Lonely Planet - Lonely Planet Morocco (Lonely Planet Country & Regional Guides)

From Saharan dunes to the peaks of the High Atlas, Morocco could have been tailor-made for travellers. Lyrical landscapes carpet this sublime slice of North Africa like the richly coloured and patterned rugs youll lust after in local cooperatives. The mountains 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 nTest pass. On lower ground, there are rugged coastlines, waterfalls, and caves in forested hills and the mighty desert.

The varied terrain may inform your dreams, but it shapes the very lives of Moroccos Berbers, Arabs and Saharawis. Despite encroaching modernity, with motorways joining mosques and kasbahs as features of the landscape, Moroccan people remain closely connected to the environment. Nomadic southern Blue Men brave the deserts burning expanses in robes and turbans, mobile phones in hand. Traditional life continues with tweaks in the techniques of Berber carpet makers, in date cooperatives, in medina spice trading, and in the lifestyles in mountain hamlets and ports like Essaouira.

Meeting the Moroccan people involves nothing more than sitting in a cafe and waiting for your mint tea to brew. The trick is to leave enough time to watch the world go by with the locals when theres so much else to fit in: hiking up North Africas highest peak, learning to roll couscous, camel trekking, shopping in the souqs, getting lost in the medina, and sweating in the hammam. Between the activities, you can sleep in the famous riads, relax on panoramic terraces and grand squares, and mop up tajines flavoured with saffron and argan.

Often exotic, sometimes overwhelming and always unexpected, these ancient centres are bursting with Maghrebi mystique and madness: the perfect complement to the serene countryside. When you hit the town and join the crowds, you follow a fine tradition of nomads and traders stretching back centuries. Unesco has bestowed World Heritage status on the Fez medina, the worlds largest living medieval Islamic city, and on the carnivalesque street theatre of the Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh.

Fez medina ()
UGURHAN BETIN/ GETTY IMAGES

Why I Love Morocco

By Paul Clammer, Author

I first went to Morocco as a backpacking student in 1993. I didnt plan it another trip had fallen through but it was one of the happiest accidents of my life. I got wonderfully lost in the medina in Fez, got blisters climbing Jebel Toubkal and sunburn in the desert in Merzouga, and was hypnotised by the grand spectacle of Marrakeshs Djemaa el-Fna. Most importantly, I was inspired to come back, and over the past 20 years Ive spent more time exploring this amazing land than any other country on the planet.