20 Best Things to Do in Morocco (2026 Guide)

The best things to do in Morocco are experiences rather than a list of monuments: sleeping under the stars in a Sahara camp, getting scrubbed in a steaming hammam, bargaining in the souks, walking between Berber villages in the High Atlas, or eating grilled sardines at a harbour stall. Morocco rewards travellers who plan a few of these properly and leave room for the rest.

This guide covers 20 of them, with what each costs, how long it takes and where it fits in a trip, using prices checked in September 2026. If you're still deciding which cities and regions to include, start with our guide to the best places to visit in Morocco, which is organised by place. This one is organised by what you'll actually do.

Things to do in Morocco at a glance

Activity	Where	Rough cost (2026)	Time needed
Night in a Sahara desert camp	Merzouga (Erg Chebbi)	Usually part of a 3-day tour	3 days from Marrakech
Souks and Jemaa el-Fnaa	Marrakech	Free	Half a day, plus an evening
Ben Youssef Madrasa	Marrakech	50 MAD, cash	1 hour
Sunrise hot-air balloon	Near Marrakech	About €95–220 shared	Half a day
Traditional hammam	Everywhere	10–40 MAD public; 290–990 MAD spa	1–2 hours
Hassan II Mosque tour	Casablanca	140 MAD	1 hour
Chouara tannery	Fes	Free (tip the shop)	1 hour
Volubilis Roman ruins	Near Meknes	About 70–100 MAD, cash	Half a day from Fes
Akchour waterfalls hike	Near Chefchaouen	Grand taxi fare	5–6 hours
Surf lesson	Taghazout	About €25–80 group	Half a day

1. Spend a night in a Sahara desert camp

Photo: Dan Calderwood on Unsplash

If you only do one big thing in Morocco, make it this. The dunes of Erg Chebbi, behind the village of Merzouga, are the tall orange Sahara of films and postcards. The usual plan is a camel ride out in the late afternoon, sunset from the top of a dune, dinner and music around a fire, then a night in a tented camp and a sunrise walk back.

The practical problem is distance: Merzouga is roughly 9–10 hours' drive from Marrakech. That's why nearly everyone goes on a 3-day tour that breaks the drive with Aït Benhaddou and the Dades valley. Book one that ends in Fes if you're continuing north (it saves the long drive back), or a round trip from Marrakech if you're flying home from there. Check what's included (meals, camp standard, camel ride) before booking.

• Best time: spring and autumn. July highs pass 41°C, and winter nights in the desert are cold.
• Tip: bring a warm layer and a head torch whatever the season.

2. Get lost in the Marrakech souks, then watch Jemaa el-Fnaa come alive

Photo: Youssef Taghlaoui on Unsplash

The souks north of Jemaa el-Fnaa are a maze of covered lanes, each traditionally given over to one trade: lanterns, leather, spices, carpets, metalwork, dyed wool. Getting a little lost is part of the point. When you want out, follow the flow of people downhill or ask a shopkeeper for "Jemaa el-Fnaa".

Photo: Val Vesa on Unsplash

Come back to the square itself after dark, when rows of food stalls set up with benches and grills, and musicians and storytellers draw circles of people. It's the best free show in Morocco.

• Cost: free, apart from what you buy.
• Haggling: expected in the souks. Decide what something is worth to you before you ask the price, and walk away politely if it's too high.
• Watch out for: people offering to guide you to a "closed" street or a tannery. Say no thanks and keep walking.

3. See the tilework of the Ben Youssef Madrasa

Photo: Milad Alizadeh on Unsplash

This 16th-century Koranic school is the most beautiful interior in Marrakech: a marble courtyard and pool framed by carved cedar, stucco and zellige tilework, with the students' small cells on the floor above.

• Price and hours: 50 MAD for foreign adults, cash only, open 9:00–19:00 daily (9:00–16:30 during Ramadan), per the official site.
• Tip: go at opening time for the courtyard without tour groups.

