Can you do a Roman ruins tour to Volubilis in Morocco?

Volubilis is the Roman highlight of Morocco and a genuine surprise for visitors who do not associate the country with antiquity. Lying on a fertile plain about half an hour from Meknes, it was a thriving provincial city on the south-western edge of the Roman Empire, and the ruins are extensive and beautifully legible. You walk a real Roman street, the Decumanus Maximus, beneath the Arch of Caracalla, past the columns of the basilica and capitol, into houses still floored with detailed mosaics depicting gods, athletes and mythological scenes — many of them open to the sky exactly where they were laid.

What I love about guiding people here is how much remains intact and in situ. Unlike sites where the best finds have all been carted off to a museum, Volubilis lets you stand in the courtyard of a merchant's house and look down at the original mosaic floor, with the storks nesting on the columns above and the green hills rolling away beyond. Early morning or late afternoon is best, both for the softer light on the stone and to avoid the midday heat, which on the open plain can be fierce in summer.

The site pairs naturally with two neighbours that make it a full day rather than a quick stop. Moulay Idriss, just up the hill, is one of Morocco's holiest towns, founded by the man who brought Islam to the country and whose tomb draws pilgrims — its whitewashed houses cascading over two hills are a beautiful contrast to the Roman stones below. And Meknes itself, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, with its monumental Bab Mansour gate and vast granaries, completes a day that spans Roman, early Islamic and imperial Morocco in a single loop.

Logistically, Volubilis is easiest as a day trip from Fes, which is around an hour away, or from Meknes if you are basing there. I usually advise hiring a guide for the site itself — without one the ruins are atmospheric but somewhat mute, whereas a good guide brings the mosaics, the oil presses and the layout of the forum vividly to life. It is a refreshing change of register from medinas and desert, and a reminder of just how many civilisations have left their mark on this corner of North Africa.