Is Morocco good for Christmas?

I get this question a lot from travellers chasing winter sun, and my honest answer is that Morocco makes a lovely Christmas — just a very different one from home. This is a Muslim country, so 25 December is an ordinary working day for most Moroccans; shops are open, life goes on, and you won't find town squares strung with lights or carols in the streets. If your idea of Christmas requires that traditional atmosphere everywhere you look, Morocco won't supply it. But if you want to step out of the cold, dark European winter into mild sunshine, it's superb.

Where Christmas does come alive is inside the riads and hotels, which have learned exactly what their guests want. The good ones lay on genuinely special festive dinners — a Moroccan-French Christmas Eve feast under lanterns in a courtyard, sometimes with a tree, candles, and live oud or gnawa music. I've arranged Christmas Day lunches on Marrakech rooftops in shirtsleeve weather that travellers still talk about years later. It's festive, just warm and a little exotic, and there's something freeing about it.

The weather is a big part of the appeal. Late December gives you those bright, mild winter days I described for the season generally — comfortable for sightseeing, cold at night, snow on the Atlas an hour away. Some families ski Oukaïmeden over the holiday. The desert is cold but magical, and a Christmas under the stars at a Sahara camp is unforgettable if you pack warmly.

Two honest warnings. First, this is peak holiday demand: the best riads sell out months ahead and charge their highest rates of the year, often with compulsory gala dinner supplements over Christmas and New Year. Book early — September is not too soon for a good place at Christmas. Second, plan your festive meals in advance, because the restaurants and riads that do special holiday menus take bookings and fill up. Get those right and Morocco is one of my favourite places to spend the holidays.