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Poised between the Atlantic and the snow crowned Atlas Mountains, Agadir is a lively resort set beside a vast beach. Agadir is the most important shipping port in southwestern Morocco, but there are also beautiful sandy bays with year-round warm sea...
Categories: Agadir
Categories: Agafay Desert
Located in Ouarzazate, this recognized UNESCO site is considered the most outstanding Kasbahs in Morocco. Ait Benhaddou is made up of 60 individual Kasbahs, and shows a perfect example of pise clay architecture. This picturesque Kasbah is best shot a...
Categories: Ait Benhaddou
A village of whitewashed houses with a fishing harbor, Al Hoceima is a good place to stop during a tour of the Mediterranean coast and the Rif. It has modest accommodations and several seafood restaurants. There's also a nice beach along Al Hoceima B...
Categories: Al Hoceima
Categories: Aroumd
Asilah, a laid-back, whitewashed town with Portuguese-built ramparts buttressing it against the Atlantic, is a favorite seaside spot in northern Morocco. It's a good beach destination for those entering the country through Tangier, which is 25 mi/40 ...
Categories: Asilah
In the foothills of the High Atlas mountains of Morocco is a beautiful thriving oasis surrounded by a picturesque village, flower gardens, and varieties of citrus fruit trees. Asni is en route to Marrakech winding through the Tizi-n-Test pass, the hi...
Categories: Asni
Categories: Assilah
The Atlas Mountains are a series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa, running through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The tourist industry is popular in the High Atlas region of Morocco, where visitors can enjoy luxurious Kasbah accommodations in...
Categories: Atlas Mountains
Categories: Beni Mellal
Boumalne, a small rural village with a Wednesday market, a bank and a hammam, is the gateway to the Dades Gorge. The fertile oases set against the rocky landscapes are enchanting. There are also several picturesque casbahs in the valley. Boumalne is ...
Categories: Boumalne
Casablanca today boasts one of Africa's largest ports. The Place Mohammed V is the heart of the city; the main boulevards branch out from here. Casablanca is the kingdom's commercial capital; most of the cultural activities are concentrated here, fro...
Categories: Casablanca
This picturesque town 50 mi/80 km southeast of Tangier in the Rif Mountains has more atmosphere than sights. Walk around the small medina with its light-blue-painted walls and drink tea at the main plaza. The main sight is the casbah with its enclose...
Categories: Chefchaouen
Dadès Valley is located in the Moroccan Desert, and is known as the valley of a thousand Kasbahs. It is a gorge of the Dades River that lies between the high Atlas Mountains. The windy roads lead visitors through limestone cliffs and stunning ...
Categories: Dades Valley
Categories: Dakhla (Villa Cisneros)
The seaside town of El Ayoune offers a beach with basic resort infrastructure and a bird sanctuary. Short day and overnight excursions via camel are sometimes available, but most visitors to Morocco will have plenty of other superior places to explor...
Categories: El Ayoune
El Jadida is located in Morocco and is a historic port city also known as The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan. This Unesco World Heritage Site attracts many visitors to see the 16th century cistern, as well as to enjoy golf, the casino, restaura...
Categories: El Jadida
Categories: Er Rachidia
Erfoud is a French-build administrative town built in the thirties. The town, with its dusty red buildings, has a ghost town atmosphere but is surrounded by some of the best scenery in Morocco. Erfoud is not a typical tourist destination, but a goo...
Categories: Erfoud
Visit the famous sand dunes of Erg Chebbi in Morocco's Sahara desert. Visitors often enjoy a camel ride, watch a spectacular sunset, and stargaze under the vast desert skies.
Categories: Erg Chebbi
Erg Chegaga (Chigaga) is a deluxe desert camp on one of the two major dunes of the Sahara in Morocco.
Categories: Erg Chegaga
Categories: Erg Znigui
Essaouria has been a trading post for almost 3000 years and has retained much of its classic charm. One of the most impressive sights of Essaouria is its gates. Being one of Morocco's main fortified coastal towns, Essaoria has many well preserved med...
