Marrakech

Marrakech is pure theatre: the call to prayer drifting over the medina, spice-scented souks, and hidden courtyards where the noise simply falls away. Within a couple of hours you can trade the Red City for Berber villages in the High Atlas or a candlelit camp under the stars in the Agafay desert.

I pair a few nights in a restored riad inside the medina with a palace-style hotel in the Palmeraie, add a private guide for the souks, Bahia Palace and Jardin Majorelle, then finish with a night in the mountains or the desert. Extend north to Fes and Chefchaouen, or west to the coast at Essaouira.

March to May and September to November