It's a country of magnificent mosques with towering minarets and decorative ceramic tile mosaics like those of Koutoubia in Marrakesh. It's narrow alleyways that wind through fascinating markets, flowing fountains and mouthwatering food stands in bustling medinas like that in Fez. It's a world of crumbling kasbahs like Telouet in the Atlas Mountains and mighty city gates like Bab Oudaia in Rabat. And it's a collection of extraordinary ruins and historic sites like Volubilis outside of Meknes. But there's more. Beyond the city walls and past the bustling crowds and far removed from the seaside resorts lie rugged mountain ranges edged by thick cedar forests and overlooking a Saharan landscape of stone that quickly gives way to a sprawling ocean of desert sand speckled by lush oases and green river valleys. No, this is not a fictional landscape you saw once in a movie; this is Morocco.
Begin along the Mediterranean coast where the rugged Rif Mountains try desperately to hide their seaside secrets like Al Hoceima and Saidia. Or jump right in and join the crowds of Tangier, one of Morocco's best Mediterranean cities. Then head south for the resort towns of Larache and Moulay Bousselham and the elegant old port town of Asilah, offering the country's best stretch of sandy beach.
Much of Morocco's Atlantic coast, including the capital city of Rabat, is heavily Europeanized and offers first-timers an easy cultural shift before heading inland. South of Rabat is Casablanca, the country's largest and most modern city and home to the seaside Hassan II mosque and a stunning central square called Place Mohamed. Still further south is the popular coastal resort of Essaouira and the Old Spanish Colonial town of Sidi Ifni.
The heart of Moroccan culture and history is the imperial city of Fez, known as one of the most complete medieval cities in the Arab world. A stroll along the narrow streets and covered bazaars of Old Fez will excite the senses as visitors encounter a world of colorful sites amid a vast array of food stands and craft shops crowded with people.
The highlight of Moroccan cities is Marrakesh, known as the Red Pearl of Moracco, which offers a vast collection of historical and cultural sites amid streets bathed in the richness of a truly Moroccan experience. Historically a metropolis of Atlas tribes and a marketplace for tribesmen and Berber villagers, Marrakesh is perhaps best known for its Jemaa el Fna. Here, in the town center, days are filled with snake charmers, medicine men and teeth pullers who populate the square, but by late afternoon and well into the evening, a crowd emerges to relish in a throng of entertainers, musicians and storytellers assemble together in a festive air.
Leave the crowds of the cities behind and venture to a land of remote mud-thatched Berber villages and a whole different Moroccan experience high in the Atlas Mountains, North Africa's greatest mountain range. Take a casual stroll along well-worn paths or go all out on a mountaineering trek up Jebel Toubkal in Toubkal National Park. Take a daytrip from the village of Tanahmeilt to see the breathtakingly complex network of towering waterfalls known as Cascades d"Ouzoud. Or stand beneath the Todra Gourge where colorful canyon walls ascent 500 feet above the dried riverbed below.
Across the Atlas to the south, visitors encounter the rock and scrub of the pre-Sahara, lush river valleys of the Drâa, Dadès, Todra and Ziz, and the old caravan routes dotted with date-palm oases. The best and most traditional way to experience the lofty dunes and sprawling expanses of the Sahara desert is by camel. Join up with a local outfitter for a single-day outing or head out on a multi-day trip to discover the magic of a deep Saharan night sky.
No matter how brief your stay might be in these colorful cities or how early your course into this exceptional landscape might turn back, Morocco is sure to change you forever. It's an unforgettable world. Go and see it for yourself.
