The spell of Morocco with its carpet-piled souks and High Atlas peaks is casted all over the tourists
Essential information:
Population: 33 million
Foreign visitors per year: 10 million
Capital: Rabat
Languages: Moroccan Arabic (Darija), Berber (main dialects Tashelhit, Tamazight and Tarifit), French
Major industry: phosphate rock mining and processing
Unit of currency :dirham (Dh)
Cost index: glass of beer Dh25 (US$3), two-hour surf lesson Dh300 (US$36); tourist hammam visit and scrub from Dh200 (US$24); tagine in budget restaurant Dh50 (US$6)
Why go ASAP?
Recognising the spell Morocco’s winding medina lanes, carpet-piled souks and High Atlas peaks have cast on travellers since the hippy-trail days, the country’s tourist industry aimed to attract 10 million visitors annually by 2010. Five years later, the industry is halfway to its next staging post of 2020, hoping to double tourist arrivals to 20 million and become a top-20 destination.
Developments such as budget flights are certainly bringing Morocco’s surf beaches, mountain valleys and palm groves closer to Europe. On the ground, travellers can also enjoy increasingly chic accommodation, from medina hideaways to hilltop kasbahs ¬notably the riad hotels fit for glossy magazines. None of the country’s Maghrebi mystique is gone, but travellers can now explore the stirring landscapes and Berber culture in comfort and style. Equally, immersive, community-run tours and homestays offer opportunities to meet Moroccans and learn about their daily lives.
Festivals & Events:
In June, Fez Festival of World Sacred Music stages performances by tariqas (Sufi orders) and World Music stars.
During July’s Festival of Popular Arts, the scrum of storytellers, snake-charmers, acrobats and astrologers on Marrakesh’s carnivalesque square, Djemaa el-Fna, reaches fever pitch.
One of the year-round religious festivals known as moussems, lmilchil Marriage Moussem in September pairs young Berber shepherds with wives.
What’s Hot…
Historic riads with hammams, zellij tiles and tadelakt walls.
What’s Not…
Hotels where Hendrix/ Jagger/Burroughs supposedly stayed with squat toilets and crumbling walls.
Life-changing experiences:
Get lost in the medina. These labyrinthine old quarters, where mopeds and donkeys navigate alleyways and date vendors juggle mobile phones and sales patter, are Morocco’s chaotic heart and soul. Brave the Tizi n’Test pass. Cross one of the notoriously tortuous mountain passes to the snowy peaks of the High Atlas. Mountains such as Jebel Toubkal, North Africa’s highest at 4167m, are famous for trekking and climbing, with more opportunities for hiking and village stays in the Middle Atlas, Anti Atlas and Rif ranges.
Go in search of white Saharan sands. In Merzouga or M’Hamid, hire a turban-wrapped guide and head between the dunes by camel or 4WD to a nomad camp for a night under the stars.
Alternatively, find a shady spot in a date-farming oasis village, or generate more static than a worn carpet when you try sand boarding.
Current craze:
Having graced Hollywood movies, Morocco’s varied landscapes and atmospheric cities have recently appeared in TV series. In the third season of Game of Thrones, Essaouira medina features as Astapor, where Daenerys acquires an army and her dragons fry the city’s cruel rulers. Rabat stood in for Tehran in the third season of Homeland, and the first season of Atlantis was shot around Ouarzazate ¬already nicknamed `Ouallywood’ for its film studio.
Random facts:
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Casablanca’s Hassan II Mosque, one of the world’s largest, has a glass floor overlooking the Atlantic waters beneath its rocky perch.
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Casablanca’s Hassan II Mosque -
Fez medina, a millennium-old maze of souks and tanneries, is the world’s largest living Islamic medieval city and most populous car-free urban area.
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On the Mediterranean coast, Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish-owned enclaves, with plazas, tapas bars and Gaudi-influenced architecture.
Most bizarre sight:
Goats climbing frizzy argan trees in the Souss Valley to munch on the nuts.
