Morocco: a desert nation in Africa stuffed with spectacular gates, beautiful tiles, pink partitions, the beginning of the Sahara, scrumptious delicacies, and vibrant marketplaces. There are infinite attention-grabbing issues to do in Morocco – from gorgeous cities to go to, to scrumptious meals to eat, to unbelievable experiences to have.
So let’s dive into the record! Listed here are 15 unforgettable issues to do in Morocco:
Discover Outdated Fortified Cities
Within the desert and the Atlas Mountains east of Marrakech is an space generally known as the Street of 1000 Kasbahs. A kasbah is a big, fortified dwelling, and customarily has 4 towers within the corners. This a part of the Moroccan desert was a part of the salt street, and kasbahs dot the panorama. Often, you’ll come throughout a ksar, or a fortified village.
Probably the most well-known of those fortified villages is the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, a shocking fortified village constructed into the hillside of the desert. Ait Ben Haddou was an necessary cease on the Salt Street, and thus hosted many vacationers and needed to chase away many bandits. Right now, only some households stay within the historic city, however you may stroll by way of and uncover the numerous alleys, church buildings, granaries, and outlets.
You might also discover throughout your go to that they nonetheless use the identical strategies of building in Ait Ben Haddou at present as in years previous, creating bricks from mud and straw.
Haggle within the Souks
The souks and marketplaces of Morocco, are vibrant, bustling locations, stuffed with attention-grabbing items and colourful wares. You will discover all kinds of issues to buy and produce dwelling as souvenirs from Morocco, like conventional Moroccan kaftans or djellabas (lengthy “clothes” that each women and men put on, with hoods), tagines (the dish that many Moroccan meals are cooked in), leather-based footwear and purses, recent pressed argan oil, ceramic bowls, platters, and plates painted in quite a lot of colours, buckets heaped full of colourful spices, shiny teapots, and extra.
Wandering by way of the souks is an expertise, each due to the issues on the market and on show, but additionally as a result of the salesmen are always calling out to you, inviting you to look at their wares. And if you’re inquisitive about making a purchase order, don’t look forward to finding any costs listed. As an alternative, the store proprietor will quote you a worth, and you then’ll must haggle the value right down to a suitable level.
In Morocco, haggling is sort of like a pleasant dance. They quote a worth, and you then fake to think about, and say, “oh wow, that’s quite a bit. How about this a lot as a substitute?” And so they say “oh no, no it’s very top quality/I must feed my household/or another line.”
This goes backwards and forwards for some time till you attain an agreeable worth. Whereas newcomers generally is a little intimidated by the haggle recreation, simply keep in mind – be pleasant however persist with your weapons (we often aimed to pay 50% of the unique asking worth) and simply lean into the method.
Keep in a Riad
A riad in Morocco is a standard guesthouse that often has just some rooms, with an open-air courtyard within the center and delightful decorations. Staying in a riad is an absolute must-do when visiting Morocco – it actually seems like a cultural expertise in its personal proper.
There are, in fact, riads that can match into any funds, however even probably the most fundamental riads have stunning archways and sometimes some stunning tilework inside. Many riads really feel like little museums in and of themselves, with mosaics, columns, plunge swimming pools, heavy materials, and water options.
Particularly, the riads of Fes are completely unbelievable artworks, with lots of them having carved stucco and cedarwood and being lined in mosaics, at a really cheap worth.
Marvel on the Bahia Palace
Morocco, and Marrakech specifically, has many completely beautiful buildings full of intricate tiles and mosaics, and are completely gorgeous. Visiting the Bahia Palace is among the most unbelievable issues to do in Morocco to take pleasure in these visible masterpieces.
This historic palace is sort of giant and has many rooms you may wander by way of. There are giant and small courtyards and gardens, plus adjoining rooms, full of carved cedarwood, stained glass, water options, and symmetrical layouts.
The Bahia Palace is among the most well-known sights in Marrakech and one you’ll not wish to miss!
Go Glamping within the Sahara
The Sahara desert begins on the very jap fringe of Morocco, and one of the vital epic issues you are able to do in Morocco is to spend an evening (or two!) within the Sahara sand dunes.
