since 2009

Morocco – best time to visit ?

gorges at amtoudi and old granary

Best time to visit Morocco throughout the year ?

Update March 2024:

Following a severe drought this winter, Marrakech has currently limited water consumption in hammams and car washing facilities. The hotels, restaurants and other tourist infrastructure of the city continue to function normally. 

In a nutshell: 

Having lived in Morocco since 2006, I believe the country is best visited all year round. It all depends on what you wish to see and do while in Morocco. The Sahara ? Any time of year, but in July and August temperatures usually exceed 100 Fahrenheit / 40 Celsius ( most camps in Erg Chigaga close but those in Erg Chebbi stay open). Avoid the crowds ? January and February is your best bet, even December before Christmas, with plenty of sunshine. 

Best rates all year round ? July and August, but keep to the Atlas mountains and the Atlantic coast, if you can’t take the summer heat. March, April, May and October/ November ? Great weather, warm enough to sun tan and enjoy a pool, but it’s also when Morocco gets most tourists, so you’ll mingle with the crowds. Naturally, you can avoid them and explore Morocco off the beaten track: the Sahara desert, the Anti Atlas mountains and Morocco’s southern regions cover enough tracts for anyone to feel remote.  Will you travel with children ? By all means, they will remember it for the rest of their lives. 

azalai desert camp morning
Azalai desert camp, Erg Chigaga dunes

The good news is that there isn’t really a bad time of year to visit Morocco. What makes me say that ? Well, first of all, sunshine.  Sunshine 300 days a year ? More like 350. And yes, sometimes it can get too hot, but even in July and August choices abound: after all, Morocco is blessed with 2500 km of Atlantic coast and at least that or more of mountain ranges. 

Stroll around dreamy or picturesque villages such as Essaouira, Oualidia and Chefchaouen or trek up in the High Atlas mountains over 2000 meters high ( Morocco has its own Valley of Happiness- we didn’t make that up)  and you’re guaranteed dispensing with air conditioning. 

{ Read: Discover Morocco on a private tour }

MOROCCO BEST TIME TO VISIT: THE LOCALS TAKE.

The lonely planets and travel forums on the net want you believing that October or perhaps March is best to visit Marrakech or Fez. We disagree. And we’re not alone. Max Lawrence , owner of Lawrence of Morocco travel agency says: “Marrakech is wonderful all year round but if the summer heat is too much for you then you should head to the ideally temperate Atlantic coast in July and August. Oualidia, Essaouira and Agadir all provide 28 C whilst in Marrakech it can be 45 C.”  

When traveling from Fes to the Sahara desert, visitors can experience 3 different seasons in the same day when traveling in December, January of February, : spring in Fes where it’s frisky and sometimes rainy, crossing over the Middle Atlas mountains with snowcapped villages of Ifrane and Azrou to then arrive in the desert dunes a few hours later to find the most dazzling sunshine and 25 Celsius temperatures. 

Fortress- granary, Anti Atlas mountains
Fortress- granary, Anti Atlas mountains

As for March and October, it is the peak tourist season. This means cues to enter monuments, rubbing shoulders with everyone else visiting smaller venues and the night in a desert luxury camp you’d so long anticipated risking to resemble more an attraction park than the unforgettable experience you’d been dreaming of for years. Peak season time means also peak season rates. Most Riads/ hotels consider these months high season (given the volume of tourists) and raise their rates accordingly.

So instead, why not visit before Christmas ? Or just after NYE ? You get low rates on hotels and other services. Perhaps not quite the temperatures to swim in a pool, but at 20 plus Celsius day- time and constant sunshine, you are far from the rainy and cold winter affecting most of Europe and US. 

The rain season in Morocco, if such a thing exists, falls late February or March with ( perhaps) a few showers in November. For those interested in the best photography shots, January and February are ideal – the light is at its best then when air is dust- clear. 

