The north by train, the south by road, and in July you leave Marrakech for the coast
Morocco is two trips: the north, with Fes, Chefchaouen, Rabat and Casablanca, is joined by rail, while the south — Marrakech, the Atlas, the desert and Essaouira — is crossed by road. Spring and autumn suit both; summer suits only the coast, and winter the desert by day, not by night.
The best months for the whole country are March to May and late September to November. Summer is the interior's problem: Marrakech in July and August averages highs of about 37°C and heatwaves pass 45, while Essaouira, 175 kilometres away, sits around 22, because an Atlantic current cools the coast. Travel in summer and you pair Marrakech with the coast and skip the desert and the Atlas.
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The north has the railway: the Al Boraq high-speed train runs Tangier–Rabat–Casablanca, Tangier to Casablanca in two hours ten, and Casablanca–Marrakech is two hours forty by ordinary train. Fes is six and a half to seven hours from Marrakech by rail, usually changing at Casablanca, so it is a stop in its own right. Chefchaouen has no railway — the bus from Fes takes about four hours forty. The south is road: Aït Benhaddou is four to five hours from Marrakech over the Atlas, Merzouga nine to eleven, Essaouira three by bus. So the desert is done not as a return trip but between the two halves: Fes to Merzouga is seven to eight hours over the Middle Atlas, and the Fes–Merzouga–Marrakech route joins north and south without doubling back.
How it actually was when we were there, and what was worth it.
The trick worth more than any haggling advice: stop by the state-run fixed-price craft shop before the souk, so you know what…
The road from Marrakech to the dunes is about 560 kilometres and eight to nine hours of pure driving. Anyone who stops to look splits…
The Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga rise up to 150 metres above the stony desert and run for about 28 kilometres. It is the part of the Sahara that Morocco puts within reach by road, with no flight and no expedition of several days.
Jebel Toubkal is 4,167 metres — the highest point in Morocco, the Atlas, North Africa and the Arab world. It lies some sixty kilometres south of Marrakech, and on a clear day the Atlas range is visible from the city.
A riad ('garden') is a traditional house with no windows onto the street, a courtyard and fountain in the middle and a roof terrace. From outside it's a wall; inside it's shade. Converted riads are the standard medina accommodation and explain why the streets feel closed.
Al Boraq has run since November 2018, at up to 320 km/h, between Tangier and Casablanca. Because of it the north is now a single day's travel from Tangier to Marrakech, with a change at Casablanca.
Ramadan follows the lunar calendar and comes about eleven days earlier each year; in 2027 it is expected from 8 February to 9 March, with the exact date set by the sighting of the new moon. Many restaurants and cafés outside tourist areas close by day, and the towns come alive after sunset.
A ksar is a fortified village behind a shared wall, like Aït Benhaddou; a kasbah is the fortified house or citadel of one family or ruler. In the south both are built of rammed earth, so rain wears them down and they are forever being repaired.
This isn't a ranking — it's a route. Any one of these could carry a whole trip.
For anyone interested in the medina as a working city rather than a backdrop: crafts, tanneries and alleys walked in sequence rather than by map. It needs two days and a stop of its own. Fes is also the best gateway to the desert from the north, so it should not be paired with Marrakech there and back.
For anyone not going as far as the Sahara who still wants the south beyond the Atlas: it is the furthest point you can reach from Marrakech and return in a day — a long one, with four to five hours each way. If you are heading to the desert, you pass it and stop on the way.
For summer and for anyone who likes wind: it brings the kitesurfers and surfers. If you want a calm sea for swimming, you will not find it here — the wind blows all year and the Atlantic is cold.
A limestone canyon near Tinghir, about ten metres wide at its narrowest, with smooth walls rising straight from the floor. For anyone driving from Marrakech to Merzouga it is the natural overnight stop halfway.
Cascades about 110 metres high, 150 kilometres north-east of Marrakech, roughly two and a half hours' drive; wild macaques live in the trees around the water. For anyone with a spare day in Marrakech rather than three for the desert.
In 1777 Morocco was the first country in the world to recognise the United States. The treaty signed in 1786 is still in force and is the longest unbroken agreement in American history.
Morocco made the Berber language Tamazight official alongside Arabic in its 2011 constitution. It is written in the Tifinagh script, traced back to an ancient Libyan alphabet, and now stands on road signs beside Arabic and French.
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
No — the dirham is a closed currency, so you change money or use an ATM on arrival. No more than 2,000 dirhams may leave the country, so spend or change the rest before you fly, keeping the exchange receipt.
From October to April, and most pleasantly in October–November and March–April. From December to February the days near Merzouga reach about twenty degrees, but nights in camp drop close to freezing, and snow can close the Tizi n'Tichka pass for a few hours or a day. In summer the dunes are too hot to walk by day, so the desert is skipped in July and August.
A week means choosing: the north by train — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Chefchaouen — or the south from Marrakech, with the Atlas and the desert or Essaouira. Both take about ten days and the Fes–Merzouga–Marrakech route, which puts the desert between them.
Keep going — these destinations and stories pair well with this one.
The whole of Morocco fits into one query — six questions and you know which of them suits you.
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All photographs come from Wikimedia Commons and are used under the licence stated beside each one.
