What are the most romantic things to do in Morocco?

I design a lot of honeymoons, and Morocco delivers romance in a way couples never quite expect. The undisputed showstopper is the Sahara. Watching the sun sink over the Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga, then sitting down to dinner at a private camp with lanterns, Berber drumming fading and a sky so thick with stars it looks fake — there is simply nothing more romantic in the country. Splurge on a comfortable camp with a proper bed and your own tent; this is the night you'll talk about for years.

Back in the cities, the magic is the riad. A candlelit dinner on a private rooftop terrace in Marrakech or Fes, the medina humming below and the Koutoubia or a nearby minaret lit against the dark, feels impossibly intimate — many luxury riads will lay on a just-for-two table among rose petals and candles, and it never disappoints. Mornings are romantic too in their quiet way: breakfast brought up to your terrace, fresh msemen and orange juice in the early sun, nobody else around. The riad itself becomes part of the romance.

The coast offers a softer, breezier romance. Essaouira is made for couples who want to slow down — long windblown beach walks, a sunset drink on the ramparts watching the gulls and fishing boats, seafood grilled at the port. Further south, a quiet beach near Oualidia or a luxury coastal hideaway gives you that 'just us' feeling away from the medina intensity. And almost everywhere, a private couples' hammam — the steam, the scrub, the oils, side by side — is a sensory, unexpectedly tender experience I recommend to nearly every honeymoon couple.

My honest advice on planning a romantic trip here: don't over-schedule it. The temptation is to cram in cities and the desert and the coast, but romance lives in the unhurried moments — the lingering rooftop dinner, the dawn over the dunes, the slow hammam afternoon. I'd rather give a couple two unforgettable nights in the Sahara and three slow days split between a Marrakech riad and the Essaouira coast than race them around six places. Less ground, more magic — that's the formula that works.