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Ouarzazate

2007-06-17T16:00:00+02:00

The south of Morocco is the land of the Sahara. Here, where life is only possible in oases andKasbahs, these words, synonymous with water, have a magical ring. At Quarzazate, scarcely 200km from Marrakesh but in a different world, you stand on the threshold of the mighty Sahara. Standing on the edge of a vast desert plateau, with snow-covered peaks visible in the distance, this ancient garrison town retains an almost tangible connection with a distant past. The nearby Kasbah Taourirt is one of the most impressive of its kind in Morocco. Its tightly packed houses and stately towers, made of a mixture of chalk and sand, melt almost imperceptibly into the surrounding red and ochre-coloured landscape. Like cubes of clay, the dwellings hide away from the unrelenting sun-a narrow doorway being the only connection with the outside world. Light and air come in through the central courtyard. Yet the harsh desert can also be generous; at the oases of Skoura an annual harvest of 4000 tons of roses is grown on the fringes of immeasurable expanses of sand.

Kasbah of Taourirt

Situated on the eastern edge of Quarzazate, this labyrinthine Kasbah reflects the famous, ochre-coloured style of southern Morocco. In doing everything humanly possible to offer a haven from the scorching sun, its creators have produced a living monument of great charm and character.

Café life

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of other parts of Morocco, the plazas of Quarzazate, with their cafés, bazaars and craft shops, are remarkably spacious and relaxed. A good place to sit and watch the world go by.

Aït-Benhaddou

If you're into the stunning architecture and mystic beauty of southern Morocco's Kasbah villages, they don't come any better than this. About 28 kilometres northwest of Quarzazate, this village is recognised as a gem by fashion photographers, film directors and visitors alike.

Lake of the El Mansour Eddahbi Dam

Rare in such arid surroundings, this man-made lake contrasts with the stern rocks and bright blue skies. Although visible from the town, the most dramatic views of the lake are to be had from about ten kilometres further east.

On the western edge

Just west of Quarzazate are unusual attractions in the form of a small zoological garden and the walled enclosure of Atlas Studios, which used the striking surroundings in many of its films.

Oasis village

In contrast to the tightly packed houses of the Kasbah villages, life in such oasis settlements as Finnt, about ten kilometres south of Quarzazate, is characterised more by open space and contact with nature.

Tangier

2007-06-16T15:50:00+02:00

Tangier

Visitors will most likely first set foot on Moroccan soil at Tangier. Their first impressions of Morocco will be punctuated by the scent of sulphur that hangs in the air and the sultry atmosphere that accompanies it. It is this very mood that has proved irresistible to writers and artists alike. Henri Matisse, Tennessee Williams, Samuel Beckett, Orson Welles and the heiress Barbara Hutton added a bohemian touch to this remarkable city.

From 1932 until its incorporation into Morocco in 1956, Tangier was an international tax free zone, under the control of a committee of 30 nations. This was an era that was characterised by financial fraud, espionage, large-scale smuggling and outrageous sexual licence by wealthy and eccentric expatriates.

From the tops of the mountains that surround Tangier, a magnificent spectacle unfolds as the evening sun sinks into the Atlantic Ocean and a bright moon slowly rises up out of the dark waters of the Mediterranean. Such is the view of Cape Spartel, where the waters of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic meet. This cape, famed since antiquity, contains the Caves of Hercules—for centuries the haunt of the Barbary Corsairs, the savage pirates who were the curse of the Mediterranean.

The Phoenicians set up a trading post here and it later became the Roman town of Tangis. Arab rulers from the east took over in the 8th Century AD and Portugal captured it in the 15th century.

Things To See

Grand Socco
Just outside the city walls is the Souk, where you can see traditional products being made and sold. Walk through the archway into the medina and encounter a medieval world as you traverse the narrow lanes of the old town.

Petit Socco
Here, in the heart of the medina, you will find an open space with cafés where you can take a break from shopping and strolling, and watch people from all cultures go by.

