Marrakech

Marrakech intoxicates the senses, from the ancient Medina to the 19th century ‘Nouvelle Ville’. Mule-drivers weave between modern cars and stylish restaurants and shops nestle by souks where life has continued unchanged for centuries. Country clubs provide luxurious gardens and swimming pools on the edge of the city while at the city’s heart is the magical Jemma el Fna where there are food stalls, storytellers, snake - charmers, falconers, water-sellers, dancers and fortune-tellers.

Marrakech is a riot of colours: cobalt tiles, green-glazed roofs, red and saffron yellow rugs. Its fragrance is distinctive: wood- smoke, spices and resin, sweet-smelling steam from a Hammam or jasmine in a hidden garden. Its rhythms are tam-tam drums, the call to prayer and the silence of forgotten lanes and peaceful terraces.

Marrakech’s long history has bequeathed it fine monuments, but it offers simpler pleasures too: a courtyard glimpsed through a doorway; ancient caravanserai; the fascinating Jewish quarter; the ramparts at dusk with storks nesting between the castellations. Anything seems possible in this unique city.