Rabat

Rabat is Morocco’s political capital and one of its most underrated destinations, sitting where the Bou Regreg River meets the Atlantic. Its collection of historic sites, including the incomplete 12th-century Hassan Tower and the adjoining Mausoleum of Mohammed V, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 for representing a rare blend of Islamic and French colonial urban planning. The whitewashed and blue Kasbah des Oudayas overlooks the river mouth with narrow lanes and Andalusian gardens, while the ruins of Chellah sit within fortified walls just outside the city center. Compared to the intensity of Marrakech’s souks, Rabat offers a calmer, more orderly introduction to Moroccan history and government life.