A photographer's field guide
20 Best photography spots in Morocco
Best photography spots in Morocco on one north-to-south route, from Chefchaouen's blue lanes to the Erg Chebbi dunes, with the light and heat that shape each day.
Morocco is usually sold as colour: the blue lanes of Chefchaouen, the red walls of Marrakech, the gold dunes at Merzouga. The photographic problem is different. The country runs long from north to south, the best light sits at the ends of the day, and midday heat decides when you can work. Get the route and the hours right and the colour takes care of itself.
The north holds two different kinds of city. Chefchaouen, in the Rif, is blue walls and narrow lanes that keep soft light for most of the day. The imperial medinas of Fes, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech are about architecture, street life and night photography. South of Fes the country opens through the Ziz Valley toward the Sahara at Merzouga, where the Erg Chebbi dunes repay the journey at first and last light. Between the desert and Marrakech sit the Atlas passes, the Todra and Dades gorges, and the kasbah at Ait Ben Haddou. Each of those worlds runs on a different clock, and that is what reorganises the trip.
This guide builds around the places the thirteen-day photography tour we run visits, in the order that light and distance make sense: Casablanca and Rabat, Chefchaouen, Fes, the Ziz Valley, Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi dunes, the gorges, Ait Ben Haddou and Marrakech. The detail here comes from the route we run and from its planning records. It is a selection to reorder, not a driving itinerary.
Planning your Morocco photo route
- Choose the season by heat, not by the calendar. Spring and autumn are the usual windows for a route that reaches the desert; midsummer makes the middle of the day unusable in the south. Check current conditions before you fix dates.
- Plan one north-to-south line. Casablanca and Rabat, Chefchaouen, Fes, the Ziz Valley, Merzouga, the gorges, Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou, then Marrakech. The order saves road days; zigzagging across the Atlas costs light.
- Give the desert two nights. Erg Chebbi is a first-light and last-light location, so one night leaves you a single chance at the dunes. Staying at Merzouga with a night in the dunes is how you get both ends of the day.
- Work medinas in shade and reflected light. Chefchaouen’s lanes stay workable through the middle of the day; the covered souks of Fes are dark and want a fast lens and high ISO. In Marrakech, Jemaa El Fna builds from afternoon into the blue hour and after dark.
- Time Ait Ben Haddou and the gorges for low sun. The kasbah reads as a whole settlement late in the day, when the walls hold their colour. The Todra and Dades gorges are better in early or late light, with shape along the walls. The Tichka Pass crossing to Marrakech is a road day, not a stop.
- Protect the gear from dust and heat. Fine sand gets into everything at Erg Chebbi, and batteries lose capacity in heat. Zip bags, a blower, a cloth and a spare battery that travels cool cover most of it. A tripod earns its place at dusk.
- Check drone rules before you pack one. Drone use in Morocco is restricted and the requirements change. Confirm the current rules and any permit needed for your exact locations rather than trusting an old forum post.
- Photograph people with consent. Medinas, markets and the Gnaoua village of Khamlia are working places. Ask first, accept a refusal, and settle what a picture is for before any money changes hands.
For the wider photography picture, from genres to gear, see the Morocco photography guide. For when to go, where to stay and how to move around, the complete Morocco travel guide covers it.
5 bases · 20 spots
The map could not load. The spots are numbered in the article below.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 1 Hassan II Mosque
One of the world's largest mosques and a key photographic landmark of Casablanca.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 2 Casablanca Corniche
A scenic waterfront promenade on the Casablanca coast.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 3 Casablanca Old Medina
The old medina of Casablanca, offering a glimpse into the city's rich traditional past.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 4 Kasbah of the Udayas
A UNESCO World Heritage Site kasbah in Rabat and one of the capital's key photographed landmarks.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 5 Hassan Tower
The unfinished minaret of an ancient mosque, among the important landmarks of Rabat.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 6 Mausoleum of Mohammed V
A royal tomb and major architectural landmark in Rabat.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 7 Chefchaouen Medina
A bustling labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways in Chefchaouen's old town, defined by its beautiful blue-washed buildings.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 8 Spanish Mosque Viewpoint
A vantage point at the Spanish Mosque above Chefchaouen, overlooking the blue-washed town.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 9 Bab El Mansour
The Bab El Mansour gate, a landmark of the Ismaili city of Meknes.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 10 Moulay Ismail Mausoleum
A sacred mausoleum in the Ismaili city of Meknes.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 11 Volubilis
Volubilis Roman ruins covering a vast expanse, with wide views over the surrounding landscape.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 12 Fes Medina
An ancient medina and UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to a diverse array of artisans, narrow streets and charming shops.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 13 Ziz Valley
The Ziz Valley's dramatic rocky gorges and cliffs, carved by the Ziz River over millennia, with lush vegetation contrasting against the riverbanks.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 14 Erg Chebbi
The great sand dunes of Erg Chebbi near Merzouga, rising from the Sahara of southeastern Morocco.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 15 Khamlia
The Gnaoua village of Khamlia, home to a community known for its unique music in which drums are an essential instrument.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 16 Todra Gorges
The limestone river canyons of the Todra, a dramatic canyon landscape carved by the river.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 17 Monkey Fingers Gorges
The gorges called 'Monkey Fingers' in the canyons of Boumalne Dades.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 18 Valley of Roses
The Valley of Roses at Kelaat M'gouna, where cosmetic products such as rosewater are produced from the roses.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 19 Ait Ben Haddou
A well-known kasbah castle that belonged to the Glaoui Pasha.
Photography spot in Morocco N° 20 Tichka Pass
The Tichka Pass, a mountain crossing through the Atlas Mountains.
Takeaways
- Pick two of the four worlds and photograph them properly. Chefchaouen’s blue lanes, the imperial medinas, the Atlas gorges and Ait Ben Haddou, and the Erg Chebbi dunes each ask for different hours. A route that tries to exhaust all four spends its best light in transit.
- Treat road days as part of the work. The Ziz Valley and the Tichka Pass crossings are long, and the photographs come from stopping when the light is right rather than from arriving early. Build a car you can shoot from and leave the day some slack.
- Measure the trip in return visits, not locations. Returning to one medina lane at a different hour beats ten stops shot once. Heat makes the middle of the day a rest window, and that is when the editing happens.
Morocco rewards committing to a line. The blue city, the imperial medinas, the gorges and the dunes are not interchangeable, and seeing all of them at speed costs you the light that makes each one work. Decide whether the desert or the medinas carry the trip, give the other a supporting role, and let the heat set the middle of the day. That choice, more than any list of places, decides the pictures you come home with.
If you would rather have the route arranged and the hours handled, the Morocco Photography Tour follows this north-to-south line over thirteen days, from Chefchaouen and Fes to the Erg Chebbi dunes, the gorges and Marrakech.
