Marrakech to Fes via the Sahara

The main square fills at dusk with food stalls, storytellers, musicians and snake charmers — a spectacle even without eating there.

A maze of covered markets north of the square, each street specialising in one craft: leather, lanterns, spices, textiles.

A cobalt-blue garden of cacti and bamboo built by a French painter and later restored by Yves Saint Laurent.

A 19th-century palace of carved cedar ceilings, zellige tilework and courtyard gardens built for a grand vizier.

A black-soap scrub and steam ritual in a traditional bathhouse, often followed by an argan oil massage.

Slow-cooked lamb or chicken tagine eaten on a rooftop terrace overlooking the noise and lights of Jemaa el-Fnaa.

The city's tallest and most iconic minaret, from the 12th century — non-Muslims can't enter but the surrounding gardens are open.

A former Islamic college with an intricately carved courtyard, once one of the largest in North Africa.

A restored 19th-century riad garden hidden behind Medina walls, with a small exotic garden and a tower viewpoint.

A hands-on class starting with a spice-market shopping trip, ending with a tagine you cooked yourself for lunch.

A fortified earthen village climbing a hill above the river, a UNESCO site and film set; climb to the granary at sunset.

The sprawling mud-brick palace of the Glaoui family, with painted rooms to explore.

Walk-through sets from desert epics filmed in 'Ouallywood'.

Faded Glaoui stronghold with dazzling tiled and carved rooms, a detour off the pass.

Red rock formations and the famous hairpin road up the gorge.

Cliffs up to 300 metres high close to a passage about 30 metres wide with a river at the bottom.

Rose-water shops and gardens in a valley famous for its May rose festival.

Ride into the 150-metre orange dunes as the sun sets, to a camp among them.

Dinner, drums by the fire and a sky crowded with stars, sleeping in a Berber tent.

A village of Gnawa musicians who play hypnotic music for visitors over mint tea.

Climb a dune for sunrise, then ride back down on a board.

Medieval leather dye pits viewed from nearby terraces.

Exquisite 14th-century school with carved cedar and zellige tile.

Home to the world's oldest continuously operating university and library.

Iconic blue gate that marks the western entrance to the medina.

Watch potters throw and paint pieces for the city's famous blue-and-white work.

Hilltop fort with a sweeping view over the medina's rooftops and minarets, especially golden at sunset.

Gold-and-brass palace doors and the old Jewish quarter.

Shop in the souk, then cook tagine and pastilla.

Traditional steam bath with a black-soap scrub and massage, a welcome rest after hours in the lanes.

Day trip to the Roman mosaics of Volubilis and the imperial city of Meknes, best with a driver.

Guided taste of the medina's street snacks: sfenj doughnuts, kebabs, snail soup and honeyed sweets.

Moroccan arts in a palace with an Andalusian garden.