Morocco

Arguably the most well-known and beautiful of Morocco’s Four Imperial Cities, Marrakech is situated at the base of the dazzling Atlas Mountains and is one of the country’s main cultural centres. An increasingly popular tourist destination, Marrakech is known for its busy, bustling markets specialising in local craftsmanship and beautiful architecture.

Tangier’s unique character is thanks to its strategic position on the Straits of Gibraltar as the gateway between Europe, the Western Mediterranean and North Africa. Because of this it’s been a prize for a string of empires and has passed through the hands of many through the ages.

Morocco’s capital since 1912, Rabat is a modern city of over a million that wears its history on its be-suited sleeves. Amidst its broad avenues, main streets lined with newsagents, shops, cinemas and cafés, a central park and suburban quarters for its ministries and diplomats are many monuments to its past. 

This modern city, a world away from the picturesque scenes of Marrakech and Fès, is, thanks to the 1942 film of the same name, inextricably associated with the Western definition of Morocco (although not a single scene of the film was even filmed in the country!).