Things to do in Morocco by region: what fits in one week

Tangier and Chefchaouen: the north Contents ↑

Base Chefchaouen · Give it two nights · Skip if you have under ten days

Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 as a mountain stronghold in the Rif, and it still feels like one: steep lanes, a small kasbah on the main square and a medina compact enough to learn in an afternoon. The blue is the reason people come, and the reasons behind it are less settled than most guides admit; we cover the competing stories in why Chefchaouen is blue.

What to do there is simple and slow. Walk the medina early, before the day visitors arrive from Fes and Tangier. Follow the stream at Ras El Maa, on the edge of town, then climb the path to the Spanish Mosque for the view back over the rooftops in late afternoon. With a second day, the Akchour waterfalls in Talassemtane National Park make a good day of walking.

Tangier is the natural gateway if you arrive by ferry or on the high-speed train, and it deserves more than a transit night: the kasbah, Cape Spartel and the Hercules Caves fill a full day. Our Tangier travel guide has the detail.

Fes, Meknes and Volubilis Contents ↑

Base Fes · Give it two full days · Best with a licensed guide on day one

If you only have room for one medina, make it Fes el-Bali. It has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1981, and unlike Marrakech it still works mainly for the people who live there. Donkeys and handcarts carry the goods; most lanes are too narrow for anything else.

The core of a first day: the Bou Inania madrasa, built in the fourteenth century and open to visitors; the Al Quaraouiyine mosque and university, founded in 859, which non-Muslims see only through its doorways; the coppersmiths hammering in Place Seffarine; and the Chouara tannery, watched from the terraces of the leather shops that surround it. Go to the tannery in the morning, when the pits are busiest.

Prices in the souks open high, so it helps to know the rhythm before you start; our guide on haggling without being rude covers it. Spend the second day outside town. The Roman city of Volubilis and the imperial city of Meknes, both UNESCO sites, combine easily in one day, with a stop in the hilltop town of Moulay Idriss between them.

Rabat and Casablanca, if you land there Contents ↑

Many long-haul flights arrive in Casablanca, and the honest advice is a short one. Give Casablanca half a day for the Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993 on the edge of the ocean and one of the few mosques in the country open to non-Muslim visitors, on guided tours. Then move on.

Rabat, the capital, is calmer than its size suggests and underrated by most itineraries: the Kasbah of the Udayas above the river mouth, the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V make an easy day on foot. Both cities sit on the train line, which makes them painless stops between the north and Marrakech.

Marrakech beyond the square Contents ↑

Base a riad in the medina · Give it three nights · Best for first-time visitors

Jemaa el-Fna is the start, not the point. Come at dusk, when the food stalls set up and the storytellers and musicians draw their circles, then walk north into the souks the next morning when the lanes are quieter. The monuments worth your time are the Bahia Palace, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the Saadian Tombs and Le Jardin Secret, plus the Majorelle Garden, whose tickets are sold online only, so book before you go.

Marrakech is also where most day trips start: the Ourika Valley, Imlil, Essaouira, Aït Ben Haddou. For the city itself, including how to pace three days, our local guide to Marrakech goes street by street.

The High Atlas: Imlil and Toubkal Contents ↑

An hour or two south of Marrakech, the valleys around Imlil feel like another country: walnut terraces, mule tracks and Amazigh villages built in the colour of the slope. A day walk with lunch in a village house is the gentle version. Jebel Toubkal, at 4,167 metres the highest peak in North Africa, is the serious one: most people climb it in two days from Imlil with a night at the refuge, and the altitude catches out fit walkers who rush it. In winter the upper mountain is under snow and needs proper equipment and experience.

The Sahara: Merzouga or Erg Chigaga Contents ↑

From Marrakech three days minimum · Best months October to April · Avoid July and August

A night in the dunes is the experience people remember longest, and it is also the one most often squeezed into too little time. There are two real choices.

Merzouga and Erg Chebbi

The tall orange dunes of Erg Chebbi are reached by tarmac all the way, which makes Merzouga the easier option and the one with the widest choice of camps. From Marrakech the road crosses the Atlas at the Tizi n’Tichka pass, then follows the Dades and Todra valleys, so the journey there is part of the trip rather than dead time.

Erg Chigaga

Further south, the tarmac ends at M’Hamid and the last stretch to Erg Chigaga is roughly 90 kilometres of open desert by 4×4. There are fewer camps and almost no lights on the horizon. Our three-day private tour to Erg Chigaga shows how the route works in practice, including the long drive home on the last day.

Zagora, in the Draa Valley, is closer to Marrakech but its dunes are modest. If you are unsure whether the desert justifies the road time at all, read whether the Sahara is worth it before you book.

Essaouira and the Atlantic coast Contents ↑

Essaouira is the antidote to Marrakech, about three hours away by road: a walled port with a UNESCO-listed medina, blue fishing boats and a wind that keeps summer temperatures down and kitesurfers busy. Watch the morning catch come in at the port, walk the sea ramparts, and eat grilled fish at the stalls near the harbour. One night is enough to feel the change of pace; two let you slow down. The Gnaoua and World Music Festival fills the town every June, from 25 to 27 June in 2026, so book early for those dates.

Further south, Taghazout, just north of Agadir, is the surf town of the coast, with its best waves between autumn and spring.