Morocco

Morocco overwhelms five senses simultaneously. The Marrakech medina — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is the most intact medieval city in the Arab world: a labyrinth of souks, riads, and workshops where craft traditions that have operated continuously for eight centuries are still producing work of genuine quality. The dyers' quarter, the copper souk, the carpet merchants — these are not tourist reconstructions. They are living economies.

Fès el-Bali, the old city of Fez, goes further. The tanneries where leather has been treated by hand since the 12th century — visible from the terraces of surrounding shops — are one of the most photographed sights in Africa, and one of the most authentic. The Karaouiyine University, founded in 859 AD, is the oldest continuously operating degree-granting institution in the world.

The Merzouga dunes in the Sahara — accessible from Marrakech or Fez by internal flight or a long private drive — offer something different again: an elemental landscape experience that requires no historical context to be immediately overwhelming. The dunes at Erg Chebbi rise to 150 metres. Sunrise from the top is worth everything.