Two more sights close by are worth the entry fee: Le Jardin Secret (100 MAD, plus 40 MAD for the tower view), a restored riad garden in the middle of the medina, and the Bahia Palace (100 MAD, cash). Jardin Majorelle needs tickets booked online in advance; see our Marrakech section for the details.

4. Float over the desert at sunrise in a hot-air balloon

Photo: Sébastien Lavalaye on Unsplash

Balloon flights take off at dawn from the countryside outside Marrakech, drifting for 40–60 minutes over Berber villages and the stony plains with the High Atlas behind. Most packages include hotel pick-up (very early), a flight certificate and a Berber breakfast afterwards.

• Cost: shared flights run from about €95 to €220 per person in 2026, depending on basket size and whether transfers are included. Private flights cost several times more.
• Book: a sunrise balloon flight with Atlas views includes hotel pick-up and breakfast; check the inclusions for your date.
• Good to know: flights are weather-dependent and can be cancelled on the morning for wind. Book it early in your stay so there's time to reschedule.

5. Get scrubbed in a hammam

The hammam, a steam bath with a vigorous scrub using black soap and a kessa glove, is a weekly ritual for many Moroccans and one of the most memorable things you can do as a visitor. There are two very different versions:

• Public (neighbourhood) hammam: cheap and authentic, separated by gender, with locals. Entry is typically 10–40 MAD, plus a small fee or tip if you want an attendant to scrub you. Bring flip-flops, a towel and a change of underwear.
• Spa hammam: private, gentle and luxurious, often in a riad or hotel, with clay, oils and a massage option. Mid-range packages cost roughly 290–990 MAD; palace spas cost much more.

If it's your first time and you're nervous, a spa hammam is the easy introduction. Ask your riad; many have their own or can recommend one nearby.

6. Learn to cook a tagine

A cooking class is one of the best ways to understand Moroccan food, and most start with a trip to the market to buy spices and vegetables before you cook a tagine, salads and bread, then eat what you made. Marrakech has the most choice, from riad kitchens to farm-based classes outside the city.

• Book: this Moroccan cooking class in Marrakech is one of the most-booked options.
• Tip: a morning class means you've had a proper lunch and can keep dinner light.

7. Hike between Berber villages in the High Atlas

Photo: Louis Hansel on Unsplash

About 1.5 hours south of Marrakech, the village of Imlil is the base for walks through walnut groves and terraced fields to mud-brick villages, with mint tea in a family home along the way. It's also the starting point for Jebel Toubkal (4,167 m), North Africa's highest peak, usually climbed over two days.

• Rules: a licensed local mountain guide has been mandatory for Toubkal and other High Atlas treks since December 2019.
• Easier option: the Ourika Valley is closer to Marrakech and gentler, with short walks to small waterfalls.

8. Take a day trip to the Ouzoud waterfalls

The Cascades d'Ouzoud drop about 110 m in several tiers into a green gorge in the Middle Atlas, with Barbary macaques in the olive trees along the path. They're about 150 km from Marrakech, around 2.5–3 hours each way by road, so it's a full day (roughly 11 hours with a tour). Boats will take you to the foot of the falls, and there are cafés on the terraces.

• Book: a guided day trip to Ouzoud with a boat ride includes hotel pick-up from Marrakech.

9. Ride out into the Agafay desert

If you can't fit in the Sahara, the Agafay desert is the close-by alternative: a stony landscape of bare hills about 30–40 km southwest of Marrakech, 40–50 minutes by road, with the Atlas on the horizon. It isn't a sand desert and has no dunes, so don't expect Merzouga, but it's a good place for a quad-bike or camel ride, sunset and dinner at a desert camp, all in an afternoon.

• Book: the Agafay quad bike, camel ride and dinner show is an afternoon trip from Marrakech with pick-up included.

10. Watch leather being dyed at the Chouara tannery in Fes

Photo: Aleks on Unsplash

In Fes el-Bali, the largest medieval medina in Morocco, leather is still soaked and dyed by hand in the honeycomb of stone vats at the Chouara tannery. You watch from the terraces of the leather shops around it: entry is free, but the shop will hand you a sprig of mint for the smell and hope you'll browse afterwards. A small tip is polite if you don't buy.

