How do I cope with the heat while sightseeing?

The most important thing to understand is that Moroccans do not fight the midday heat, they avoid it, and you should copy them. In summer, especially inland in Marrakech, Fes and the south, the hours roughly between noon and four are brutal, and trying to march around ruins or souks then is how people end up unwell. So I structure hot-weather days around the cool bookends: be out and sightseeing early, from breakfast through late morning, retreat indoors for the worst of the afternoon, then come back out as the city cools and comes alive again in the evening. It is not a compromise — it is genuinely the best time to see everything anyway.

Hydration is the unglamorous thing that matters most. In real heat you need far more water than you think, and waiting until you are thirsty is already too late, so I tell guests to carry a bottle and sip constantly, refilling from sealed bottled water through the day. The endless mint tea actually helps — hot drinks make you sweat and cool down, as locals have always known — and adding a little extra salt to your food or an electrolyte sachet on the hottest days replaces what you lose. Go very easy on alcohol in the heat; it dehydrates you fast and the sun finishes the job.

Dress and shade do the rest. Loose, light-coloured, breathable cotton or linen that covers your skin keeps you cooler than bare arms in direct sun, and a brimmed hat plus sunglasses and reapplied high-SPF sunscreen protect the parts that are exposed. Walk the shaded side of the street, duck into the roofed sections of the souk, and plan your indoor stops — a museum, a long lunch in a courtyard, a café, your air-conditioned riad — for the peak hours. I deliberately build the hottest-day itineraries around indoor or shaded highlights at midday and save the open gardens and viewpoints for early or late.

My honest guidance: respect the heat rather than powering through it, and watch yourself and your travel companions for the warning signs — headache, dizziness, stopping sweating, nausea — which mean stop, get into shade or air conditioning, drink, and rest immediately. Pace yourself, take more breaks than feels necessary, and do not be too proud to call an afternoon off by the pool. Temperatures vary enormously by season and region — a spring day in Essaouira is nothing like a July afternoon in Marrakech — so check the forecast and plan the day around it.