The best things to do in Morocco, according to a local

Know your medinas from your mountains? Good start. You don’t need us to tell you about Morocco’s famous souks, riads and mint tea. So we asked local expert Ruben Derksen which Morocco experiences he usually recommends to friends.

1. Meet the makers in Marrakech

Jemaa el-Fnaa is iconic. Ruben still wouldn’t make it the main event.

The crowds, noise and persistent vendors can make Marrakech’s most famous square feel full-on. Instead, he’d head deeper into the medina with a good guide and get behind the shopfronts, where craftspeople are working with ceramics, leather, metal and wood.

“You meet local craftspeople in their workshops, hear the stories behind their trades and understand how these skills have been passed down through generations,” says Ruben.

And Marrakech’s creative scene isn’t all centuries-old techniques. Ruben recommends stepping into the city’s contemporary art galleries, where modern Moroccan art offers a very different view of the city from the souks and palaces most visitors come to see.

Then there’s Sidi Ghanem. This industrial quarter has become a hub for Moroccan designers working with ceramics, textiles, lighting, furniture and homeware, taking traditional materials and techniques in new directions.

Meet the people making it all and you’ll never look at the souk shelves quite the same way again.

Heading to Marrakech for the first time? Kuoni expert Kathryn has just returned from four nights in the medina, with plenty of tips on what to see, where to eat and how to tackle the souks. Read our Marrakech first-timer’s guide.

2. Take the old road across the High Atlas

If Ruben could send you on one Moroccan road trip, it would be from Marrakech to Skoura across the High Atlas.

His advice? Take your time. Stop around Telouet, follow the old route towards Aït Ben Haddou, then continue through Ouarzazate and into the Skoura oasis. Mountain villages and high passes give way to desert landscapes, kasbahs and, eventually, Skoura’s palm groves. “The scenery changes constantly,” says Ruben.

Oukaimden is another of Ruben’s High Atlas favourites. It’s best known as Morocco’s ski resort, but he particularly rates it outside winter, when the surrounding villages and valleys become the draw. Head out on foot and you’ll pass shepherds, small farms and wide-open mountain landscapes.

His favourite way to spend a day here is wonderfully simple. Walk between villages, then stop for tea and lunch in someone’s home. Fresh bread, a tagine that’s been cooking for hours and a terrace looking back towards the mountains you’ve just walked through. Hard to top.

3. Share Friday couscous from one enormous plate

Friday couscous is one of Ruben’s must-do Morocco experiences, but not simply because he thinks you should try the dish.

Where you eat it matters. “Ideally not in a tourist restaurant, but somewhere small and local, or even better, in a Moroccan home,” he says.

“There is something about everyone sharing the same enormous plate that explains Moroccan hospitality better than almost any sightseeing experience.”

Keep an eye on the bread, too. Khobz sits at the centre of the Moroccan table and is bought fresh throughout the day. In some neighbourhoods, you’ll spot people carrying dough from home to a communal oven, then returning later to collect the baked loaves.

It’s an everyday ritual, but one that tells you plenty about how food, family and neighbourhood life fit together here.

Got an appetite for more? Our local’s guide to what to eat in Morocco goes from Marrakech’s Mechoui Alley to Fes pastilla and plenty more besides.

4. Take your foot off the gas in Essaouira

Ruben’s tip for Essaouira? Don’t over-plan it.

Start with coffee in the medina, wander through the lanes and along the ramparts, then head down to the working fishing port as the boats come in. Have fresh fish for lunch, walk the huge sweep of beach and head back inside the medina for sunset and a glass of Moroccan wine on a rooftop.

Fishing boats are still coming into port while kids play football on the beach and residents shop in the medina alongside surfers, artists and travellers.

If fish is on the agenda, Ruben recommends moving away from the obvious front row of tourist restaurants and looking for simple grills serving the day’s catch. Sardines, sole, calamari: choose what looks good and let the grill do the rest.

One useful tip if you’re buying around the market: agree the price of the fish and the cooking price before ordering.

And if you fancy venturing beyond Essaouira, head south. Diabat is just a few kilometres away, with the crumbling ruins of an old palace half-lost among the dunes. Further down the coast, Sidi Kaouki swaps medina lanes for a long, windswept beach, a favourite with surfers and windsurfers making the most of the Atlantic swell.

5. Stay in Agafay after dark

Ruben has one thing he wants to clear up before you go.

“The first thing I tell people is that Agafay isn't the Sahara and shouldn't pretend to be.”

There are no enormous sand dunes here. Agafay is rocky, stark and almost lunar, with the High Atlas lining the horizon. Ruben goes one better: at times, he says, it can feel almost like Mars.

Most people immediately think camel or quad bike. Ruben would choose an e-bike. You can cover a surprising amount of ground without the engine noise, giving you more chance to take in that strange, wide-open landscape.

Then comes the important bit: don’t leave too early. Arrive in the afternoon for a ride, stop for tea, watch the light change across the rocks and have a Moroccan dinner outside. Hang around long enough for the stars to come out.

“Agafay is at its best when the day gradually changes into night rather than when it is treated as a two-hour excursion,” says Ruben.

6. Don’t rush Rabat and Casablanca

Ruben’s case for spending more time in Rabat begins with a pair of comfortable shoes. Start in the medina, wander into the blue-and-white Kasbah of the Oudayas, then head down towards the Bouregreg River and continue towards Salé.

Around Rue Souika and Bab El Had, you’ll find little food shops, cafés and bakeries alongside locals doing their daily shopping.

Casablanca calls for a wander, too. Beyond Hassan II Mosque, Ruben recommends looking up as you walk through the centre. The city has some fantastic Art Deco and Mauresque architecture, which is easily missed when you’re being driven between sights.

Add Marché Central and the Habous district, then head into neighbourhoods such as Gauthier, Maârif and Racine for cafés, restaurants, galleries and bars.

Marrakech, Essaouira, Fes, Casablanca or the Atlas? If you’re deciding where deserves a place on your trip, our local’s guide to the best places to visit in Morocco will help you narrow it down.

7. Bring home something made by hand

Ruben’s souvenir rule is simple: look for something where you can see the hand of the person who made it.

Ceramics, rugs and woodwork all make his list, but he has a particular soft spot for Tamegroute pottery. Its distinctive green glaze makes it instantly recognisable. Colour, shape and finish vary from piece to piece, so those little imperfections aren’t something to avoid. They’re precisely what Ruben looks for.

Better still, connect what you buy with the people making it. Whether it’s ceramics, leather, zellige, metalwork or wood, stepping into a workshop and seeing the process means you’ll know considerably more about what’s wrapped up in your suitcase on the way home.

8. Catch the streets waking up

Ask Ruben what instantly says Morocco to him and he doesn’t name a monument, medina or famous view.

He picks early morning. The smell of bread and charcoal fires. Shop shutters opening. People beginning their day. Brooms brushing yesterday’s dust from doorways.

“Morocco has a very recognisable rhythm before the streets become busy,” he says. So yes, see the palaces. Wander the souks. Drink the mint tea. But set the alarm early at least once. Some of Morocco’s best moments happen before you’ve even started sightseeing.

The information is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.