Kasbah
A complex of castles on top of the hill overlooking the city. The Sultan, Moulay Ismail, built his palace here, and the gardens are part of his 17th century palace, called Dar el Makhzen.

Kasbah

Museum of Moroccan Art
Here you will find all manner of treasure, from Berber carpets to wood and metal antiques and ceramics.

Archaeological Museum
This museum holds artefacts dating back to the Stone Age, and includes beautifully preserved Roman mosaics. There are two wonderfully decorated courtyards.

Forbes Museum
A museum of toy soldiers (honestly) left behind by Malcolm Forbes, the American magazine tycoon, in his former residence at the Mendonb Palace.

New Town
Centred around the Rue de la Liberté, the Place de France and the Boulevard Pasteur. Sit at one of the pavement cafés and it isn't too hard to imagine life under French colonial rule.

Hotels

Minzfa
The best hotel to be found in Tangier in the colonial style. The terraces are a good place to enjoy mint tea and escape the madness outside.

Nearby

Cap Spartel
The cape to the west from where the lighthouse shines out across the Straights of Gibraltar. You can visit the lighthouse observation platform, which overlooks not only a magnificent seascape, but also the expansive beaches nearby.

Travel

Ferry
The Ferry terminal has frequent car ferries to Algeciras and a fast hydrofoil service. For more information about Ferry Service, click here.

FRS Iberia
Highspeed Catamaran from Tarifa, Algeciras, and Gibraltar to Tangier in Morocco.

Airport
Located 10 km to the southwest, it has about two flights a day to Malaga and Casablanca, daily flights to Paris and seven a week to London.

Trains
There is a train service to Casablanca and a night train to Marrakech.

Erfoud

2007-06-15T15:40:00+02:00

Crossing the desert

Built by the French beside the perennial Ziz River, the little town of Erfoud is not characterised by the charm of a centuries-old settlement. It's red sand buildings, however, stand out in impressive contrast against the surrounding desert, and with its good hotels, restaurants and a lively souk, it is an excellent place from which to explore the surrounding landscape of desert and oases.

In the latter, the people live in fort-settlements knows as ksour, whose high walls, tightly packed houses and intricate pattern of paths and alleyways are as beautiful as they are charming. Made from lime and the red sand of the region, they provided protection from both marauding nomadic tribes and the scorching sun. Surrounding these settlements are the large palm groves that have sustained these communities on the fringe of the desert for centuries. Not far, the desert offers its own tourist attraction, in the form of camel rides to the sand dunes of Merzouga.

Borj-Est

Cross the Bab el Oued bridge from Erfoud's main square and follow the track up a steep hill to the military fort of Borj-Est, which was built as an outpost of the French Army and was manned by the Foreign Legion. From here, the views across the entire region are stunning.

Erg Chebbi

The Erg Chebbi is a range of gold-coloured sand that stretches for about 20 kilometres, some 25 kilometres south-east of Erfoud. Here, visitors book ahead to make sure of a place in one of the two dozen or so little café hotels that have sprung up around the one side of the Erg, a magnificent series of huge sand dunes whose changing tone in the light of dusk or dawn, draws a constant stream of romantically-inclined travellers.

The desert route

As is often the case, the fun is not just in seeing a special sight, it is also in getting there. Although there is a good tarred road that leads from Erfoud to the Erg Chebbi, most visitors prefer to join the convoy of white Land Rovers in which local guides take them across the desert and through dry river beds to the sand dunes.

Dadés Valley

2007-06-14T15:35:00+02:00

The Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs

A little north-east of the southern city of Quarzazate, lies the Dadès Valley-stretching out between the peaks of the High Atlas and the Jbel Sarhro mountain range. Known as 'The Valley of One Thousand Kasbahs', it is the most prominent of the oasis valleys that dominate southern Morocco. Originating from melt water high up in the snowfields of the Haute Atlas, the river Dadès cuts a steep gorge, known as the Dadès Gorge, at Aït Oudinar and Aït Ali. From here, it flows across the broad Dadès Valley in a south-westerly direction towards Quarzazate.

