Morocco

Medinas, Souks and Artisan Craft

The medinas of Morocco are UNESCO-listed living cities, their narrow lanes unchanged in their essential layout for a thousand years. In Fès el-Bali, the world's oldest continuously inhabited medieval city, leather tanners work the same open vats their predecessors did in the ninth century, the scene best viewed from a surrounding rooftop terrace with a sprig of mint pressed to your nose. Marrakech's Djemaa el-Fna square transforms at dusk into a rolling carnival of storytellers, snake charmers and food stalls, the smoke from grilling lamb mingling with the calls of orange juice vendors. Every city has its souk quarter organised by trade, where the hammering of copper, the weaving of silk and the scent of argan oil guide you from one discovery to the next.

Desert, Mountains and Atlantic Shores

Beyond the cities, Morocco's landscapes reward the traveller who ventures further. The Draa Valley unfurls south towards Zagora in a long green corridor of date palms and kasbahs before the land bleaches out into the erg dunes of Merzouga, where overnight camel treks and sleeping under a sky unpolluted by any artificial light are among the most memorable experiences available anywhere on the continent. The High Atlas rise sharply above Marrakech, offering trekking routes through Berber villages that culminate at the summit of Jebel Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. Along the Atlantic coast, the white-and-blue fishing town of Essaouira catches a near-constant ocean breeze that has made it a magnet for windsurfers and anyone seeking relief from the summer heat inland.

Food, Hammams and Slowing Down

Moroccan food is among the most accomplished on the planet, built on the slow cooking of tagines fragrant with preserved lemon, saffron and ras el hanout, the communal theatre of a b'stilla pastry arriving at the table, and the ritual of mint tea poured from a height into small glasses as a gesture of welcome. A visit to a traditional hammam, where attendants scrub away the dust of the road with a kessa mitt before a cold plunge, restores the body as effectively as any spa. Morocco moves at its own pace, particularly once you leave the main tourist circuits, and it rewards those who allow themselves to slow down, linger over a coffee in a tiled courtyard and let the ancient rhythms of daily life wash over them.