Rabat Holidays

Rabat is Morocco’s capital, set on the north-west Atlantic coast roughly an hour north of Casablanca. Royal and government buildings line broad avenues, but 12th-century walls, an old medina, and Roman remains are all close at hand. It’s an unusually easy city to explore, particularly after the denser lanes of Fes or Marrakech. 

Hassan Tower stands beside rows of stone columns from an immense 12th-century mosque that was never completed, with the white-marble Mausoleum of Mohammed V nearby. At Chellah, Roman and medieval ruins share walled gardens with nesting storks.  

The Kasbah of the Oudayas brings you closer to the water. Its white-and-blue lanes lead towards the Andalusian Gardens and views across the Bouregreg River to Salé, with the Atlantic beyond. Rabat’s medina is close by and compact enough to browse without turning navigation into a major project. 

This is very much a present-day capital too. The Mohammed VI Museum focuses on Moroccan modern and contemporary art, while cafés, shops, and palm-lined avenues sit comfortably alongside the historic quarters. 

We’d give Rabat more than a passing stop. It fits naturally between Casablanca and Fes, adding royal history, modern culture, and the coast to a northern Morocco journey without making the route feel overpacked.