You’ll meet up together with your guides within the city on the fringe of the Erg Chebbi sand dunes, climb aboard your camel, after which experience the 1.5 hours into the desert, arriving at an expensive desert camp earlier than watching the solar set on the horizon.
You’ll take pleasure in your personal, spacious tent, full with an actual mattress, carpets on the ground, electrical energy, and a full toilet, and sumptuously ready meals the place you may dig your toes into the sand whereas consuming your tagine.
At evening, collect across the campfire to hearken to the lads play conventional Berber music, which is heavy on drums and rhythmic beats. Within the morning, you may go ATVing, go sandboarding, or simply take your self on a stroll into the undulating, orange dunes.
An expertise doing a Sahara desert tour can be one of the vital memorable nights of your life and is completely among the finest issues to do in Morocco.
Drink Mint Tea
Mint tea is the popular drink of virtually each Moroccan, and you may be provided mint tea when arriving at your riad and at most restaurant meals. It’s a poignant custom to take part in, because it comes with some spectacular rituals.
Mint tea is definitely inexperienced tea that has been steeped with mint leaves. Your server will carry the ready mint tea to your desk in a shiny, engraved steel teapot and pour it for you into glasses that resemble a big shot glass. The fashion of the pour is extremely necessary – you should maintain the teapot excessive above the glasses, creating an extended arc of tea into the cup.
Loads of sugar cubes can be found on the desk so as to add to your tea – Moroccans love their tea candy!
Observe the Tanneries in Fes
Fes is an attention-grabbing metropolis for a lot of causes – it has the same hustle and bustle as Marrakech, however with out the pink partitions. There have been extra lined passageways in Fes, and the streets felt much more slim and winding than in Marrakech. And whereas Marrakech does have tanneries, the tanneries of Fes are indisputably the most important, finest, and oldest within the nation.
Observing the tanneries is among the most attention-grabbing issues to do within the metropolis. There are just a few leather-based outlets with terraces overlooking the tanneries, and shopowners are very glad to let guests come observe on the terraces. You’ll see males working hides in vats of coloured liquids and chemical substances, taking the hides by way of the method to show them into tremendous leather-based merchandise.
After all, the shopowners are all too glad to point out you their items whereas taking you again out of the store (and really, there are such a lot of unbelievable leather-based items to purchase – from footwear, poufs, wallets, jackets, and extra). This is among the most iconic spots in Fes and value a cease, significantly if you’re inquisitive about making a leather-based buy.
Wander the Blue Metropolis of Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen is named the “Blue Pearl of Morocco,” as the whole medina is painted various shades of wealthy blue! Whereas the origins of why the town was first painted blue are unknown, you may’t deny that it’s extremely aesthetically pleasing. Chefchaouen is a smaller city nestled within the mountains north of Fes, so there aren’t a number of sights within the metropolis – the town IS the attraction.
You possibly can spend a beautiful day wandering the streets of Chefchaouen, discovering all the lovable little corners and spots, performing some procuring, and taking photos of the streets with colourful pots or baskets on them. For a terrific view over the town, do a brief hike as much as the Spanish Mosque, which sits on a hill overlooking the city.
Stand in Awe on the Hassan II Mosque
As a predominantly Muslim nation, you will notice mosques and minarets in each city and metropolis you go to. Nevertheless, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the most important mosque in Morocco, and it’s the seventh largest mosque on this planet, with the third tallest minaret.
It is usually the one mosque in Morocco that enables non-Muslims to enter. There are a number of guided excursions of the mosque accessible every day, the place you may enter the mosque, study its building and historical past, and study extra about Islam.
The mosque is completely beautiful, with intricately carved stucco and cedarwood adorning the partitions, ceiling, arches, and columns all through the mosque. Wealthy carpets are on the ground, colourful mosaics are on show, and the rooms are giant, with hovering ceilings.
Visiting the Hassan II Mosque is an unbelievable factor to do in Morocco and for positive must be part of your Morocco itinerary.
Really feel Educational at Madrasa Ben Youssef and Madrasa Al Attarine
Most of the bigger cities of Morocco have been areas for universities beginning within the 1300s, and at present these historic universities, or madrasas, are open to the general public. In Marrakech, you may go to the Madrasa Ben Youssef, and in Fes, you may go to the Madrasa Al-Attarine.
