Best time to visit Morocco

Morocco is often promoted as a winter sun destination but temperatures average around 14°C in December and early January – good for culture vultures, so long as you weren’t hoping to get bronzed in the process. If you want to ski, the season can be brief. The best time for pretty much guaranteed snow is mid-January to mid-February. Winter walking is a better option, with a longer season. As there is no snow in the Anti-Atlas, you can enjoy mountain life during December, January and February, with sunny days but cold nights.
Spring in the High Atlas is wonderful, full of wildflowers: poppies, orchids, blue gentian and blankets of pink and purple scabiosa spring up like magic. Spring starts as early as February; it’s dependent on snowfall. Desert dust storms are at their most frequent between February and April. The most popular time for hiking throughout the Atlas ranges is between March and November. April and May are good desert choices as the desert is just too hot June-September. However, temperatures can drop by 20°C in the desert between night and day, so be wary of this, take a good camping sleeping bag, and check temperatures in advance.
The Dades Valley of Roses is famous in May, when the fields are full of sweet smelling pink Damascus roses at their best. There’s a rose festival in El Kelaat M’Gouna. Fez loves its festivals: visit the very cool World Music Festival in May, and the Fez Festival of Sacred Music in June. If you can handle hiking in the heat, July and August are hot in the Anti-Atlas, but not off the scale desert madness like the rest of Morocco. And if you can’t handle crowds, the Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech will be at their busiest, so visit in early morning or late afternoon. Temperatures in the Sahara are simply baking in August so stay clear. However, they could be 15°C lower in Essaouira on the coast in July and August, for example. The Atlantic coast sees plenty of rain in the winter months between November and January, especially around Casablanca. The further south you go, the safer the bet at this time of year. Some people resist travelling during Ramadan, as a few businesses shut down. But in the main tourist spots, most stay open, the evenings come alive as people come out to eat en famille, and witnessing this important religious event feels like an honour for many non-Muslim visitors.

Anthony Horrobin from our adventure specialist Encounters Travel:
“For the best time to travel to Morocco generally, I would say that April and May or September and October. For the Atlas Mountains, I would say between April and September. The winter can get pretty snowy and dire up there to be honest.”

Meryem Benkhati is one of several female tour guides with our leading cultural holidays in Morocco supplier, Intrepid Travel:
“June and September are my favourite times. The temperature is perfect, it's sunny yet there is a cool breeze. Also, my favourite festival, Gnaoua Music Festival, is held every year in June in Essaouira, so for me that’s the coolest, most laid-back season of the year.”