What are the most Instagrammable spots in Morocco?

Morocco is almost unfairly photogenic, and I plan plenty of trips where the camera roll is half the point. The most famous shot is Chefchaouen, the blue city in the Rif mountains — its washed-indigo lanes, blue staircases trailing flowerpots and the odd cat on a cobalt step are everywhere on Instagram for good reason. The honest secret is timing: get into the old medina by 8am, before the day-trippers arrive, and you'll have those dreamy empty blue alleys almost to yourself. By midday they're packed and the magic thins.

In Marrakech, the icons are the Jardin Majorelle's electric-blue villa and bamboo, and two stunning bits of Islamic architecture: the Bahia Palace with its painted ceilings and tiled courtyards, and the Ben Youssef Madrasa, whose central courtyard of carved cedar, stucco and zellij is one of the most beautiful rooms in the country. Again, early entry is everything — Majorelle in particular develops long queues and crowded frames by mid-morning. And almost any good riad rooftop, with the medina and a minaret behind you, makes the quintessential Marrakech portrait.

For landscape drama, nothing beats the Sahara. The Erg Chebbi dunes at sunrise — rippled apricot sand, long shadows, maybe a line of camels on a ridge — is the shot people frame on their wall afterwards. Out near Ouarzazate, the fortified earthen kasbah of Aït Benhaddou, rising in tiers against the hills (and a backdrop in countless films), is spectacular in the low light of early morning or late afternoon. The Dades and Todra gorges, with their soaring rock walls and hairpin roads, add to the highlight reel on a desert loop.

A couple of honest, respectful pointers. Light and timing matter more than location — the same blue alley or dune is transformed at dawn versus noon, so get up early. And please photograph people with care: ask before pointing a camera at a stallholder, a water-seller in his bright costume, or anyone going about their day, and don't be surprised if a small tip is expected. The most special Morocco photos aren't always the famous ones, either — some of my guests' best frames are an unplanned doorway, a spice pyramid, or the light falling through a riad's screen.