Is Morocco good to visit during UK half-term in October or February?

Both UK half-term breaks are great windows for Morocco, and as a family designer I send a lot of British families on exactly these dates, so let me take them in turn. October half-term, falling in late October, lands in the tail of Morocco's lovely autumn. The brutal summer heat has broken, and you get warm, sunny, very comfortable days — mid-20s°C in Marrakech and the south — with pleasant evenings and the desert at its most agreeable. In my view this is one of the single best value-for-weather slots in the whole calendar: gorgeous conditions without the spring or Christmas price premium. It's a fantastic family week.

February half-term, in mid-February, is a different but equally rewarding proposition. This is winter, so days in Marrakech and the south are mild and reliably sunny — often 17–19°C, lovely for medina-wandering and a welcome blast of light and warmth in the depths of a grey British winter — while nights turn genuinely cold and the High Atlas is under snow. It's a wonderful escape-the-winter break, and you can even combine the warm city days with snow visible on the peaks. Just pack properly for the cold evenings and desert nights, which families routinely underestimate.

On crowds and price, the thing to understand is that each half-term is a defined spike: because UK (and often other European) schools are off the same week, demand and rates climb noticeably for that specific seven-day window and then fall back either side of it. It's nowhere near Christmas or New Year levels, but it's busier and dearer than the surrounding ordinary weeks, so the standout family riads do book up. My standard advice is to reserve your accommodation and any guided days a few weeks to a couple of months ahead for a half-term trip — earlier for October, which is the more popular of the two.

My verdict: don't hesitate over either half-term. October gives you better daytime warmth and is my slight favourite; February gives you that mood-lifting winter sun and the romance of Atlas snow. Both avoid the real heat, both keep everything fully open, and both are far better value than the headline Christmas peak. Book in good time for the specific week, and you'll get a brilliant family Morocco trip on either date.