Essaouira, formerly Mogador, Atlantic port city, western Morocco, midway between Safi and Agadir. The site was occupied by Phoenicians and then Carthaginians and was mentioned in the chronicles of the Carthaginian explorer Hanno (5th-century bc). Medieval charts show it as Mogador, a corruption of an Amazigh (Berber) word for “safe anchorage.” It stands on a peninsula […]

Tangier, French Tanger, Spanish Tánger, Arabic Ṭanjah, port and the principal city of northern Morocco. It is located on a bay of the Strait of Gibraltar 17 miles (27km) from the southern tip of Spain; Tétouan lies about 40 miles (65km) to the southeast. Pop. (2004) 669,685.

Tetouan also spelled Tetuán, city, in north-central Morocco. It lies along the Martil River (Wadi Martil), 7 miles (11 km) from the Mediterranean Sea.The city stands on a rocky plateau detached from the southern flank of Mount Dersa. The Roman settlement of Tamuda stood immediately above the present-day city. Tétouan was inhabited in the 9th century by the

Rabat is the current Capital of the kingdom of Morocco, (Arabic Ribāṭ). One of the country’s four imperial cities, it is located on the Atlantic coast at the mouth of the Wadi Bou Regreg, opposite the city of Salé. While Rabat, Morocco, has not necessarily established itself as a major tourist destination, this pleasant metropolitan city is a great home base

Casablanca, in Arabic Al-Dār al-Bayḍā, or Dar al-Beïda, principal port of Morocco, on the North African Atlantic seaboard.When people decide to take a journey to Morocco, they tend to seek out the predefined exotic destinations in the country, and while Casablanca (see our insider’s guide to Casablanca) lacks that label, there are several interesting things to do in Casablanca before traipsing off into the desert for

In the center of the satellite photo, are vegetable gardens where roses are grown in the city of Kelaat M’gouna.The rose found in this valley is called Rosa Damascena, which resists cold and drought. It would have been introduced by pilgrims returning from Mecca in the 10th century whose seeds would have fallen along the way and

Kelaat M’Gouna (in Berber Ighrem Imgoun) is a city located in the south of Morocco. It is recently part of the province of Tinghir in the region of Souss-Massa-Drâa and owes its name to the M’Goun Ighil (4071 m) and Assif (river) of the same name that sprinkles it.

Ouarzazate is relatively small (~60 000 habitants) and, for Morocco, a quiet town, built mostly along the main street – Avenue Muhammed V. Ouarzazate is situated at an elevation of 1,135 meters. Its name comes from a Berber phrase meaning “without noise” or “without confusion”. In the past, Ouarzazate was a crossroad for African traders seeking to reach northern cities

Merzouga is a village in the Sahara Desert in Morocco, on the edge of Erg Chebbi, a 50km long and 5km wide set of sand dunes that reach up to 350m. Most people are here to take a camel safari into the dunes, and to get a taste of remote (tourism-influenced) Berber life.

In Chefchaouen (often abbreviated as “Chaouen”), you’ll be welcomed to one of the most chill, laid-back towns in all of Morocco. Long famous on the backpacker trek, this small mountain town is now really blossoming into its own as a travel destination. Chaouen is far enough off the beaten track to dissuade most tourists, who make it safe enough for those