Morocco travel guide: when to go, budget and itineraries

Marrakech is the country's most common gateway: three nights are enough for the medina, Jemaa el-Fna square, the Bahia Palace and Jardin Majorelle. Less than 90 minutes away, the High Atlas unfolds the Ourika and Imlil valleys, the starting point for climbing Toubkal at 4,167 metres. From Marrakech you can also reach the Ouzoud waterfalls on a day trip. Allow a week to combine the city, the mountains and a break in Essaouira on the coast.

Fez holds one of the largest car-free medinas in the world, a maze where half a day with a guide saves a lot of wasted time. The Bou Inania madrasa and the Chouara tanneries can be seen in a morning. About sixty kilometres away, Meknes and the Roman site of Volubilis, open 9am to 5:30pm, make a full day trip. Plan two to three nights in Fez: the city rewards those who let themselves get a little lost.

From Marrakech, allow two days of driving over the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, then through the Dades and Todgha gorges, to reach the dunes of Erg Chebbi near Merzouga. A night at a desert camp, a camel trek at sunset and dawn over the sand are the south's signature experience. The classic Marrakech, desert, Fez loop needs at least four days, six to do it without constant rushing.

Essaouira, three hours by bus from Marrakech, charms with its ramparts, fishing port and windy beaches loved by kitesurfers: two nights are enough. Further south, Agadir focuses on beach resorts and a mild winter. Casablanca takes a day for the Hassan II Mosque, whose 210-metre minaret towers over the ocean, and Rabat, the capital, for the Kasbah of the Oudayas and the stork-filled Chellah site.

Chefchaouen, tucked into the Rif at around 600 metres, lines up lanes painted entirely in blue and serves as a base for the Akchour waterfalls hike, a round trip of one day. Tangier, at the mouth of the Strait of Gibraltar, is a little over two hours from Casablanca on the Al Boraq high-speed line, the first in Africa. The north pairs well with Fez on a two-week loop.

A tagine in a small eatery costs 3 to 6 euros, a Friday couscous a bit more, and mint tea comes with every stop. The souks of Fez and Marrakech concentrate pottery, metalwork, leather and rugs, where haggling is the rule before any purchase. On budget, count roughly 30 euros a day backpacking and 85 euros in comfort, excluding a Paris to Morocco flight around 160 euros return outside school holidays.