What’s the one experience to prioritise if I only do one thing?

I get asked this constantly, and after years of guiding I give the same answer almost every time: if you do only one thing in Morocco, spend a night in the Sahara. The cities are extraordinary and I love them, but you can find great markets, beautiful architecture and wonderful food in many countries. What Morocco offers that almost nowhere else does — within reach of an accessible, modern trip — is a genuine night in one of the world’s great deserts. It is the experience my travellers describe, again and again, as the highlight not just of the trip but sometimes of their lives.

The reason it wins is that it stacks four unforgettable moments into a single overnight. There’s the camel trek into the dunes of Erg Chebbi at sunset, when the sand glows like embers and the modern world disappears behind you. There’s the desert camp at night — the fire, the drums, the tagine, the deep human warmth of it. There’s the sky, which without a single light for hundreds of miles reveals a Milky Way so bright it casts a faint shadow. And there’s the pre-dawn climb to watch the sun rise over an ocean of sand, which silences everyone who sees it.

It does take commitment — the desert is a long way from the cities, usually a full day’s drive from Marrakech or Fes — but that journey is part of the reward, crossing the High Atlas passes, the gorges of the Dades and Todra, and the date-palm oases on the way. I always tell people: don’t try to do it as a rushed day trip that turns around at sunset. The stars and the sunrise are the entire point, and you only get those by sleeping out there.

If your time is genuinely tight, build the whole trip around this one thing and let everything else be a bonus. A couple of nights in Marrakech to bookend it, the scenic drive each way, and one night under the stars — that is a complete, deeply satisfying Morocco trip on its own. Of everything this country offers, the desert night is the memory that stays brightest, longest. Prioritise it above all else.