How do I handle the heat in Morocco?

Morocco's heat is real and worth planning around, but it's very manageable once you stop fighting it and start moving with the day like Moroccans do. The biggest summer months — roughly June to September — can push past 40°C inland in Marrakech, Fes and the desert, while the coast stays markedly cooler. My first piece of advice is actually about timing the whole trip: if you have flexibility, spring (March–May) and autumn (September–November) give you warm, glorious days without the punishing midsummer peak, and you'll simply enjoy yourself more.

Whenever you go, the rhythm is everything. Front-load your sightseeing into the cool of the morning — be out by eight or nine when the medinas are waking, the light is beautiful and the heat hasn't built. Then do as locals do and retreat indoors during the brutal early-afternoon window, roughly one to four: a long lunch, a riad nap, a shaded courtyard, a hammam. Emerge again in the golden late afternoon and evening, which is when Moroccan cities truly come alive anyway. Trying to power through midday in the sun is how people end up wiped out or unwell.

Hydration and sun cover are non-negotiable. Carry water everywhere and drink more than you think you need — I aim people at a refillable bottle they top up constantly, plus the occasional rehydration sachet on really hot days. Counterintuitively, loose, long, light-coloured clothing keeps you cooler than skimpy clothes by shielding skin from direct sun, which is also why the local djellaba exists. Add a wide-brim hat, sunglasses and high-SPF sunscreen reapplied through the day, and learn to walk on the shady side of the street. Mint tea, served hot, is the traditional cooler — it makes you perspire and genuinely helps.

The desert is its own category. The Sahara is bone-dry heat that dehydrates you fast and silently, so that's where water discipline matters most, and why good camps schedule the camel trek and dune time for sunrise and sunset rather than midday. Watch yourself and your group for heat-exhaustion signs — headache, dizziness, nausea, stopping sweating — and treat them seriously with shade, water and rest. Handle the heat with respect and routine, and it becomes just another texture of the trip rather than something that ruins a day.