NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Travel

Morocco: 12 photo stops in North Africa to cross the Atlas Mountains for

NZ Herald
6 Dec, 2018 03:56 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Golden gates: The entrance to the Royal Palace in Fez, Morocco. Photo / Getty Images

Golden gates: The entrance to the Royal Palace in Fez, Morocco. Photo / Getty Images

There are few countries fit so much variety, colour and charm into their borders as Morocco. Beloved by photographers, film scouts and tourists alike - this North African is full of amazing natural and manmade structures.

Here is a collection of twelve images that captures some of the most memorable sights and stops for those planning a trip to this photogenic Berber kingdom.

1. Chefchaouen

The blue town of Chefchaouen in Morocco. Photo / Thomas Roche, Getty Images
The blue town of Chefchaouen in Morocco. Photo / Thomas Roche, Getty Images

Morocco's blue city in the Rif Mountains. Sat in the north west of the country it's famous for its colourful buildings daubed in cooling hues. No one can agree why the city got its colour or weather it was to ward away the heat mosquitoes, heat or camouflage to the sky. For whatever reason it's striking and here in Morocco.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

2. Imlil Valley

Imil: On the steps of Morocco's Atlas Mountains. Photo / Nicole Kucera, Getty Images
Imil: On the steps of Morocco's Atlas Mountains. Photo / Nicole Kucera, Getty Images

If you think you've missed Africa and arrived in the Himalayas, you'd be forgiven. This dramatic range was used as part of Brad Pitt's 1997 film 'Seven Years in Tibet.'

The Imlil Valley leads out of Morocco into the Atlas Mountain, Africa's highest range of mountains. As well as stunning views up and into the valley below, the alpine climate is a few degrees cooler. This makes it a popular retreat during the hot summer months.

3. Legzira Beach

Atlantic arches: Giant red arches on Legzira beach. Photo / Getty Images
Atlantic arches: Giant red arches on Legzira beach. Photo / Getty Images

The North Atlantic has carved these fragile red cliffs into a range of impressive stone shapes.

On the 8km stretch of sand you'll find a massive red arch. Until 2016 there were two of these formidable natural structures, when the other was undermined by the waves below and it collapsed. The expansive beach is a haven for kite surfers and para gliders.

4. Souss Valley

Morocco's Argan tree-climbing goats. Photo / Yavuz Sariyildiz, Getty Images
Morocco's Argan tree-climbing goats. Photo / Yavuz Sariyildiz, Getty Images

How did they get up there? Of all the amazing sights in Morocco the surreal view of tree climbing goats might be one of the most arresting. The goats have learned to abandon the arid floor to forage for greenery in the Argan trees above.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They play a vital part in processing Argan oil beauty products by eating the fruit and 'dispensing' the nuts in dung below.

5. Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

Morocco's biggest mosque: Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca.Photo / Getty Images
Morocco's biggest mosque: Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca.Photo / Getty Images

Of all the minarets in all Morocco, you have to visit the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. Although not the larges religious building it does have the largest minaret - or prayer tower- ever built. It took 10,000 craftsmen seven years to erect.

Its formidable shape by the sea is recognisable for miles.

6. Volubilis

Volubilis mirabilis est: The Roman town in North Africa. Photo / Getty Images
Volubilis mirabilis est: The Roman town in North Africa. Photo / Getty Images

While gone are its former glories, this North Africa hub was one of the most spectacular regional capitals in the Roman Empire. The ruins will give you at least an indication of its previous form. Amongst them entire mosaic floors can be seen with detailed patterns and classical stories depicted in tiles.

Discover more

Travel

He Tāngata: Dr Derek Ball

05 Dec 11:00 PM
Travel

Amsterdam you are not: 'I Amsterdam' sign removed

05 Dec 10:41 PM
Travel

Not using flight mode costs passenger $435

05 Dec 10:18 PM
Travel

How I ran through my midlife crisis in the Sahara

01 Oct 03:00 AM

7. El Jadida

El Jadida a 16 century reservoir. Photo / Getty Images
El Jadida a 16 century reservoir. Photo / Getty Images

In the port city of El Jadda, La Citerne Portugaise or 'Portuguese Cistern' leaves visitors with plenty to reflect upon.

This 16 century stone warehouse was converted into a reservoir for water with five beautifully proportioned columns supporting the skylights above. The effect is so mesmerising that Orson Wells chose it as a filming location for his1951 film, Othello.

8. Cap Spartel lighthouse

The lighthouse: Cape Spartel, Tangier, which faces the straights of Gibraltar. Photo / Getty Images
The lighthouse: Cape Spartel, Tangier, which faces the straights of Gibraltar. Photo / Getty Images

The Lighthouse looks from Tangier across the straights of Hercules towards Europe. Next stop, Gibraltar. As a bottleneck for shipping in and out of the Mediterranean, the area has seen plenty of history. From Napoleonic battles to the sinking of an island city in 9000BC which - supposedly -

was a founding part of the myth of Atlantis

. There are some subterranean attractions still reachable to tourists, beneath the imposing lighthouse on Cap Spartel are the caves of Hercules.

9. Bahia palace

The kaleidoscopic Bahia palace in Marrakesh. Photo / Getty Images
The kaleidoscopic Bahia palace in Marrakesh. Photo / Getty Images

The very name, Bahia, means "brilliance." The 19th century palace was modestly named by an aid to the sultan, it was intended to be the "most brilliant" court building of all time.

It's a brief his Moroccan craftsmen have evidently stuck to in every aspect of its construction.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

10. Dadès Gorges

Hairpins: Dades Gorges on the road leading into the Atlas Mountains. Photo / Getty Images
Hairpins: Dades Gorges on the road leading into the Atlas Mountains. Photo / Getty Images

On the way up to North Africa's Atlas mountains, take time to look back down to the valley below and marvel at this feet of civic engineering. The hairpins raise the metalled Route 704 up an incredible 500m over the precipitous Dadès River Gorge.

11. Aït Benhaddou

Aït Benhaddou: The fortified UNESCO town between the Sahara and Marrakech. Photo / Kelly Cheng, Getty Images
Aït Benhaddou: The fortified UNESCO town between the Sahara and Marrakech. Photo / Kelly Cheng, Getty Images

This Unesco heritage site is a fortified city or an "ighrem" which guards the way to the Sahara. Like a giant sandcastle its walls and corner towers are hewn out of clay and stone.

12. The Golden Gates, Fez

Golden gates: The entrance to the Royal Palace in Fez, Morocco. Photo / Getty Images
Golden gates: The entrance to the Royal Palace in Fez, Morocco. Photo / Getty Images

'None shall pass' through these Golden Gates which lead on to the Royal Palace in Fez. However to be able to just stand outside these mathematical marvels is worth the visit.

The Golden Gates are not made of gold at all, but brass which guards diligently clean with lemon juice.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Travel

Travel

Flight from NZ has windscreen shattered after landing in Brisbane

18 Jun 10:45 PM
Travel

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM
Travel

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM

One pass, ten snowy adventures

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Travel

Flight from NZ has windscreen shattered after landing in Brisbane

Flight from NZ has windscreen shattered after landing in Brisbane

18 Jun 10:45 PM

A similar incident occurred with an Air New Zealand flight last month.

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

New Zealand's most trusted firms revealed

17 Jun 09:26 PM
How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

How to visit six European countries in 13 stress-free days

17 Jun 08:00 AM
Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

Matariki weekend: The top 10 most searched destinations

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up
sponsored

Your Fiordland experience, levelled up

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP