Lonely Planet Morocco Read online

  Morocco

  Contents

  Plan Your Trip

  Welcome to Morocco

  Morocco's Top 17

  Need to Know

  If You Like

  Month by Month

  Itineraries

  Morocco Outdoors

  Trekking in Morocco

  Travel with Children

  Regions at a Glance

  On The Road

  Marrakesh & Central Morocco

  Marrakesh & Central Morocco Highlights

  Marrakesh

  Around Marrakesh

  The High Atlas

  The Southern Oases

  Draa Valley

  Dades Valley & The Gorges

  Ziz Valley & The Tafilalt

  Rissani to Zagora

  Atlantic Coast

  Atlantic Coast Highlights

  Casablanca (Dar el-Baida)

  City Walk

  Rabat

  Sale

  Around Rabat & Sale

  Moulay Bousselham

  Larache

  Lixus

  Asilah

  El Jadida

  Azemmour

  Oualidia

  Safi

  Essaouira

  Around Essaouira

  Diabat

  Sidi Kaouki

  Mediterranean Coast & the Rif

  Mediterranean Coast & the Rif Highlights

  West Mediterranean Coast

  Tangier

  Cap Spartel

  Road to Ceuta

  Ceuta (Sebta)

  The Rif Mountains

  Tetouan

  Around Tetouan

  Chefchaouen

  Trekking in the Rif Mountains: Talassemtane National Park

  Oued Laou

  Targa to El-Jebha

  Al-Hoceima

  Al-Hoceima National Park

  Cala Iris & Torres de Alcala

  East Mediterranean Coast

  Melilla

  Nador

  East of Nador

  Saidia

  Berkane

  Oujda

  Fez, Meknes and the Middle Atlas

  Fez, Meknes & Middle Atlas Highlights

  Imperial Cities

  Fez

  City Walk

  Sefrou

  Bhalil

  Meknes

  Volubilis (Oualili)

  Moulay Idriss

  Middle Atlas

  Ifrane

  Azrou

  Midelt

  Around Midelt

  Taza

  Southern Morocco & Western Sahara

  Agadir

  Souss-Massa National Park

  North of Agadir

  Taroudannt

  Taliouine

  Tafraoute

  Around Tafraoute

  Ameln Valley & Jebel LKest

  Tata

  Trekking around Tafraoute

  Tiznit

  Aglou Plage

  Mirleft

  Sidi Ifni

  Around Sidi Ifni

  Goulimime

  Tan Tan & Tan Tan Plage

  Tarfaya

  Laayoune (Al-'Uyun)

  Dakhla (Ad-Dakhla)

  Understand

  Understand Morocco

  Morocco Today

  History

  A Day in the Life of Morocco

  Moroccan Cuisine

  Music

  Literature & Cinema

  Arts & Crafts

  Architecture

  Natural Wonders

  Survive

  Directory AZ

  Accommodation

  Customs Regulations

  Electricity

  Embassies & Consulates

  Gay & Lesbian Travellers

  Insurance

  Internet Access

  Language Courses

  Legal Matters

  Maps

  Money

  Opening Hours

  Photography

  Post

  Public Holidays

  Safe Travel

  Smoking

  Telephone

  Time

  Toilets

  Tourist Information

  Travellers with Disabilities

  Visas

  Volunteering

  Women Travellers

  Work

  Transport

  Getting There & Away

  Getting Around

  Health

  Before You Go

  In Morocco

  Language

  Behind the Scenes

  Our Writers

  Special Features

  Winding Lanes

  Natural Landscapes

  Welcome to Morocco

  Morocco is a gateway to Africa, and a country of dizzying diversity. Here you'll find epic mountain ranges, ancient cities, sweeping deserts – and warm hospitality.

  Mountains & Desert

  From Saharan dunes to the peaks of the High Atlas, Morocco could have been tailor-made for travellers. Lyrical landscapes carpet this slice of North Africa like the richly coloured and patterned rugs you’ll lust after in local cooperatives. The mountains – not just the famous High Atlas but also the Rif and suntanned ranges leading to Saharan oases – offer simple, breathtaking pleasures: night skies glistening in the thin air, and views over a fluffy cloudbank from the Tizi n’Test pass. On lower ground, there are rugged coastlines, waterfalls and caves in forested hills, and the mighty desert.

  Ancient Medinas

  Morocco's cities are some of the most exciting on the continent. Join the centuries-old trail of nomads and traders to their ancient hearts, from the winding medina maze of Fez to the carnivalesque street-theatre of the Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh. In the rocky deserts medinas are protected by kasbahs, on the coast by thick sea walls. But it's not just a heritage trip, as Morocco's cities are forward-facing too, with glitzy new urban design in Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier looking to the future as well as paying homage to their roots.