Traditionally, the people of this region lived in a large number of small Kasbah settlements scattered across the fertile river plain. In recent years, however, they have been leaving the valley and been congregating in larger villages along the valley's edge, leaving only a few Kasbah to be populated and maintained in perfect condition.

Kasbahs

There are many Kasbahs in this region; some alive and pretty, others impressive in their desolation, adding mystery to the exotic architecture and fascinating structure of society that has been in place here for thousands of years.

Berber Culture

As a Berber heartland, it is a centre of their culture, so besides architecture, food and crafts, the music, dress and customs are quintessentially Berber-including brightly coloured dress and ornamentation for women and girls, as well as the heavy dark blue cotton haiks (cloaks) of the region.

Fez

2007-06-12T14:10:00+02:00

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Fèz is a maze of stone, marble and plaster surrounded by orchards. An aura of 1001 nights lingers here, but as the spiritual centre of Morocco, the old town lives in the shadow of the minarets, sprawling outwards from the mosque like a spider web of alleys, houses and shops. From their workshops in back alleys potters, charcoal burners, goldsmiths and weavers still practice their ancient trades for busy shops and stores in the crowded streets. Well over 1000 years old, the Jewish quarter, or mellah, has long had a reputation for producing some of the finest ironwork in the country, whilst in the suburb of the leather tanners ancient methods and facilities are still used to treat and dye hides.

There is always something to see in this lively and colourful city that is full of contrast. Originally founded in the 8th century, the city’s importance goes back many centuries, when it was the principal city linking the Mediterranean with the Sahara.

Things To See

Fez Fabric Dying

Fez el Bali
The old part of the city, with its donkeys, taxis, traffic jams, smells, etc. Here, there is a mini neighbourhood for every craft, but the most interesting and colourful is the 'Tanners Souk', although the smell can be distracting. It does make you think of the 'worst job in the world'...

Bab Bonjeloud
A beautiful gate that offers the best entrance into the medina. Glazed tiles decorate the upper part to create a stunning effect

Bou Inania Medeza
This outstanding 14th century monument contains a religious school that is separated from a prayer room by a stream of water channeled in to the marble paving of the courtyard.

Dar Batha Museum
Dar Batha is a palace which these days functions as a museum of Moroccan art. Among its collection are unusual items such as ancient keys, locks, doors and carpets...

Karaouine Mosque
Long the biggest religious structure in Morocco, it was founded in the 9th century in the heart of the medina. 14 doors in the walls enable the 20,000 faithful who can pray here to enter and exit without ‘traffic jams’.

Fez Tea

Moulay Idris Azouia
The tomb of Moulay Idris is a highly revered shrine. At the entrance, women pass offerings through a hatch, which is also as close as a non-Muslim can get.

Neutom
The area outside the medina, which dates from the 13th century.

Ville Nouvelle
This district of broad avenues, shops and pavement cafés recalls its origins during the period of French colonial rule.

Meknes
Least famous of the imperial cities. Capital for the Alaouika Sultan Moula Ismail and therefore full of his grandiose projects.

Bab Manson
City walls stretch for 25 km, Lots of interesting gates. Restaurant in Bob Manson named after architect, a Christian slave converted to Islam.

Mausoleum
In Monlay Ismail´s major construction program he did not forget his own magnificent mausoleum. Non-Muslims are permitted to peer into but not set foot in.

Dar Jamai
Media highlight. Dar Jamai is a 19th century palace now serving as a museum.

Ba Inania Medersi
4th century religious college around tiled courtyard with marble fountain.

Marina Smir

2007-06-11T13:50:00+02:00

The north coast of Morocco forms a little-explored landscape of bays and coves framed by a surprisingly green hinterland that shatters the first-time visitor's preconception of Morocco as an arid and desolate country. Set within this scenery of blue Mediterranean waters and green hills covered in wild flowers lays Marina Smir, Morocco's most fashionable marina and resort.

