What's a good imperial cities itinerary?

Morocco has had four imperial capitals across the dynasties, and stringing them together makes for a deeply historical, architecture-rich trip. I usually begin in Marrakech, the southern Almoravid and Saadian capital, and give it three nights — the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs, the Koutoubia, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the labyrinth of souks around Jemaa el-Fnaa. With a good local guide, the medina opens up from a confusing maze into a readable map of palaces, fondouks, and craft quarters.

From Marrakech I route north toward Rabat, the modern royal capital on the Atlantic. It's the most relaxed of the four — the Kasbah of the Udayas with its blue-and-white lanes, the unfinished Hassan Tower, the elegant Mohammed V Mausoleum, and the Roman-and-Islamic ruins of Chellah wrapped in storks' nests. Rabat is where you feel the working, contemporary face of the Moroccan monarchy alongside the deep history, and it's a calm, walkable counterpoint to the bigger medinas.

Meknès is the underrated jewel, the 17th-century capital of the sultan Moulay Ismaïl, with monumental gates like Bab Mansour, vast granaries, and royal stables built for thousands of horses. I pair it with a half-day at nearby Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman city in Morocco, where mosaics still lie open under the sky among olive groves. Standing among those columns at golden hour, with the imperial city on the horizon, is one of the quiet highlights of the whole route.

We save Fes for last and give it two full nights, because it's the spiritual and intellectual heart of the country and the most overwhelming medina of all. The Al-Qaraouiyine — among the oldest universities in the world — the Bou Inania Madrasa, the medieval tanneries, and nine thousand alleys of artisans reward slow, guided exploration. Starting in Casablanca and ending in Fes, you can do all four capitals plus Volubilis in eight or nine days, and come away with a real sense of how dynasty after dynasty built this country.