  Moroccan Activities

  Enjoying Morocco starts with nothing more strenuous than its national pastime – people-watching in a street cafe with a coffee or a mint tea. Use the opportunity to plan your next moves – hiking up North Africa’s highest peak, learning to roll couscous, camel trekking in the desert, shopping in the souqs or getting lost in the medina. Between the activities, you can sleep in boutique riads, relax on panoramic terraces and grand squares, and mop up delicately flavoured tajines – before sweating it all out in a restorative hammam.

  Traditional Life

  Morocco is a storied country, that has, over the centuries, woven its ties to Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the wider Middle East into whole cloth. Its mixed Arab and Berber population forms a strong national identity, but an increasingly youthful one, taking the best of its traditions and weaving the pattern anew – from the countryside to the city, from the call to prayer from the mosque to the beat of local hip hop. Morocco has a hundred faces and sounds, all ready to welcome the traveller looking for spice and adventure.

  Erg Chebbi | WESTEND61/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Why I Love Morocco

  By Paul Clammer, Writer

  In the 20-something years that I've been visiting Morocco – from travelling as a student backpacker through leading tour groups and writing travel guides to having my own front door key to a medina house – it's always the first mint tea that grounds me in the place. The ceremonial pouring and re-pouring from silver teapots. The tall glasses stuffed with viridescent leaves that scald to the touch. The impossible sweetness that would be cloying anywhere else in the world. At first, mint tea was the taste of somewhere new. Now, it's the reassurance that I'm back in a country I love. For me, there's nothing more Moroccan.
/>   Morocco's Top 17

  Djemaa el-Fna Street Theatre

  Circuses can’t compare to the madcap, Unesco-acclaimed halqa (street theatre) in Marrakesh’s main square. By day, ‘La Place’ draws crowds with astrologers, snake-charmers, acrobats and dentists with jars of pulled teeth. Around sunset, 100 restaurant stalls kick off the world’s most raucous grilling competition. ‘I teach Jamie Oliver everything he knows!’ brags a chef. ‘We’re number one…literally!’ jokes the cook at stall No 1. After dinner, Djemaa music jam sessions get under way – audience participation is always encouraged, and spare change ensures encores.

  Gnaoua musicians | TIM GERARD BARKER/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Fez Medina

  The Fez medina is the maze to end all mazes. The only way to experience it is to plunge in head first, and don’t be afraid of getting lost – follow the flow of people to take you back to the main thoroughfare, or pay a small boy to show you the way. It’s an adventure into a medieval world of hidden squares, enormous studded doors and colourful souqs. Remember to look up and see intricate plasterwork, magnificent carved cedarwood and curly Arabic calligraphy, while at your feet are jewel-like mosaics.

  View to the Medina from Medersa Bou Inania | SABINO PARENTE/500PX ©

  Top Experiences

  The High Atlas

  Zaouiat Ahansal is the Chamonix of the eastern Atlas. Hemmed in by the cracked and fissured summit of Aroudane (3359m), the valley is characterised by kilometres of cliffs, soaring buttresses and dramatic slot canyons. With the arrival of a paved road in 2013, this awesome natural canvas is just beginning to attract attention. For rafters and kayakers the valley is a green jewel where rafts whip between 8ft-wide limestone walls; for climbers and trekkers the extreme topography and huge routes offer ridiculous views and a thrilling sense of wilderness.

  PHOTOGRAPHIE HG MEUNIER/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Chefchaouen Medina

  Steep and cobbled, the Chefchaouen medina tumbles down the mountainside in a shower of red roofs, wrought-iron balconies and geraniums. The blue-washed lanes enchant, making the town a photographer's dream-come-true. You could be content for hours just people-watching over a mint tea in the cafe-packed main square, lorded over by a grand red-hued kasbah. Or amble down the riverside walk, stroll to the Spanish mosque on the hill and even venture into the surrounding Talassemtane National Park to explore the Rif Mountains.

  ZZVET/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Life in the Palmeraies

  Until you see the vast palmeraies (palm groves) that carpet the Dadès and Ziz Valleys, you can’t fully appreciate the amazing feat of Morocco’s existence. Thick with palms and networked by communal wells and khettara (irrigation channels) the palm groves of Figuig, Ziz Valley, Tinejdad, Tinerhir and Skoura are the historical lifeblood of the Moroccan south. Even today they continue to play a vital role in oasis life, with plots beneath the shaded canopy providing a surprising bounty of barley, tomatoes, mint, pomegranates, apricots, figs and almonds sustaining generation after generation.