Situated directly on the beach, halfway between Ceuta and Tetouan, and 30 kilometres from Tangiers airport, Marina Smir is approached through unspoiled natural scenery. Just 40 kilometres across the sea from Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol, the marina and resort which opened in 1991 has been developed by a Spanish group to the same standards as one finds on the Costa del Sol, offering first-class facilities for yachtsmen and visiting tourists who wish to enjoy a Mediterranean resort with a difference.

Popular with visiting yachts from Andalucía, the marina forms the hub around which a series of luxury resort hotels, restaurants, bars, cafés, shops and residential developments have arisen. Beside a luxurious Sofitel Spa & Thalasso resort, the facilities now also include a golf course, a wide range of water sports, fine beaches and the kind of services that accompany a small but exclusive resort.

Offering easy clearance procedures for visiting yachts, good berthing facilities and excellent value for money, the success of the marina has spurred on the development of the resort, which in turn has given rise to an up-and-coming residential area. For those interested in exploring the surrounding countryside, there are a series of smaller hotels, rounding off what is an increasingly popular and trendy resort in a little-discovered but beautiful corner of the Mediterranean.

Marina

A yacht harbour with a full range of services, including water and electricity on all berths, a 200-ton crane and repair services, as well as restaurants, bars and swimming pools.

Beaches

Long beaches of fine white sand are backed by gently rolling green hills covered in flowers. The view across the water is to Gibraltar and the coast of southern Spain.

Hotels

International hotel groups such as Sofitel have established luxury resort hotels with a full range of comforts, facilities and entertainment - including sport and spa treatment.

Property

Still in its infancy, the region offers a small-scale but burgeoning property market with luxury apartments, townhouses and villas in a modern interpretation of Moorish-Moroccan styles. Prices are a strong point.

Morocco: bargain priced properties still below market value, free viewing trips, truly breathtaking beaches and scenery. The property market is booming.

Meknes

2007-06-10T13:50:00+02:00

Ornamental Plates

Like a "fata morgana" (mirage) looming up out of the rock in the heart of the Moroccan countryside, the former royal city of Meknès is yet another unexpected delight this country has to offer. One of Morocco's most beautiful historical cities, its twenty-two kilometres of town wall, monumental gates and the ruins of an immense palatial complex form an impressive and curious backdrop for the meeting point of Morocco's main roads.

The 17th century sultan Moulay Ishmail wanted to create a royal capital here that would rival Versailles. He had an army of bricklayers, black slaves and several hundred captured Christian slaves build 120km of town wall, dream palaces, stables for 12,000 horses, hanging gardens watered by a 4 hectare pond and immense storage sheds. After almost a century of construction, he left one of the most beautiful cities in Moorish-Arabic style in the world.

Things To See

City Gate
With its intricate horseshoe shape and beautifully decorated detail, the Bab al-Mansour gate in Meknès is the most beautiful in Morocco-and one of the most iconic in the Muslim world.

Bab Al-Mansour Ruins
The ruins that surround the gate of Bab al-Mansour stretch out for miles along the town walls, watch towers and adjacent complexes that once formed the heart of the town's defences.

Heri es Souani
The ancient granaries and vaults that were once designed as a state-of-the-art project under imperial supervision may be overgrown with foliage, but they haven't lost their impressive architectural features.

Moulay Ishmail Mausoleum
The most famous leader of Meknès, and the creator of much of its architectural splendour, is revered and remembered in this stylish, solemn mausoleum.

Jamai Palace
Built as the residence of a vizier, this delicate palace within the town's medina (old quarter) now houses the fascinating collection of the Museum of Moroccan Arts.

Moulay Idriss
From Meknès, rolling green hills extend towards Mount Zerhon, where the holy city of Moulay Idriss lays perched against a slope. Famous for its green rooftops, it offers one of the most picturesque views of Moroccan town life.

