WESTERN SAHARA

After crossing the rocky and forlorn expanses of the hammada (stony desert) south from Tarfaya, the Western Saharan city of Dakhla is an appealingly relaxed destination. A constant feature is the cobalt intensity of the Atlantic Ocean, softened here by palm trees, a pleasant oceanfront esplanade and a shallow island-studded lagoon. It’s a very lonely 500km drive from Laâyoune (more than 1000km from Agadir) through endless hammada, and Dakhla is actually closer to Nouâdhibou (Mauritania) than any Moroccan city. Occasional roadblocks on the fringes of the desert reinforce this is a disputed region, despite what is indicated by the Moroccan flags shifting in tropical breezes.

IMPERIAL CITIES & THE MIDDLE ATLAS

Several important cities have taken root here, including ancient Fez, Meknès and the Roman city of Volubilis. Heading south, the low-rise Middle Atlas mountains come into play. Oak and cedar forests create refreshing pockets of woodland and easy hiking terrain, connecting the dots between Berber hill towns and villages.

• Fez is a supremely self-confident city with a historical and cultural lineage that beguiles visitors. In the Medina (Fès el-Bali) donkeys cart goods down the warren of alleyways as they have done since medieval times, and ruinous and dilapidated pockets loom around every corner - although a government drive to restore the medina to its former glory is spurring changes. The Chaouwara tanneries are one of the city’s most iconic sights (and smells), offering a unique window into the pungent, natural process of producing world-class leather using methods that have changed little since medieval times.
• Meknès is quieter and smaller than its grand neighbour Fez, and feels rather overshadowed - receiving far fewer visitors than it should. It’s more laid-back with less hassle, yet still has all the winding narrow medina streets and grand buildings that it warrants as an imperial city and one-time home of the Moroccan sultanate.

CENTRAL MOROCCO & THE HIGH ATLAS

Marrakesh is the queen bee of Moroccan tourism but look beyond it and you'll find great trekking in the dramatic High Atlas, and spectacular valleys and gorges that lead to the vast and empty sands of the Saharan dunes.

• Marrakesh’s old heart still beats strongly enough, from the time-worn ramparts that ring the city to the nightly spectacle of the Djemaa el-Fna that leaps from the pages of the 1001 Nights on the edge of the labyrinthine medina. The hoopla and halqa (street theatre) has been nonstop here ever since this plaza was the site of public executions around AD 1050 – hence its name, which means ‘assembly of the dead’.
• Ksar Aït Benhaddou is a UNESCO-protected red mudbrick ksar (fort) 32km from Ouarzazate. With the help of some Hollywood touch-ups, it seems frozen in time, still resembling its days in the 11th century as an Almoravid caravanserai.
• Shape-shifting over 28km from north to south and reaching heights of 160m, the majestic Erg Chebbi dune near Merzougamay be modest compared with the great sand seas of Algeria, Libya and Namibia, but it is extraordinarily scenic.
• Erg Chigaga is not a single dune but an awesome stretch of golden sand sea some 56km southwest of M'Hamid. It is the largest sand sea in Morocco, snaking along the horizon for 40km and bordered to the north and south by mountain ridges.