{ Read: Morocco on a honeymoon 

Spa at La Mamounia Hotel, Marrakech
Spa at La Mamounia Hotel, Marrakech

With so many things to do and see in Fes, it isn’t the weather that decides when visitors come. As Vanessa Bonnin, former manager of Dar Roumana guest house, puts it: “The best time to travel to Morocco is in June to coincide with the incredibly inspiring Fes Festival of Sacred Music. It showcases an eclectic mix of world music and always has fabulous head-liners too. It shows this magical city at its best!”.

MOROCCO DURING RAMADAN

With the holy month moving backwards by 10 days every year, in 2025 and 2026 it will cover mostly March. Should you still visit ? Definitely ! No, you will not have to fast along. Restaurants and food options are available even in the most remote parts of the country. The only main difference to the normal season is everything sorts of slows down a couple of hours before the main meal of the day, around 6 PM. So why not partake in the great ambiance that evenings bring along and late into the night ?

WEATHER AND SEASONS IN MOROCCO

In July and August one should consider staying away from the desert and inland cities like Marrakech, Fez or Ouarzazate. But even in Fez and Marrakech, with careful preparation from a knowledgeable local travel agent, one can still enjoy the beauties of these two cities. The two cities about with lush, verdant lodges with pool and extensive shady gardens where guests can always return in the afternoon to shield themselves from the relentless sun. 

Dar El Bacha stucco and carved painted wood, Marrakech
Dar El Bacha stucco and carved painted wood, Marrakech

When it comes to Christmas and NYE, Marrakech is on the top of the list to foreign visitors’ preferences. A word of advice: if you expect to find the same festive ambiance as in Europe, you are in for a disappointment. Mostly because Morocco’s population being largely Muslim, they do not celebrate winter holidays as Westerners do.

Mandy Sinclair, writer and long time Marrakech resident prefers spring: “I absolutely love springtime in Morocco. The cold winter nights are behind us, but the snow-capped Atlas Mountains continue to be a sight to be seen in the distance. Orange blossoms fragrant courtyards and the main avenues. Pomegranate buds appear too. And by May, the jacaranda trees add a pop of purple in new towns across the country. It’s a time when I soak up the daytime temperatures, knowing that the heat of summer is not too far away and I’ll need to head to the coast for cooler climes.”

{ Read: Off the beaten track Morocco }

La Tangerina and view on Tangier medina
La Tangerina and view on Tangier medina

The Atlas mountains are wonderful all year but if trekking is your thing, then avoid the winter months of December, January and February as there can be too much water flowing in many of the rivers and snow covering the slopes to allow hikers to easily pass. During these months, trekking in the Anti Atlas and north of Tafraoute is ideal.

Yet perhaps you can only take time off in July and August and you absolutely wish to see the desert.  Temperatures can soar over 45 degrees Celsius and, yes, since 2023 some camps offer air conditioning in the tents. But what is the point of being in the Sahara stuck inside your tent most of the day ? 

Max adds: ‘Southern Morocco and the desert is ideal from September to June (10 months of the year) and should not be missed.’ If you really have to do the Sahara in July or August, think of booking a room in an air conditioned kasbah by the dunes, where early next morning, you can take a short camel ride into the dunes to witness a sunrise as you’ve never seen before.  But spending a full day in the dunes is not an option, unless you are training for Marathon de Sables.

CONCLUSION:

If you want to just tick some boxes in your travel notebook, you can follow the general advice and visit Morocco in March or October. For someone that can customize a once- in- a- lifetime experience and choose the best places to visit and things to do based on the time of year you wish to visittry and book via one of the best Morocco tour companies

Mandy Sinclair is a writer and PR consultant at Mandy Sinclair PR.

Max Lawrence directs the travel agency Lawrence of Morocco.

© Sun Trails 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

LAST MINUTE DEALS

 Book now and enjoy up to 10 % discount on our normal rates booking your tour to visit Morocco in April 2024. Send your enquiry here and use #moroccoinapril