Is Morocco good for a winter sun escape?

I get this question most in November and December, and my honest steer is: yes, Morocco is a brilliant winter sun escape, but only if you choose the right corner of it. People picture Marrakech as a guaranteed warm-weather bolthole, and the daytime sun there is lovely — I have sat on riad rooftops in January in a t-shirt at lunchtime. But once the sun drops behind the Atlas the temperature falls fast, and by 9pm I am reaching for a jumper and grateful for the brazier on the terrace. Marrakech is mild in winter, not hot.

For dependable warmth, I send winter-sun travellers south of the High Atlas. Agadir on the Atlantic gets the most reliable winter sunshine in the country — long beach days, 21–24°C, palm-lined promenades — and it is where Moroccans themselves go to thaw out. Taroudant, an hour inland, is a walled "little Marrakech" with gorgeous light and almost no winter chill. And the Souss and Draa oases, with their date palms and ochre kasbahs, deliver that warm, dry, restorative quality people fly south for, without the resort feel of Agadir.

What I gently warn against is building a December or January trip around the Sahara and the mountains expecting heat. The desert by day is glorious and clear, but I have shivered through Merzouga camp nights near freezing — bring real layers, not just a fleece. The Atlas can have snow on the passes. None of that ruins a trip; it just means a winter Morocco escape is about chasing the southern, lower-altitude sun rather than assuming the whole country is balmy.

My ideal winter-sun shape, when someone wants two weeks of warmth with a bit of culture, is to base on the coast or in Taroudant for the bulk of the trip, take a few days into the warmest oases, and do Marrakech as a short, layered-up city break at either end rather than the whole holiday. Done that way Morocco genuinely competes with the Canaries or southern Spain for winter sun — with infinitely more to see when you do want to put clothes on and explore.