Marrakech

Marrakech is the city most travelers meet first, and it is still the best base for the south. The medina is a working market as much as a monument: tanneries of a smaller scale than Fes, spice squares, and riads whose courtyards cancel the noise the moment the door shuts.

Outside the walls, the Palmeraie, Jardin Majorelle and the Agafay stone desert are easy half days. The High Atlas is closer than it looks on a map. And the road over Tizi n’Tichka remains the classic start of a Sahara journey.

Stay in a riad if you want Morocco; stay in Gueliz if you want a grid of cafés and a calmer night. We pick you up from either.

Authoritative background: UNESCO listing for the Medina of Marrakesh (UNESCO World Heritage Centre — Medina of Marrakesh).

Tours from Marrakech