Is October or April a better month overall in Morocco?

You've essentially picked the two best months of the year, so this is a question of fine margins rather than right and wrong. Both October and April sit squarely in Morocco's golden shoulder seasons, with warm comfortable days across most of the country, cool pleasant evenings, and the kind of conditions that make medinas, mountains and dunes all enjoyable at once. Whichever you choose, you'll dodge the summer furnace and the deepest winter chill, and you'll travel when the country is at its most welcoming.

April's signature is colour and freshness. After the winter rains, the landscape is at its greenest — wildflowers in the valleys, blossom in the orchards, the Ourika and Dades valleys lush, and almond and rose blooms depending on the year. The High Atlas often still wears snow on its peaks, which makes for spectacular contrasts against green foothills. Desert nights are a touch cooler than autumn, and spring can occasionally throw in a windy or hazy day, but the visual reward of a Morocco in bloom is hard to beat.

October's signature is warmth and abundance. The land is drier and more golden after the long summer, the days are reliably warm and settled, and crucially the sea is at its warmest of the year — the Atlantic around Essaouira and Agadir has had all summer to heat up, so it's far better for swimming than April's cooler water. It's harvest time too, with dates in the south and produce everywhere. Desert nights are mild and the skies tend to be clear and stable, which is wonderful for stargazing.

So how to choose? If you're drawn to green, flowering scenery, dramatic snow-capped mountains and you don't mind a slightly cooler swim, go in April. If you want the most settled warmth, warm seas for beach days, harvest abundance and reliably mild desert nights, go in October. For desert-focused trips I lean very slightly to October for its stable nights and clear skies; for mountain and valley scenery I lean to April for the greenery. But genuinely, you can't lose — these are the two months I most often recommend, and the difference is one of character, not quality.