Is Marrakech better as the first or last stop?

There's no single right answer here, and anyone who insists otherwise is overselling. Marrakech is the most intense, sensory, overwhelming-in-a-good-way city in Morocco — the Jemaa el-Fnaa, the souks, the crowds, the colour. Whether that's better as your opening act or your finale depends on two things: the practicalities of your flights, and how you personally like to structure a trip's energy. Let me make the case for each, because I've happily sent first-timers both ways.

Start in Marrakech if you like to hit the ground running. You're at your freshest and most curious on day one, so you can throw yourself into the full Marrakech experience while you've got the stamina for it, then let the trip decompress — out to the calmer Atlas, the desert, or the breezy coast — and finish somewhere restful. Logistically it's also the natural launch pad for the classic loop down to the Sahara. The honest downside: Marrakech is a lot for a jet-lagged arrival, and some people find day one a sensory ambush before they've found their feet.

End in Marrakech if you'd rather build up to it. Start somewhere gentler — Fes, the coast, the mountains — acclimatise to Morocco's rhythms, learn how the souks and the haggling work, and arrive in Marrakech road-tested and confident, ready to enjoy its intensity rather than be flattened by it. Finishing here also means the big finale and the country's best shopping come last, so you carry your purchases for the shortest time and fly home straight after the highlight. The trade-off is that a hectic Marrakech right before a long flight home can feel frantic if you don't leave a buffer.

So my decision rule: sort the flights first — many Morocco trips naturally open and close in Marrakech because of where the international routes land, and there's no shame in letting logistics lead. Where you have a genuine choice, ask what kind of traveller you are. Plunge-in-fresh types should start in Marrakech and wind down after; ease-in, save-the-best-for-last types should build toward it. Either way, I'd protect a calm final day before flying, wherever Marrakech sits, so the trip ends on a breath rather than a scramble.