Chefchaouen, Morocco

Chefchaouen is a very small town located in the Rif mountainous region of north Morocco. It is right in midst of Jebel Bouhachem Nature Reserve and Talassemtane National Park. This is what I call a village in a natural environment. The air is fresh, the view is green and fertile, the streets are tranquil and quiet and there is plenty to explore for the trekking lover. Apart from that, Chefchaouen is a charming town with a Berber-Jewish-Spanish-Muslim mix, which you can appreciate in the architecture and coloring of the buildings. It is one of a kind in Morocco, no other village is similar. It will only take a couple of days in your itinerary and it is worth the time. The only down fall is that you have to get there by bus or car. It is not the most accessible place to visit but that comes along with a cleaner, more natural environment, a more authentic experience, and less tourists; you'll have to balance out the pros and cons. Do not connect from Tetouan, the hustling there gets too intense and it is quite uncomfortable; I would advise you to pick some other destination to connect instead (try Asilah or Souk el-Arba du Rhab, I haven't been there but maybe they turn out to be an amazing experience; what I know is that almost no tourists go there, let me know how it went!) Finally, I present to you the 9th and last article of the Moroccan series "Chefchouen, a Hispanic dot in Morocco", where you can read more about this unique little town.

Casablanca, Rabat & Tangier

Morocco has three mayor cosmopolitan cities: Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier. All of them are located in the north part of the country, next to the Atlantic Ocean; all of them are clearly French-influenced and have lost some of the old Moroccan Arabic traditional charm other inland cities like Marrakesh, Fès, and Meknès have preserved; but not all of them are worth visiting. The ugly duckling in this case is Tangier. It has all the downfalls of the classic border town, somehow obscure and with a gloomy atmosphere. Aesthetically speaking, it isn’t a pretty city; it is gray and has no particular points of interest. I find it an uncomfortable place to be as a tourist and wouldn´t recommend it.

On the other hand, Rabat is a pleasant, modern, quiet, easy going town, soft on the tourist, and a happy, light experience for the visitor (Morocco is generally in the intense side of travelling). It has nice streets, lovely restaurants and cafés, and plenty of attractions and interesting places to explore, including some of the most important monuments of Morocco, which I describe in the 8^th article of the Moroccan series dedicated to these three cities.

Last but not least is Casablanca, the generally romanticized city that is Platonized by people around the world as the love story setting; we tend to imagine Casablanca having all the necessary elements that make it the natural scenery of the most romantic love story of all times. Well, I am sorry to disappoint, but this is not the case. Casablanca is not romantic. Casablanca is much grayer than I’d hope for, and much less green than I would expect a lovely romantic city to be. As a whole, it is not an alluring place to be in, most of us have seen concrete building agglomerations in several other countries in the world and we are not looking for that while travelling. BUT, here comes the big “but”, Casablanca has one marvelous monument, a single building that comes to its rescue and makes the stop all worth it: the beautiful most modern Mosque in the world “Mosque Hassan II”, an extraordinary piece of religious art I effusively recommend to see in person, to fully admire its magnificence and color.

Here is the 8th article of the Moroccan series "Cosmopolitan Cities of Morocco: Casablanca, Rabat & Tangier" a visual mini-guide.

Meknès & Volubilis, Morocco

Meknès is a city located north of Morocco in the junction point that binds the east with the north and south of the country. It is a city that remains much more Moroccan in ambiance than Rabat or Casablanca, which have turned into cosmopolitan cities. Meknès has as its highlight the ethereal beauty and exquisite interior design of Moroccan traditional architecture and Muslim costums, harmoniously brought together in the quiet building that houses Moulay Ismail's Mausoleum. This is such a unique place to visit that it even made the cover of Lonely Planet's guide to Morocco in the edition I travelled with (6th). Meknès has a relaxed city-like atmosphere that allows you to wander the streets freely and almost feel as an anonymous passer-by again -which is a difficult thing to attain in a Muslim developing country where tourists are regarded as a gold mine. It is a good place to accommodate in your schedule between places that are frantic in comparison (i.e. Marrakesh, Tetouan). As almost every Moroccan city, Meknès is divided into its old part or Medina, with its corresponding exotic souqs (markets), and the new part of town called Ville Nouvelle. The latter has one of Morocco's best museums "Dar Jamaï Museum". As usual in this detail oriented culture, the museum's building in itself is quite alluring but it also has interesting exhibits of jewelry, ceramics, rugs, textiles and wood artistry. In addition, the Ville Nouvelle has a big Mosque, which is closed to non-Muslims but fortunately supplemented with a theological college or medersa called Medersa Bou Inania, which does have access to the general public and exemplifies the elegant tile & wood work of Moroccan artists. To top it all up, Meknès has nice french influenced cafés to spend the afternoons in and delicious Moroccan eateries where you can explore the middle-eastern flavors of their rich gastronomy.

You shouldn't leave Meknès without visiting the Roman Ancient Ruins of Volubilis where some beautiful remains have been miraculously preserved. Here is where the unbeknown and undeservedly fame less Roman big coloured mosaics of Volubilis lay. The site is located in the midst of what appears to be very fertile isolated ground. The natural scenery is clean and green, besides exploring the archaeological treasure, you'll enjoy breathing the fresh air that comes from the mountains.

Here is my fifth article of the Moroccan series related to the imperial cit of Meknès and its neighbouring Archaeological Site Volubilis: http://hubpages.com/_1fclx5rkjd1r/hub/Highlights-in-Meknes-Morocco

Essaouira, Morocco

So the first article from the Moroccan series is Essaouira, a lovely coastal town south of Morocco that has a clear french influence in its architecture but which retains a truly Moroccan flavor, Berberish at its core. http://hubpages.com/hub/ESSAOUIRA-Top-Destination-in-Morocco