How cold does Morocco get in winter?

The biggest winter mistake I see is people packing for the postcard, all sun hats and shorts, and then being genuinely cold. Morocco's winter days can be lovely, a Marrakech afternoon in January often reaches a gentle 18–20°C with bright blue sky, but the nights are a different beast. Once the sun goes down the temperature drops to single digits across most of the country, 5–10°C in the cities, and it feels colder indoors than out.

That indoor cold is the part nobody warns you about. Traditional riads and old medina houses are built of thick stone and tile to stay cool in summer, which means in winter they hold the chill. Many have no central heating, relying on space heaters and extra blankets. I have had guests genuinely surprised that their beautiful riad courtyard is freezing at breakfast. It is part of the charm, but you want warm socks, a fleece, and to ask for the extra blankets, which every good riad has ready.

Go up or south and it gets properly cold. The Atlas mountains drop below freezing and gather snow, with hard frosts in the Berber villages. The desert, despite its daytime sunshine, plunges toward 0°C at night under those clear skies, so a winter Sahara camp means thermal layers and a stack of heavy blankets, which we always provide. Even the imperial cities like Fes, which sits a bit higher and more exposed than Marrakech, can feel raw and damp on a grey January day.

None of this should put you off winter, it is a wonderful time to travel, with thin crowds, snow-capped mountains behind palm groves, and warm sunny afternoons for sightseeing. You just have to pack like it is a real winter in the evenings: layers, a warm jacket, a hat, and a scarf. Dress for spring by day and autumn-into-winter by night, and you will be comfortable everywhere from the souks to the dunes.