What is Rabat like in March?

March is one of my favourite months to send people to Rabat, because it is the first time the city feels properly warm in the sun while staying fresh and uncrowded. Highs around 19°C mean you can spend whole afternoons outdoors without wilting, and the Atlantic keeps the air clean. There is the odd shower, but the long, bright spells are winning out now, and the quality of light is gorgeous.

The gardens are the headline in March. The Andalusian Gardens in the Oudayas go technicolour — roses, orange blossom scenting the whole courtyard, climbing geranium against the blue walls. The Chellah is at its lushest, with wildflowers between the Roman columns and the storks fully nesting and clattering their bills overhead. If you only do one slow, sit-down-and-soak-it-in stop in Rabat this month, I would make it Chellah in late afternoon.

Crowds are starting to build toward the Easter and spring-break wave, but March still feels gentle compared to April. You will see more tour groups at the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum, but nothing overwhelming, and riads have not yet jumped to high-season pricing — so there is a real sweet-spot window here for value. I often steer honeymooners and slower travellers to this part of the calendar.

Pack for variety: light layers for warm days, a sweater for the cool evenings that still bite once the sun is down, and a packable rain layer just in case. Walking shoes matter — Rabat is a genuinely strollable capital and you will rack up the kilometres between the medina, the Kasbah and the riverfront. March pairs wonderfully with Marrakech or the Atlas foothills, both glorious before the summer heat.