Morocco or Spain — which should I choose?

These two are quite literally a ferry ride apart across the Strait of Gibraltar, and they share a tangled Moorish history — the Alhambra in Granada and the medersas of Fes are cousins — yet they offer very different holidays. Spain is the effortless European choice: world-class cities like Barcelona, Madrid and Seville, sublime food and wine, golden beaches, superb museums, and a high-speed train network that makes getting around a joy. For comfort, ease and reliable infrastructure it's hard to beat.

Morocco, just across the water, is the exotic contrast — the same sun and Andalusian echoes, but with the Sahara, the High Atlas, the labyrinth medinas and riad living that Spain simply doesn't have. It feels more adventurous and more genuinely different, and it costs meaningfully less for accommodation, food and guides. If you want to feel like you've travelled somewhere far from home without a long-haul flight, Morocco gives you that in spades.

Practically, Spain is the smoother ride: nothing about it is hard, English is widely understood in tourist areas, and you can self-drive or train everywhere with ease. Morocco asks a bit more of you — some souk hustle, more planning for desert and mountain legs — but rewards you with bigger landscapes and a stronger sense of discovery. Spain's nightlife and beach scene are livelier; Morocco's is quieter and largely alcohol-light.

Choose Spain for a relaxed, cultured, comfortable European trip where you want everything easy and the food and cities to carry the holiday. Choose Morocco for adventure, the desert and the mountains, and vivid sensory immersion at better value. And here's my favourite tip: you don't have to choose. Pairing southern Spain — Seville, Granada, Tarifa — with a ferry hop to Tangier and onward into Morocco makes a spectacular two-in-one trip that tells the whole Moorish story.