Categories: Essaouira
Fes (Fez) has been the capital of Morocco for more than 400 years and is home to the oldest university in the country and the leading cultural and religious center. Fes is also the home of the oldest and largest medieval city in the world, a city tha...
Categories: Fes (Fez)
Situated at the edge of the Sahara, where desert nomads and sedentary populations meet, the town of Goulimime is worth a night's stay if you can arrange to be there on a Saturday. That's when the Tuareg People (also called Blue People because the dye...
Categories: Goulimime
By Moroccan standards, Ifrane, a town in the Middle Atlas, is comparatively young, and its red-tiled chalets make it seem more European than Moroccan. It's home to both the king's summer residence and Al-Akhawaya University, an elite school. The scen...
Categories: Ifrane
Iriqui National Park is not your ordinary Moroccan desert landscape. This desert reserve turns into Lake Iriqui, a temporary wetland during the wet season where migratory water birds help to rehabilitate the ecosystem and biodiversity. The park is 12...
Categories: Iriqui National Park
Categories: Jebel Toubkal
The port town of Kenitra was built by the French military in the early 20th century. Today the city is home to an important naval base, and exports a variety of goods. The city is popular with surfers and travellers wanting to get away from it&n...
Categories: Kenitra
Larache, a somewhat quiet town on the Atlantic coast, blends an older Arab atmosphere with newer Spanish touches added in the first half of the 20th century. Apart from walking around the new and old parts of the city, you can pop in to the Archaeolo...
Categories: Larache
Marrakech, known as the "Pearl of the South," is an oasis in southwestern Morocco at the foot of the Atlas Mountains, with rose-colored ramparts and a thousand year old palm grove. Sumptuous and exuberant, it radiates splendor and mysticism and cast...
Categories: Marrakech
The imperial city of Meknes doesn't draw the crowds that Marrakesh and Fez do, which means you can explore its medina (a UNESCO World Heritage site) at a relaxed pace with relatively little hassle. From 1672 to 1727, Meknes served as the capital for ...
Categories: Meknes
Categories: Merzouga
Categories: Moulay Idriss
Categories: Nkob
Oualidia is located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It is conveniently located just 2 hours from Casablanca and 2.5 hours from Marrakech. The sleepy village of Oualidia sits where the ocean and a salt water lagoon merge. Visitors enjoy picturesque ...
Categories: Oualidia
Ouarzazate is located in a valley at the foot of the High Atlas Mountains and is at the center of Sahara Desert tourism. The city is also the film capital of Morocco and was used to shoot many famous films with desert scenes.
Ouarzazate boasts ma...
Categories: Ouarzazate
Categories: Ouirgane
Categories: Ourika
Categories: Ouzina
Rabat is the political and administrative capital of Morocco as well as the King's official residence, The Royal Palace. Across from the Royal Palace is the king's own mosque which is a wonderful example of Islamic architecture.
The city of Rabat i...
Categories: Rabat
Categories: Ramlia
Rissani is the last village on the Ziz River before the vast desert begins. Most of the inhabitants still live in the 18th century ksar, a maze of dark passages. There are small canals running between the heavily populated villages of Rissani. Fiv...
Categories: Rissani
Safi is a seaport in western Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is Morocco's most important fishing port. Safi is a compactly built, fortified city dominated by a 16th-century ruined castle of the sultans. Safi is also the port for Marrakech, 90 mile...
Categories: Safi
Enjoy dramatic landscapes of sand dunes and memorable sunsets while visiting Morocco's Sahara Desert.
Categories: Sahara Desert Morocco
Skoura is an oasis located in the Dades Valley, surrounded by picturesque mountains. It is known for its long line of Kasbahs set along two seasonal rivers, amid beautiful palm groves. Skoura is an enjoyable town to meander around, exploring the Kasb...
Categories: Skoura
Tafraout is a secluded oasis in the Anti Atlas Mountains where visitors will experience ancient traditions, friendly locals and a taste of Morocco's Berber heartland.