Volubilis
A short drive from Meknès lays Volubilis, the most important Roman site in this part of North Africa. Built in AD 40, this formerly imposing and sophisticated Roman town, inhabited not just by Romans but also by Greeks, Berbers, Jews and Carthaginians, built its wealth and power on the wheat trade.

Tata

2007-06-09T13:30:00+02:00

A pretty little town drawn up in pink stone, Tata is the centre of a network of three river beds that feed the surrounding palm groves and gardens through a system of irrigation channels. The land is worked by communities from the nearby ksour villages, made up of local Berbers and descendents of slaves brought here by the famous Saharan caravan traders.

Today, they live and trade together in the lively souk of Tata, once one of the main slave markets of the entire region. Although it gradually declined and was forcibly opposed by the colonial powers, this slave trade continued well into the 20th century. The last slave caravan was spotted in the Sahara in 1956, and in neighbouring Mauritania slavery was only officially abolished in 1981. Today, it is no more than a distant memory, but in places like Tata it stills adds to the exotic atmosphere.

Geological formations

The 7111 is an excellent road that runs between Tata and Taroudannt, crossing a landscape of great geological interest, where incredible rock formations and exposed strata succeed one another in rapid succession in an environment almost devoid of human settlement.

Issafèn Valley

After the ruggedness of the almost lunar landscape that one crosses to reach it, the olive, almond and walnut trees of the Issafèn Valley are all the more welcoming. Here, in these mountainous surroundings, stone houses replace the sand and lime dwellings of the valleys, and the women wear the characteristic blue and purple smocks of the mountain Berber tribes. The men used to be infamous raiders, but now they work the land and trade in the lively souk.

Igherm

This white-washed village in a mountainous plateau is situated at an altitude of 1700 metres. Embattled fruit orchards point to the hardiness of the people in this windswept terrain, but Igherm is an important market town in this highland area.

Tetuan

2007-06-08T13:25:00+02:00

Whereas the coast gets dry in summer, the capital of the Rif Mountain region, Tétouan, lies in the cool valley of the "Wadi Martil", just kilometres inland from the Spanish coastal enclave of Ceuta. Formerly the capital of Spanish Morocco, this pretty city has a tangible connection with Andalucía: balconies and windows framed by iron grilles, shaded squares and patios with refreshing Moorish-Andalusian fountains, white plasterwork and flamenco.

This connection is accentuated by the fact that many of the Moriscos, expelled from Spain by King Felipe IV in the 16th century, settled here. The extent to which their descendants are still nostalgic about Andalucía is borne out by the 400-year-old tradition in which the keys of homes left behind in Spain are still passed on from generation to generation, yet the locals have recreated the beautiful Hispano-Moorish architecture of old in this charming capital of northern Morocco.

Things to See

Khalif's Palace
The old palace of the Khalif also served as the residence of the King's representative during the time of the Protectorate, when Tetouan was the capital of Spanish Morocco.

Gateways
Seven magnificently sculpted gateways offer not only a visual delight, but also a variety of ways to breach the age-old ramparts and enter the town from different angles.

Market Produce

Kasbah
Dating back to the 14th century, the Kasbah of Tetouan is a particularly good example of a Middle Eastern covered market place whose maze of stalls produce sights, sounds and scents that are inextricably part of the Moroccan experience.

Old Quarter
The maze of alleyways and cobbled streets, with their blue-tainted whitewashed houses, remain among the most enchanting of Tetouan's sights. In places is this quintessentially Moroccan feature more alluring.

Museums
The Archaeological Museum and the Ethnographic Museum, both located in grand old buildings, offer an insight into the many different people who have inhabited the country over the ages, and the typically Moroccan traditions that have evolved out of this.

Essaouira

2007-06-04T13:30:00+02:00

In Essaouira, a peaceful coastal town on the country's central Atlantic shores, Morocco still possesses an authentic gem, its dense mass of whitewashed houses shining brightly in contrast to the blue of sea and sky, and the blue and ochre colouring of door and window frames.