In these madrasas, you first enter into a big frequent room, with smaller rooms tucked off to the aspect. Then, go as much as the above ranges to see small lecture rooms and the “dorm rooms” the place college students slept. Like each necessary constructing in Morocco, these madrasas are artworks, with intricate tilework, arches, and water options within the giant gathering rooms of the previous faculties.
Learn additionally: Every week in Marrakech and the Sahara Desert
Discover Roman ruins at Volubilis
Not removed from the town of Fes in northern Morocco are the traditional Roman ruins of Volubilis (do you know that Morocco had a Roman affect?). Volubilis was once a rich and busy metropolis in Roman occasions because of the fertile area that surrounds it, and it was an administrative heart of the Roman empire in that area.
At its top, as much as 20,000 folks lived right here! However after the Roman empire, and several other earthquakes, Volubilis was deserted and destroyed. Right now, Volubilis has a number of actually well-preserved ruins, and a number of the buildings have been excavated and reconstructed, together with the basilica, capitoline temple, and triumphal arch.
The ruins are actually stunning and exploring the ruined buildings is among the most attention-grabbing issues to do in Morocco.
Benefit from the Solar and Sea at Essaouira
Essaouira is a charming city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It’s about 2 hours from Marrakech however seems like a very completely different world. In distinction to the busy and frantic tempo of Marrakech, Essaouira is laidback and chill and is a haven for browsing and windsurfing, particularly between the prime months of April-November.
Essaouira can also be a serious fishing port, and you’ll see the enduring blue fishing boats lined up within the harbor and the place fishermen are busy at work bringing of their catch of the day.
In addition to browsing, just a few fashionable issues to do in Essaouira embody exploring the charming previous medina, the place buildings are painted blue and white, or strolling the town ramparts overlooking the ocean. You possibly can simply spend just some hours in Essaouira and get a style of the town, or spend just a few days wandering round and hanging out on this stunning Moroccan metropolis.
Eat Tagine and Couscous
One of many funniest issues to do in Morocco is to pattern the native delicacies! Morocco has many very conventional dishes, probably the most well-known and ubiquitous being tagine. A tagine meal is made in a tagine cooking dish (as we talked about within the procuring the souks part, above) and is mostly composed of rooster or beef and greens. You may also have a vegetable-only tagine. The tagine dish acts as a steamer to prepare dinner the meal.
Couscous is one other extremely frequent Moroccan meals that’s historically ready on Fridays, the holy day for Muslims. Nevertheless, yow will discover couscous on many menus within the nation which might be accessible all through the week.
Wander the Purple Metropolis of Marrakech
In some ways, Marrakech is probably the most basic and recognizable model of Morocco – there’s all of the unique really feel and appeal you’d anticipate plus the frenetic tempo, smells, and sounds you’d anticipate from a vibrant metropolis. It’s a stunning metropolis, full of pink partitions and arched openings, intricate doorways, attention-grabbing cultural and historic websites, and delightful mosaic tiles and flooring.
Among the many architectural wonders are the Saadian Tombs, the El Badi Palace, the Jardin Secret, and the Jardin Majorelle. The mixture of all these elements makes Marrakech one among Morocco’s must-see locations.
Go Mountaineering within the Atlas Mountains
There are numerous climbing alternatives within the Atlas Mountains, which showcase a number of completely different terrains – tall gorges, pink rocks, valleys, waterfalls, and mountain peaks. One of many nice factors of climbing in Morocco is that the majority spots and trails are fairly off the overwhelmed path.
The Ourika Valley just isn’t removed from Marrakech (about 1 hour away) and has a number of paths to hike. One of the vital fashionable hikes is the path to the 7 Waterfalls of Setti Fatma.
Farther away from Marrakech (about 4 hours away) are the Dades Gorge and the Todra Gorge, which each supply unbelievable climbing alternatives within the red-orange canyons, by way of palm and olive groves, and over the tops of hilly ridges.
Finest Issues to Do in Morocco – The Wrap-Up
For anybody who loves the unique and a little bit of journey, Morocco is a dream vacation spot. There are virtually infinite enjoyable and attention-grabbing issues to see and do in Morocco. Put this cool African nation in your bucket record at present!