Categories: Tafraout
Categories: Taghazout
The "Gateway to Africa," located at its northwestern tip, Tangier is a fashionable resort retaining its age-old mystery and excitement. French and Islamic influences meet and merge in this fascinating old city. Mosques and minarets overlook the shado...
Categories: Tangier
Categories: Tan-Tan
Taroudant is a walled Berber market town, located south of the High Atlas Mountains and north of the Anti Atlas Mountains in the Souss Valley. Taroudant is known for its leather tanneries, souks, wonderfully varied geography and friendly locals.
Categories: Taroudant
Categories: Telouet
Sometimes dubbed "the little sister of Fez," Tetouan makes for a relaxing and interesting day trip. Like Fez, it has both a new town (ville nouvelle) and an old town (medina). The ville nouvelle has some nice Spanish colonial architecture, but the wh...
Categories: Tetouan
Categories: Tinghir
Categories: Tizi Oussem
With sheer cliffs flanking a narrow ravine, Todra Gorge is one of the most impressive natural sights in the country. Not surprisingly, it's popular with hikers and climbers. You enter the gorge through an extensive palm grove, coming from the town of...
Categories: Todra Gorge
Categories: Toundout
Categories: Volubilis
Visit historical sites and learn about the fascinating history of Zagora, located in southeastern Morocco in the Draa River valley. Enjoy views of the mountain Zagora, from which the town got its name.
Categories: Zagora
Morocco's dazzling mosaic of Arab and Berber cultures—with a dash of African and European influence—is at once strange and romantic, alluring and disconcerting. It's little wonder that Morocco has regularly drawn seekers of the exotic.
The country is one of Africa's most popular travel destinations. No matter how well-seasoned a traveler you are, you'll find plenty to see and do: fine Atlantic and Mediterranean beaches, desert excursions, wondrous imperial cities, Islamic landmarks, Joujoukan and Gnaoua trance music, Roman antiquities, resort facilities, mountain villages, oases and towering sand dunes.
The tourism industry is expanding at a fast pace in the country, with airport expansions at Casablanca and Marrakech; luxury hotels popping up in major cities; golf courses becoming a big draw; and low-cost flights drawing a wider range of travelers from across Europe.
Just be aware that the combination of heat, dust, spicy flavors and intrusive touts can be overwhelming at times. However, this can be avoided by picking the right destination and time of year to travel.
Geography
The North African nation lies on the northwestern periphery of Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar from the southern tip of Spain. The country has the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Algeria to the east and Mauritania to the south. Relatively flat, fertile coastal plains stretch along the Atlantic coast.
The Atlas Mountains make a diagonal divide across the country, breaking it down into the Anti-Atlas, High Atlas and Middle Atlas (from southwest to northeast). Most of the land to the east of the High Atlas and in the south is desert. A smaller mountain range, the Rif, extends across the north of the country.
History
Morocco's earliest known inhabitants, who arrived as early as 8000 BC, were the ancestors of today's various Berber tribes. The country's location—a crossroads between Africa and Europe, and East and West—lured invaders, such as the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals and Byzantines.
At the end of the seventh century, Muslim Arab armies began pushing westward across North Africa. By 705, most of the territory from Tangier to the Draa Valley had been conquered. The Berber tribes gradually converted to Islam, and the Arabic language was introduced. In 711, a predominantly Berber army conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula, adding it to the Islamic empire.
Morocco has been ruled by six Arab and Berber dynasties: Idrissid (789-926), Almoravid (1062-1147), Almohad (1147-1269), Merinid (1248-1465), Saadian (1525-1659) and Alouite (1664-present day). The Almoravid and Almohad domination extended to much of Spain and parts of Algeria. Likewise, Jewish and Muslim immigrants from al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) left a distinctive Andalusi mark on parts of Morocco as well. Morocco was the only North African country that did not belong to the Ottoman Empire.