The tranquility and traditional aspect of Essaouira belie its rich history and the many international influences that have surged through this ancient trading and fishing port at one time or another. Founded by Phoenician traders as far back as the 7th century BC, the town was settled permanently by Berber tribes in the first century AD. The view across the wild, untamed Atlantic, the 'Iles Purpuraires' and the score of blue fishing boats bobbing in the harbour is both panoramic and enchanting.

In the 19th century, as the solitary free trade zone on the Moroccan coast, Essaouira was the only town in the country to have a Jewish community that outnumbered the Muslim one. Apart from its charming mix of Portuguese, Berber and French architecture, and its beautiful setting, it is this unique sense of tolerance, coupled with a laid-back atmosphere, which makes Essaouira so appealing.

Things To See

Dye works
The city's name is derived from the lavender colouring of the natural dye works that have been a vital activity on the nearby 'Purple Islands' for centuries. Products dyed according to this natural process are sought after.

Portuguese fort
When the Portuguese established a commercial presence here in the 16th century, they built a fort and naval base at the entrance of the harbour and proceeded to control Mogador, as they called the town, for over a century. The Portuguese fort still stands.

Harbour
The ancient harbour of Essaouira still bustles with a lively fishing market, sardine and pilchard canneries, scores of brightly coloured wooden fishing boats bobbing on the water and the traditional shipyards where they continue to be built to a centuries-old method.

Artists' colony
The maze of winding alleyways that make up Essaouira's old quarter have long been a favourite of local and international artists, who find inspiration here to produce their best work.

Beaches & surfing

Surfing is not the first thing you would associate with Morocco, but the deep waters and strong currents produce the kind of waves that draw surfers to the long stretches of beach, which were once the haunt of hippies and rock stars alike.

Agadir

2007-05-26T15:05:00+02:00

With over 340 days of sunshine a year, it is no wonder that Agadir, situated on the southern part of the Morocco's Atlantic coastline, has become the country's number one tourist centre. Some complain that Agadir is too modern and has become too commercial, but in a country full of exotic flavour it is a pleasant place to put your feet up and enjoy the comforts and services of a Western-style tourist resort.

The beach, together with the weather, forms the main attraction for thousands of sun worshippers, who come especially in the winter months to escape the cold and gloom of northern Europe. Around this, a resort town with restaurants, bars, cafés, modern, comfortable hotels and a broad offer of water sports has developed. Agadir thanks its modern look, with broad boulevards and pedestrian walkways in part to the rapid development of this tourist industry, but also to the powerful earthquake that destroyed much of the old town in 1960.

Sport

Besides sunbathing and water sports, Agadir also offers visitors golf courses, tennis clubs, horse riding and boat trips out to sea, where schools of dolphins and whales can be spotted.

Beachfront

In the evening, the beachfront comes to life, with crowds thronging the promenade lined with restaurants, cafés and music bars.

Harbour & Port

As the most important of Morocco's fishing ports, Agadir's harbour continues to bustle with activity as it has done for centuries. The fish market and the 16th century Portuguese fort are the popular attractions. The latter is the remnant of a prominent Portuguese trading post, Santa Cruz de Capo Gere.

Royal Kasbah

On first impression, the Kasbah looks uncannily like a fortress. In fact, that is exactly how it started out. In the 16th century, when the Berbers and Arabs were trying to drive the Portuguese out of the Agadir, they captured the fortified granary on this site and converted it into an artillery fortress from where they could shell the Portuguese fort. The views down to the town and bay are the best around.

Museum of Folk Art of Southern Morocco

Situated in the centre of town, in the municipal park, this little museum offers a fascinating insight into the culture and art of the Berbers, the original inhabitants not only of this region, but all of Morocco. Stretching back thousands of years before Islam arrived here, theirs is an ancient civilisation.

Excursions

With a position between Morocco's two main mountain ranges, the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains, Agadir is an excellent place from which to set out on excursions into the countryside. Imposing, snow-topped mountains, thundering waterfalls, tiny hamlets and expansive palm groves are among the many sights, not to mention seeing the Berber tribes in their home habitat.