guide

Morocco

Spice markets, blue villages and starlit dunes

Morocco is a country that floods the senses — saffron and mint in the souks, the call to prayer echoing over rooftops, and the Sahara glowing rose at dusk. With a little planning it is a wonderful family adventure: riads with cool courtyards, kind hosts, and a culture that delights in children.

March – May & September – October

Chefchaouen

The blue town in the Rif Mountains

Chefchaouen is the town that everyone photographs and no one quite believes — a whole mountainside settlement washed in every shade of blue, from cobalt to indigo to powder, its lanes and stairs and doorways painted fresh each year. Up in the Rif, it is cooler, quieter and gentler than the imperial cities, and a favourite for families who want a softer introduction to Morocco.

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March – May & October – November

Fes

A thousand-year-old medina of alleys and dye

Fes is the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities and the most transporting — a medina of nine thousand alleys where donkeys carry the goods, dye pits glow saffron and indigo, and craftsmen hammer brass exactly as they have for a thousand years. It is intense, yes, but also one of the most alive places on earth.

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March – May & October – November

Marrakech

Riads, souks and the roar of Jemaa el-Fnaa

Marrakech is a city of colour and noise and extraordinary kindness — a walled medina of souks and gardens, dominated by the great square of Jemaa el-Fnaa, where storytellers, snake charmers and food stalls gather each evening. Behind the walls, calm riads hide behind unassuming doors, their courtyards cool and green.

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October – April

The Sahara at Merzouga

Golden dunes and a night under the stars

At Merzouga, the Sahara begins in earnest — the great dune of Erg Chebbi rising a hundred and fifty metres from the desert floor, a wall of gold that glows rose at dawn and crimson at dusk. A night here, in a desert camp under more stars than seem possible, is the memory children carry for life.

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