Morocco Food Holidays and Morocco Hotels To Visit

❚ This page contains some affiliate links and we may receive a small commission for purchases made, but this comes at no extra cost to you and does not influence our editorial choices.

Planning a trip to Morrocco? Explore the markets of Marrakech, discover Berber traditions in the Atlas Mountains and fresh seafood on the coast at Essaouira – these are our top picks of the best Moroccan trips for foodies, with recommendations of where to eat in each spot along with the best places to stay.

For more like this, check out our suggestions for the best French food trips and Portuguese food trips.

Fez

For medina life

Fez's old medina is the heart of social life for locals, where they meet friends for tea or coffee and to buy spices, fresh fruit and veg, incense and traditional dresses for Eid. Explore the winding, shaded streets then nab an outdoor table at Café Al Oud to watch the world go by over the signature lamb tagine. Afterwards, climb the steep, narrow stone steps Abdullah Thé & Café where 81-year-old Ba Abdullah has been serving his signature mint tea since 1969.

If you want a guide, join a Fez Cooking School class. Meet your chef and guide over tea at Palais Amani before venturing into the heart of the medina to shop for veg, olives and spices, snack on traditional treats and chat to local merchants. Learn how to make a three-course Moroccan meal back on the rooftop, then enjoy it in the peaceful courtyard with new friends.

Come evening, relax on the higgledy-piggledy rooftop of Cafe Clock, offering mountain and medina views as well as cheese briouats, hearty rfissa and mint lemonade with the backdrop of live Arab and oud music.

Where to stay: Step in from the hustle and bustle of Fez’s old medina to peaceful riad, Palais Amani, centred around a courtyard abundant with orange trees, shaded tables and chairs, and trickling fountains. Look out for Ba Mohammed perched on his cushion ready to serve traditional mint tea. The rooftop is a haven of cushioned relaxation areas set among terracotta pots of peach bougainvillea, olive trees and rose bushes.

On-site restaurant Eden serves traditional Moroccan cuisine such as slow-cooked aubergine zaalouk, pastilla stuffed with cinnamon-spiced chicken and nuts, lamb tagine and vegetable couscous. Breakfast platters of colourful bowls filled with jams, olives, herbed cottage cheese and olive oil accompany silver pots of tea and a daily rotating Moroccan soup served with warm, fennel-flecked flatbreads.

Stained-glass windows adorn the bedrooms along with intricate bedheads, handwoven rugs and dark wood cabinets. Hotel luxuries are all sourced in Morocco, from Sultan herbal teas to essential oil bath products. Extend the pampering experience and pad down to the hammam for a sensory experience of hot water, steam, scrubbing and massaging, leaving you feeling as clean as you will ever be.

Doubles from £172, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com

Stores in the medina streets of Fez, Morocco.

Marrakech

For bustling markets

Explore the bustling markets and food stalls of energetic Marrakech. Visit in winter for eclectic Christmas gift-buying from souks and usual daytime temperatures of 16-20C.

There are plenty of intriguing food stalls to be found among Marrakech’s crowded streets and, after sunset in the main square, Jemaa el-Fna, where pop-up restaurants serve Marrakechi delicacies (sheep’s eyes, anyone?). Fight for a spot on a surrounding roof terrace and watch the stalls set up while you sip a mint tea. At Le Tobsil restaurant in the medina, guests sit on two levels around a courtyard, taking in live gnawa music (blues/Arabic fusion). Book and come hungry for the set menu of aperitifs, endless meze dishes, pastilla, tagine, couscous, fruit, mint tea or coffee, and pastries to finish. In the city’s bakeries, look out for the local special-occasion cake, m’hancha, a coiled ‘snake pastry’ made with almond paste, orange flower water and cinnamon. Take home saffron and spices from the souks, eating street-sellers’ roasted nuts as you go.

For something more refined, head to Le Jardin, a courtyard restaurant filled with verdant plants and wildlife – you’ll often find tortoises slowly meandering between tables. Sweet, flakey pigeon pastilla, Moroccan cous cous and whole grilled sardines are must-try dishes. Be sure to book in advance as these tables are highly covetable.

Where to stay: Hidden in the heart of the medina, IZZA is a network of riads that has been transformed into a boutique oasis of calm. Named the Museum in the Medina, more than 300 pieces of traditional and contemporary artworks are displayed throughout the hotel, from constantly regenerating AI portraits in the reception to even the mini gym lined with surrealist photography.

Meaning ‘stars’ in Arabic, rooftop restaurant Noujoum unfolds across the top of the riad, with tables tucked into terrace corners among trailing vines. The menu combines small and sharing plates, with Mediterranean influences alongside traditional Moroccan cuisine. Think classic tagine and couscous (choose from chicken, monkfish or vegetable), alongside grilled octopus served with saffron aïoli or juicy local lamb chops topped with zingy salsa verde. Don’t miss out on the unique cocktail menu, with a range of homemade infused spirits and syrups in each signature creation. Order a Marrakech Mule made with homemade fig and orange infused vodka, or a spicy El Mellah Sour with harissa and coriander tequila.