  Skoura palmeraie | MARKO RAZPOTNIK SEST/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Top Experiences

  Drâa Valley Kasbah Trail

  Roads now allow safe, speedy passage through the final stretches of ancient caravan routes from Mali to Marrakesh, but beyond the rocky gorges glimpsed through car windows lies the Drâa Valley of desert-traders’ dreams. The palms and cool mud-brick castles of Tamegroute, Zagora, Timidarte and Agdz must once have seemed like mirages after two months in the Sahara. Fortifications that housed gold-laden caravans are now open to overnight guests, who wake to fresh boufeggou dates, bread baked in rooftop ovens, and this realisation: speed is overrated.

  Agdz | PSYNOVEC/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Top Experiences

  Tafraoute

  The Anti Atlas main town, Tafraoute has a jumble of pink houses and market streets with extraordinary surroundings. The Ameln Valley is dotted with palmeraies and Berber villages, and the looming mountains stage a twice-daily, ochre-and-amber light show. With a relatively undeveloped tourist industry, despite the region’s many charms, it’s a wonderful base for activities including mountain biking and seeking out prehistoric rock carvings. As if the granite cliffs and oases weren’t scenic enough, a Belgian artist applied his paint brush to some local boulders – with surreal results.

  MIKADUN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Top Experiences

  Surfing

  You can surf all along Morocco’s Atlantic coast, but the best place to catch waves is Taghazout. It’s clear what floats the village’s board as soon as you arrive: the usual cafes and téléboutiques are joined by surf shops, where locals and incomers wax boards and wax lyrical about the nearby beaches. On the same stretch of coast between Agadir and Essaouira, Tamraght and Sidi Kaouki are also set up for surfing; further south, Mirleft is Morocco’s newest surf destination, with an annual longboard championship.

  PATRICE SCHWARZ/500PX ©

  Top Experiences

  Anti Atlas Trekking

  A sunburned granite range leading to the Sahara, the Anti Atlas remains unexplored compared with the High Atlas. The star attraction for trekkers is the quartz massif of Jebel L’Kest, the ‘amethyst mountain’, which you can walk to through the lush Ameln Valley. More farming villages and crumbling kasbahs are found around Jebel Aklim, another of the excellent trekking possibilities in this area of blue skies and Berber shepherds. The landscape has enough variety, from palm-filled gorges to brooding, volcanic Jebel Siroua, to justify multiple treks.

  ALDO PAVAN/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Sidi Ifni

  Shhh! Don’t tell your travelling friends, but this formerly Spanish seaside town, a camel ride from the Sahara, is every bit as dilapidated, breezy and magical as well-trodden Essaouira. You can walk out along the sweep of Legzira Plage, or just explore the blue-and-white backstreets of one of southern Morocco’s most alluring hang-outs. The best time to appreciate the art-deco relics – more reminiscent of Cuba than Casa – is sunset, when the Atlantic winds bend the palms and fill the air with a cooling sea mist.

  IVOHA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

  Top Experiences

  Essaouira

  Freshened by the endless Atlantic breeze, the old sea walls and gleaming white medina of Essaouira help make one of Morocco's most charming and laid-back destinations. There are swish riads, the freshest seafood unloaded from the small port, and a vibe that seamlessly blends an old visual arts tradition with the active sea sports that the coast here is increasingly known for. As any resident will tell you, Jimi Hendrix was a fan – and you soon will be too.

  FEDERICA GENTILE/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Fès Festival of World Sacred Music

  With intimate concerts in mosaic-studded riads, harmonic afternoons at the Batha Museum, mesmerising Sufi Nights in a Pasha's garden and grand performances in the magnificent crenellated Bab al Makina, this festival still charms and impresses after 20 years. A love of music that engenders harmony between civilisations and religions is the cornerstone here, and you'll experience sacred music from every corner of the world: it could be Mongolian fiddles or whirling dervishes, Sufi qawwali or Persian maqām, Irish laments or African drums.

  Qawwals from the Faiz Ali Faiz ensemble | SUSANNA WYATT/GETTY IMAGES ©

  Top Experiences

  Moulay Idriss

  Named for Morocco’s most revered saint, this little town contains his mausoleum and is one of the most important pilgrimage spots in the country. It straddles two hills and, whichever side of town you're on, the views across the green roofs and out to the rolling countryside beyond are arrestingly pretty, especially in the evening light. At the very top is Morocco’s only cylindrical minaret, which is well worth the climb, while spread at its feet are olive groves that produce a fragrantly tasty oil.

  OLUFEMI ONIPINLA/EYEEM/GETTY IMAGES
©

  Top Experiences

  Volubilis

  Berber king Juba II, whose wife was the daughter of Antony and Cleopatra, was installed at Volubilis by the Romans. The town became a thriving farming community producing olive oil, wheat and wine for the Roman army. Stand on the basilica steps today, look out over the same fertile fields and survey his kingdom. This World Heritage site has few rules about where you can walk, little signage and lots of storks nesting on column-tops. It has some dazzling mosaics and a brand-new museum.