Several European powers tried to control the mouth of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast at one time or another. Portugal controlled several cities between the 15th and 16th centuries, including Ceuta, Agadir, El-Jadida, Essaouira and Tangier. The Spanish presence, which began in the 15th century, lasted longer—culminating in Spain taking formal possession of areas in the mid-19th century. The rest of Morocco came under the control of France in the early 20th century and then gained independence in 1956. Spain surrendered most of the territory it held but still controls the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco also claims. Both cities have a large number of Spaniards living there.
Sultan Mohammed V led his country to independence and then ruled as king until 1961, when his son, King Hassan II, took over. Before his death in 1999, Hassan initiated some modernization programs, but his reign is also referred to as les annees de plomb (Years of Lead) because of state violence against opposition parties and dissidents. His son, King Mohammed VI, initiated a process of reconciliation in which past human-rights abuses were examined, compensation was paid, and a framework for ensuring the protection of basic human rights was put into place.
Some economic, political and social reforms have been made. In 2004, the new Mudawana (family law) was reviewed by the Moroccan Parliament and approved by King Mohammed VI, giving family laws some modernity. Although the country has a parliament and separate judiciary system, they aren't very strong compared to the near-absolute power of the king. In 2016 parliamentary elections were held, and Abdelilah Benkirane was elected as prime minister, approved by the current king Mohamed V; but in 2017 the prime minister was replaced by Saad-Eddine El Othmani.
The fate of the Western Sahara (called the Southern Province in Moroccan officialese) remains a sensitive issue within the country. The area had been controlled by Spain until the Moroccan military took over in 1975—much to the dismay of the local Saharawi people. They formed the Polisario Front and began waging guerilla war against Morocco. A cease-fire was signed in 1991, but a final decision on who should rule the territory has not been reached, despite ongoing negotiations involving the United Nations.
In 2005, the main urban centers of Western Sahara became the scene of serious protests against the Moroccan occupation. In 2015, the Polisario Front published an ultimatum to the UN special envoy requiring the Security Council to a report on the situation in Western Sahara. In 2019, the last UN special envoy resigned and negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front stopped again.
Snapshot
Morocco's attractions include colorful markets brimming with local handicrafts, the cities of Marrakech and Fez, antiquities, beautiful architecture and design, shopping, beaches, diverse scenery, religious shrines, great food, watersports, Atlas Mountain scenery and Tuareg culture.
Morocco will appeal to the somewhat adventurous and experienced traveler who wants to see an exotic culture and lie on nice beaches. Don't travel there if you're offended by aggressive local vendors and their commission men, although it is possible to visit parts of Morocco where you will encounter none of this. With an influx of high-end hotels, to Marrakech especially, the overall experience for luxe-seeking travelers will only improve.
Potpourri
The English guitarist Davey Graham invented DADGAD tuning, now mainly used in Celtic music, in Tangier in the early 1960s so that he could play Moroccan music on the guitar.
Paleontologists have discovered the remains of several dinosaur species in the Kem Kem sandstone formation of southeast Morocco. The finds include bones from Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (a shark-toothed lizard from the Sahara), which was a fearsome creature at least as big as Tyrannosaurus rex.
Jews and Christians have lived in what is modern-day Morocco for more than 2,000 years. Although they make up a small minority of the population, they are active and accepted in the community. Most live in Casablanca.
The Moroccan Royal Guard originated in 1088 and is one of the oldest military in the world. Its mission is the safety of the king.
In cultural and linguistic terms, the majority of Moroccans are Berbers (or Imazighen). Although they are often referred to as a single group, there are distinct divisions of Berbers, primarily along linguistic lines. Each one has its own dialect, although Tamazight generally refers to the entire group of Berber dialects. Arab influence is also very strong, and it too can be traced back to several different tribes and regions.
Technically speaking, a casbah is a single fortified building, but the word is sometimes used to describe an old quarter, especially one with a citadel. A ksar (plural, ksour), on the other hand, is a group of residential or storage buildings surrounded by high defensive walls.
Morocco is the world's leading importer of green tea. For Moroccans, tea is an important part of their culture.