Archives: Locations

Tangier, a Moroccan port on the Strait of Gibraltar, has been a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe since Phoenician times. Its whitewashed hillside medina is home to the Dar el Makhzen, a palace of the sultans that’s now a museum of Moroccan artifacts. The American Legation Museum, also in the medina, documents early diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Morocco in an 1821 Moorish-style former consulate.

Rabat, Morocco’s capital, rests along the shores of the Bouregreg River and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s known for landmarks that speak to its Islamic and French-colonial heritage, including the Kasbah of the Udayas.

Ouarzazate is a city south of Morocco’s High Atlas mountains, known as a gateway to the Sahara Desert. Its huge Taourirt Kasbah, home to a 19th-century palace, has views over the rugged local landscape, which features in several movies. Northwest is the fortified red-earth city of Aït Ben Haddou. Northeast is the rocky Todra Gorge. A road winds southeast through the Draa Valley’s lush palm groves to the desert.

Merzouga is a small Moroccan town in the Sahara Desert, near the Algerian border. It’s known as a gateway to Erg Chebbi, a huge expanse of sand dunes north of town. West of Merzouga, Dayet Srji is a seasonal salt lake that’s often dry in summer. When full, it attracts a wide range of migratory and desert birds, including desert warblers, Egyptian nightjars and, occasionally, flamingos.

Imagine a night in the desert where absolute silence is reigning, and you could reach up and touch the stars. A night spent in the desert is an experience like no other and one that stays with you forever.