Fez — Morocco’s visitor numbers keep rising, but tourism often funnels into the same four or five hotspots – leaving entire regions underexplored. 

For many international visitors, these destinations barely register on an itinerary. Yet, for locals and returning travelers, they hold some of Morocco’s most memorable encounters. Choosing these cities is not only a way to avoid the tourist bottlenecks, but also to share your travel spending with communities that rarely benefit from mass tourism.

What follows is a curated selection of eight underrated Moroccan cities that deserve a place on your next itinerary

Think of this list as a blueprint for spreading your time (and dirhams) more widely across the country and for finding the stories that make a trip feel personal.

Tiznit 

Behind ochre ramparts, Tiznit’s kisaria (covered market) hums with Amazigh jewelry makers hand-shaping fibulae, chainwork, and engraved cuffs. 

Time your visit for the Timizart Silver Festival (mid-July), when workshops spill into the streets with fashion shows, live smithing, and co-ops from across Souss-Massa. 

Between purchases, walk the walls at sunset, then try an atelier session to learn how artisans cut, anneal, and polish a simple pendant—you will leave with a souvenir you made.

Sidi Ifni 

Perched on Atlantic cliffs about 4 hours driving south of Agadir, this former Spanish enclave is a living lesson in 1930s design. 

The Pagaduría Militar (ex-Spanish Consulate) anchors streamlined façades, arcades, and civic squares; mornings are for photographing the pale geometry before sea mists roll in, afternoons for uncrowded beaches and sardine lunches. 

Architecture buffs can trace Iberian-era motifs from triple arched porches to terrazzo stairwells on a compact walking loop from the main plaza.

Larache 

Five minutes above the harbor, the archaeological park of Lixus crowns a breezy ridge over the Loukkos River. 

Here you wander amphitheater stones, a forum, and vast fish-salting vats that once fed an empire, often with only birds for company. 

Morocco’s Ministry of Culture’s ticketed route has made access easier; pair golden-hour ruins with Larache’s seafood stalls below. 

If Volubilis feels too busy, Lixus delivers the same sweep of Roman-era urbanism with Atlantic light and far fewer tour buses.

Tarfaya 

On Cape Juby, a pocket museum tells how pilot-author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ran Aeropostale’s stopover here (1927–1929). 

It is a tiny institution with a singular story best followed by a low-tide walk toward the offshore Casamar fort while trade winds thrash the surf. 

Bring a notebook; many travelers find Tarfaya’s edges, empty horizons, salt haze, and desert light inspiring for sketches and painting.

Taza

Base in Taza for day trips into one of Morocco’s oldest national parks (est. 1950). Tazekka protects Middle Atlas cedar groves around 1,980-meter Jbel Tazekka and unfurls cork-oak forest, karst caves, canyons, cascades, and cap-cloud views. 

Classic outings include the Gouffre du Friouato cave, Ras El-Oued waterfall, and ridge drives where kestrels and Moussier’s redstarts patrol thermals. 

Winter brings snow, spring explodes with wildflowers; shoulder seasons are superb for hiking.

Ouezzane 

Ouezzane’s medina wears its spiritual pedigree in green paint and quiet zawiyas—but its other devotion is olive oil. 

Around the pre-Rif foothills you can visit modern mills and women-led cooperatives, taste early-harvest oils, and learn how altitude and limestone soils shape flavor. 

Visit during harvest (roughly late October–December) to watch crates of olives turn into luminous, peppery oils you will struggle to find abroad.

Nador 

Skirting the Mediterranean, the Marchica (Sebkha Bou Areg) lagoon is a Ramsar-listed wetland rebounding as habitat and city park. 

Dawn paddlers can trace mirror-flat water under the Rif silhouette, while visitors looking for a nature-filled stroll can flock to boardwalks that host herons, terns, and wintering shorebirds.  Views from cafes are unmatched – facing sunset light across 14,000 hectares of brackish shallows. 

It is a calm alternative to busier beaches. Pack binoculars and look forward to tranquil outings with local guides.