Five cities to build a first trip to Morocco around

Morocco packs a lot into a small map: walled medinas, Atlantic surf, cedar forest and Saharan dune, often only a few hours apart. For a first trip we usually suggest picking two or three cities as anchors and travelling slowly between them. These are the five we come back to most often.

Marrakech

The busiest and the easiest to reach, with an international airport and flights from across Europe. The Jemaa el-Fna comes alive at dusk with food stalls and musicians; by day there are the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace, the Ben Youssef school and the calm of the Majorelle garden. Marrakech is also the natural base for the High Atlas and the desert road to Merzouga. Spring and autumn are kindest — summers regularly pass 40°C.

Fes

Older and quieter in spirit than Marrakech, with a medina that is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the largest car-free areas in any city in the world. Give it to the artisans: the tanneries at Chouara, the woodworkers around the Nejjarine fountain, the tiled courtyards of the Bou Inania and Al Attarine schools. It is easy to get pleasantly lost, which is part of the point.

Chefchaouen

The blue town in the Rif mountains, about three hours from Fes. The washed indigo lanes are the draw, but there is also the Ras el Maa spring at the edge of the medina and a short walk up to the Spanish mosque for sunset. It moves slowly; a night or two is enough.

Essaouira

A windswept port on the Atlantic, walled by the sea, with a whitewashed medina, a working fishing harbour and a long beach used by kite- and windsurfers. The pace is gentle and the seafood comes straight off the boats. An easy add-on to a Marrakech trip — about two and a half hours by road.

Rabat

The capital, and the most relaxed of Morocco's big cities. The Kasbah of the Oudayas looks out over the river mouth, the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V share one esplanade, and the Chellah — Roman, then medieval — is a short way out. Worth a night on the route between Casablanca and Fes.

Putting it together

• One week: Marrakech, the desert, and back — or Fes, Chefchaouen and a night on the coast.
• Ten days: Marrakech, Ait Ben Haddou, the Sahara at Merzouga, then Fes and Chefchaouen.
• Travel between the cities by private car so you can stop at the passes, kasbahs and cooperatives in between. That is where a good deal of the trip actually happens.

Our tours from Fes and from Marrakech link these cities with the desert and the mountains, and there are city day trips to Fes, Marrakech and Meknes. Tell us what you would most like to see and we will build the route around it.