The 14 rooms are named after 1960s and 70s ‘freedom seekers’, such as Yves Saint Laurent, Jack Kerouac and Marianne Faithfull. Each has unique features, from the copper roll-top bath in Grace (named after Grace Jones) to the spacious pink-hued Yves with a juliette balcony overlooking the pool. Rooms are filled with a mixture of Moroccan design and mid-century furniture, with intricate tiled floors throughout.

Served on the rooftop, breakfast includes freshly squeezed juices, warm pastries and pancakes served with amlou – a special house blend of almond butter mixed with argan oil and honey. Savoury options showcase Moroccan specialities – order the loubia with merguez sausage and beldi egg, a local bean-filled twist on a shakshuka.

Rooms from £190, check availability at booking.com or mrandmrssmith.com

Essaouira

For a coastal break

Essaouira, on Morocco’s often-blustery west coast, pulls in kite surfers from across the world, along with free-thinking expats on the trail of Jimi Hendrix and tourists looking for a bargain in the souks of the town’s bustling medina. Meander through narrow streets, past hole-in-the-wall boutiques and carts flogging fresh bread, and barter for souvenirs in the souks before ducking in to one of Essaouira’s restaurants for tagines and hearty salads.

Queue up with locals to grab a pain au chocolat from Patisserie Driss, a small bakery founded in 1928, or duck through an arch to the adjoining tiled café for a nous nous (half espresso, half steamed milk) and a sticky bun. For a quick lunch, head to the port and the gargottes stalls that sell flash-fried sardine sandwiches fresh from blue wooden fishing boats.

Try a Moroccan cooking class at Khadija’s Kuzina, where a husband-and-wife duo welcome you into their traditional home, to teach you how to prepare sweet fish tagine, couscous tfaya, homemade batbout and briwat, puff pastry parcels filled with spiced vegetables. The day kicks off with a visit the medina beforehand with Hussein, who’ll guide you to the bustling fish market to select fresh ingredients for your feast.

Morocco may be a largely Muslim country but it has a long history of winemaking. Essaouira boasts some top-notch wines and even an award-winning vineyard to visit, Val d’Argan.

Where to stay: At peaceful boutique escape Kasbah d'Eau, down the Atlantic coast, surfers, camels and donkeys share the beach. Kasbah d’Eau blends laid-back Berber hospitality with slow coastal living. Interiors fuse hand-carved woodwork and earthy tones across a traditional hammam, a beach-front infinity pool and serene shared spaces, ideal for a signature sundowner – gin, orange juice and a choice of cinnamon or mint for a distinctly Moroccan twist. There are just 17 rooms, each designed with traditional Moroccan finishes and calming, minimal décor. All feature tadelakt bathrooms and a sense of rustic luxury. For the full coastal experience, opt for a sea-facing suite for golden hour views of camels and donkeys trekking home.

Mornings begin with a traditional Moroccan spread served with a view of the Atlantic. Soft batbout, flaky msemen or crumbly harcha arrive ready to be layered with jams, honey and compotes. Fresh mint tea flows freely, and eggs are cooked to order, always finished with a pinch of cumin for a spicy kick.

Rooms start from £140 per night B&B, kasbahdeau.com

The swimming pool and terrace overlooking the beach and sea at Kasbah D'Eau hotel

Atlas Mountains

For rural exploring

Half an hour outside Marrakech, you can find yourself in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. Hotels in the area offer a range of excursions, from half-day hikes to more strenuous whole-day treks with a local guide and the opportunity to visit the weekly souk at Tahnaout. Berbers from the mountains haggle over straggly sheep and goats, while tethered donkeys wait patiently.

Wander through the maze of makeshift stalls, past piles of vegetables on mats on the ground, mounds of salt and sacks of spices, crates of apples from the Atlas Mountains and lentils from the Kik Plateau. Locals buy their meat from the butcher stalls, and vegetables, spices and a ladle of olive oil from a seller sitting crosslegged amid bottles of murky golden liquid, and bring the ingredients here to be cooked.

Pass along the river valley to Douar Azrou, a Berber village. A jumble of stone houses, bedded into the red rocks, it was once on an important caravan trade route and is now protected by UNESCO.

Where to stay: Kasbah Angour is a tranquil hilltop retreat built in Moroccan style by English expat Paul Foulsham and run by a team of local Berbers. The property is surrounded by 10 acres of meticulously manicured grounds with a backdrop of snow-covered peaks. There are just 25 rooms, stone floors scattered with brightly coloured rugs, a dreamy pool and a generous peppering of cushion-strewn sun traps and shaded seating areas. It’s a world away from the mayhem of Marrakech. Excursions into the mountains, villages and markets can all be arranged.

Doubles from £187, check availability at booking.com or expedia.co.uk