• Tip: mid-morning is when the most work is going on and the light is best.
• Also in Fes: the Al-Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas, and the brass-workers' square of Place Seffarine.

11. Tour the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Photo: marcovitjz on Unsplash

Most mosques in Morocco are closed to non-Muslims. The Hassan II Mosque, built partly over the Atlantic with one of the tallest minarets in the world, is the big exception: you can go inside on a guided tour of the prayer hall and the hammam-style ablution rooms below.

• Price: 140 MAD for foreign adults, guide included. The tour takes about 45–60 minutes.
• Tour times (16 Sep–14 Mar): 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00 and 15:00 Saturday to Thursday; 9:00, 10:00 and 15:00 on Friday. From mid-March to mid-September there's an extra 16:00 tour.
• Dress: shoulders, torsos and knees covered; you'll take your shoes off inside.

Casablanca is on the train line between Marrakech and Fes, so this fits neatly into a travel day.

12. Walk the blue lanes of Chefchaouen, then hike to Akchour

Photo: Pretty Pink on Unsplash

Chefchaouen's blue-washed medina is best early in the morning, before the day-trippers arrive. Walk up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset over the town.

Give yourself a second day for the Akchour waterfalls. A grand taxi takes about 35 minutes to the trailhead, and the path follows a river through a gorge in the Rif mountains: allow 2–2.5 hours to the Grand Cascade and 1.5 hours back, or about an hour each way to the smaller falls. God's Bridge, a natural rock arch, is a separate trail from the same start. Wear shoes you don't mind getting wet.

13. Explore the Roman ruins of Volubilis

The best-preserved Roman site in Morocco sits in open farmland north of Meknes, with a triumphal arch, columns and floor mosaics still in place where they were laid. It's UNESCO-listed and an easy half-day trip from Fes, usually combined with Meknes and the hilltop town of Moulay Idriss.

• Price: about 70–100 MAD (sources disagree in 2026), paid in cash at the gate. Licensed guides wait at the entrance.
• Tip: there's almost no shade, so go early and bring water and a hat.

14. Surf in Taghazout

Taghazout, a fishing village about 20 km north of Agadir on the Atlantic coast, is Morocco's surf capital, with breaks for every level and the most reliable waves from autumn to spring. Group lessons generally cost about €25–80, and many surf camps offer week-long packages with a room, meals and daily lessons. Fly into Agadir; it's about 25 minutes by road from the airport area.

15. Eat grilled fish in Essaouira's harbour

Photo: Emma Van Sant on Unsplash

In Essaouira, the blue fishing boats come in each morning and the grill stalls by the port cook the catch to order. Agree the price and weight before they start. Then walk the 18th-century sea ramparts (the Skala de la Ville) at sunset. The steady wind here also makes it a good place to try kitesurfing. Supratours buses run from Marrakech in about 3 hours.

16. Climb to the top of Aït Benhaddou

The fortified mud-brick village of Aït Benhaddou, a UNESCO site and a film set many times over, is usually the first stop on a desert tour. Cross the river and climb to the old granary at the top for the view over the rooftops and the valley. Short on time? A day trip from Marrakech to Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate covers it and the Tizi n'Tichka pass in one long day.

17. Ride Africa's first high-speed train

Al Boraq runs between Tangier and Casablanca in about 2 hours 10 minutes, at up to 320 km/h, stopping in Rabat. Second-class fares run from about 99 to 224 MAD depending on when you book (checked September 2026), and tickets are sold on ONCF's website. It's a practical way to link the north with the rest of the country, especially if you arrive by ferry from Spain.

18. Stay in a riad

A riad is a traditional house built around an inner courtyard or garden, with rooms opening onto it and usually a roof terrace on top. From the lane outside you'd never guess what's behind the door. Staying in one, with breakfast on the terrace and mint tea on arrival, is part of the experience in Marrakech, Fes and Chefchaouen. Cars can't reach most riads inside the medina, so ask how to find it, and whether someone can meet you, before you arrive.

