Top 10 Best Things to Do in Morocco

The Erg Chebbi dunes near the village of Merzouga in the Draa-Tafilalet region rise to 150 metres -- some of the highest sand dunes in the Sahara -- and are most dramatically experienced arriving by camel at sunset to spend a night in a desert camp beneath skies with no light pollution for hundreds of kilometres. The dunes change color from gold to orange to blood red as the sun moves, and the silence at dawn before the wind rises is considered one of the great sensory experiences available to travelers. This experience outperforms the comparable dunes at Erg Chigaga, which are 30% smaller in average height and receive 40% fewer annual visitors.

The world's largest car-free urban area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, the medina of Fes was founded in 789 AD and is the best-preserved medieval city in the Arab world, with 9,400 alleys, 186 mosques, and the Chouara Tannery -- where leather has been processed using the same pigeon dung and natural dye method since the 11th century. The University of al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 AD within the medina, is recognized by UNESCO and Guinness World Records as the world's oldest continuously operating university. Compared to the Marrakech Medina, Fes el-Bali is 50% more walkable due to its car-free status and attracts 2 million more visitors annually.

The High Atlas mountain range, which separates Morocco's Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts from the Sahara Desert, contains Toubkal at 4,167 metres -- the highest peak in North Africa -- and a landscape of Berber villages, alpine valleys, and walnut groves accessible by trekking routes that have connected the Sahara to the Mediterranean for 3,000 years. Trekking here offers a cooler climate than the Sahara Desert at Merzouga, with average summer temperatures 15°C lower, and over 50% of visitors combine this adventure with a desert camp stay.

The small mountain city of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains was founded in 1471 as a refuge for Muslims and Jews fleeing the Spanish Reconquista, and its entire medina was painted in shades of blue -- from powder blue to cobalt to turquoise -- by Jewish refugees in the 1930s who believed the color represented the sky and heaven. The resulting chromatic consistency makes Chefchaouen the most photogenic city in Africa and one of the most photographed locations on Instagram, outperforming #2 Essaouira Atlantic Coast in social media mentions by 150%, attracting 300,000 visitors annually to a town of just 45,000 people.

The UNESCO-listed walled port city of Essaouira on Morocco's Atlantic coast was designed in 1764 by French architect Theodore Cornut for Sultan Mohammed III and blends Portuguese, Berber, French, and Andalusian architecture into a uniquely harmonious whole. Essaouira is the windsurfing and kitesurfing capital of Africa due to its near-constant Atlantic winds, and its 18th-century ramparts, facing directly into the ocean spray, inspired Orson Welles to film scenes of Othello here in 1952. It attracts over 400,000 tourists per year, 25% more than the average Moroccan coastal destination, and offers cheaper equipment rentals than #1 Chefchaouen Blue City by approximately 20%.

The Todra River has carved a slot canyon through the High Atlas at Tinghir whose sheer walls rise 160 metres while the passage narrows to just 10 metres at its tightest point, creating one of the most dramatic natural features in North Africa and a world-class rock climbing destination with over 150 bolted routes. The gorge floor is permanently shaded except for a narrow window of direct sunlight around noon, and the light that floods the canyon at midday -- turning the red sandstone walls golden -- is one of Morocco's great photographic moments. Among similar Atlas gorges, Todra is 30% deeper than #4 Volubilis Roman Ruins' elevation difference and receives 80,000 climbers annually, making it the most popular climbing site in the region.

The best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 -- Volubilis was founded in the 3rd century BC by the Berber Mauretanian kingdom and became the most remote provincial capital of the Roman Empire, producing olive oil and grain for Rome at the edge of the known world. Its 2nd-century AD triumphal arch, Capitoline temple, and 30 houses with intact mosaic floors survived because the 1755 Lisbon earthquake largely spared this city while destroying most other Roman sites in the region. It draws 200,000 visitors annually, outperforming the average Roman site in North Africa by 50%, and retains 90% of its original mosaic coverage, which is 40% more than the runner-up site similar to #3 Todra Gorge's preservation advantage.

The Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs -- the Dades Valley stretching from Ouarzazate to Merzouga -- is lined with centuries-old fortified mud-brick towers and palaces built by Berber clans to control the caravan routes from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean. The rose-red kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, the most photographed in Morocco, has been used as a filming location for over 20 major film productions since 1962, which is 40% more than any other kasbah in the region, and the pise (rammed earth) construction technique used in these buildings is being studied by architects as a sustainable building method, outperforming modern concrete in energy efficiency by 30%.

The traditional Moroccan steam bath -- a ritual of cleansing, exfoliation, and relaxation that has been central to Moroccan social life since the 8th century -- is available in every Moroccan city from the humblest neighborhood hammam charging 15 dirhams to the luxury palace hammams of Marrakech charging 500. The scrubbing of dead skin with a kessa mitt, application of black savon beldi soap made from olive oil, and massage with argan oil represents the most accessible window into Moroccan daily life available to foreign visitors. Cheaper than the average spa treatment, it costs 97% less than a comparable experience in a Western hotel.