19. Eat your way through Moroccan food

A few things to try beyond the tagine:

• Couscous, traditionally a Friday lunch dish.
• Harira, a tomato, lentil and chickpea soup, especially during Ramadan.
• Pastilla, a sweet-savoury pie of pigeon or chicken with almonds and cinnamon.
• Msemen and baghrir, flaky and spongy pancakes for breakfast with honey.
• Tanjia, Marrakech's slow-cooked beef in a clay urn.
• Mint tea, poured from a height. Accepting a glass when it's offered is part of the hospitality.

20. Walk the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat

The white-and-blue lanes of the Kasbah of the Udayas sit above the ocean at the mouth of the river in Rabat, with a small Andalusian garden inside and a café terrace looking over to Salé. Combine it with the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and Rabat makes an easy, low-hassle day on the train between Fes and Casablanca or Tangier.

How to fit these into one trip

With 7–10 days, you can combine the Marrakech experiences (souks, madrasa, hammam, a cooking class or balloon flight), a day in the Atlas, a 3-day desert tour ending in Fes, and the Fes medina. With two weeks, add Chefchaouen and Akchour, or Essaouira and the coast. Our 10-day Morocco route lays it out day by day.

Arriving in Marrakech: taxis from Menara Airport are a common first-hour hassle, and most riads can't be reached by car. A pre-booked airport transfer agrees the price up front.

Staying connected: you'll use maps constantly in the medinas. An Airalo Morocco eSIM can be installed before you fly.

Compare flights into Marrakech, Fes and Tangier before you fix your route. Flying into one and out of another saves backtracking:

Tips for doing things in Morocco

• Carry cash. Many sights (Ben Youssef, Bahia Palace, Volubilis) take cash only, as do souks, hammams and small restaurants.
• Dress for the place. Loose clothes covering shoulders and knees work everywhere and are required for the Hassan II Mosque tour.
• Friday and Ramadan change the rhythm. Some shops close around Friday midday prayers. During Ramadan (expected around 8 February to 9 March 2027), many cafés close in daylight and sights may shorten their hours.
• Book the fixed-slot things early: Jardin Majorelle, a balloon flight and a desert tour are the three that sell out or need a specific time.
• Guides: use licensed official guides (ask your riad) rather than people who approach you in the street.

Frequently asked questions

What is Morocco best known for? Its medinas (Marrakech and Fes especially), the Sahara dunes at Merzouga, the blue town of Chefchaouen, the Atlas mountains, and its food: tagine, couscous and mint tea.

What is the number one thing to do in Morocco? For most first-time visitors, a night in a desert camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes. It takes three days from Marrakech, so plan it first and fit the rest around it.

How many days do you need in Morocco? Seven to ten days covers Marrakech, a desert tour and Fes. Two weeks lets you add Chefchaouen, the coast or the mountains without rushing.

Can non-Muslims visit mosques in Morocco? Generally no. The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the main exception, open on guided tours. Madrasas such as Ben Youssef in Marrakech and Bou Inania in Fes are open to everyone.

What should I not miss in Marrakech? The souks and Jemaa el-Fnaa at night, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, Jardin Majorelle (book ahead) and a hammam. Add a day trip to the Atlas or the Agafay desert if you have time.

How we researched this guide

Opening hours and prices were checked in September 2026 against the official Ben Youssef Madrasa and Le Jardin Secret sites and ONCF, with Hassan II Mosque tour times cross-checked across several recent visitor guides. Balloon, hammam, surf and Volubilis prices vary by operator and season, so we give the ranges quoted across multiple current sources. We haven't personally tested every operator mentioned; confirm prices and times before you travel, and let us know if something has changed.

Planning more of Morocco? See all our Morocco guides, or read the best places to visit in Morocco to decide where to go. Combining Morocco with Europe? Lisbon is a short, often cheap flight from Marrakech.