Agadir

Agadir offers a profoundly different Moroccan experience from the imperial cities and mountain landscapes that define most visitors' itineraries, and that difference is precisely its appeal. Almost entirely rebuilt after the catastrophic 1960 earthquake that killed 15,000 people, modern Agadir is a planned resort city with one of the finest urban beaches in Africa: a ten-kilometre arc of fine golden sand sheltered by a natural headland, with Atlantic swells that keep the surf schools busy and water warm enough to swim in for seven months of the year.

The resort infrastructure of Agadir is by Moroccan standards exceptional. The Boulevard du 20 Aout along the beachfront is lined with international hotels, beach clubs and restaurants; the Marina district has added a European-style harbour promenade of boutiques, seafood brasseries and cocktail bars. This is Morocco for visitors who want a genuinely comfortable beach holiday rather than the cultural intensity of Fes or Marrakech.

Beyond the beach, Agadir's hinterland is among the most biologically rich in Morocco. The Souss-Massa National Park, just 45 kilometres to the south, protects Atlantic wetlands, riverine forests and coastal cliffs that serve as habitat for the critically endangered northern bald ibis and year-round flamingos, ospreys and dozens of migratory bird species. The argan forest of the Souss valley — the only place in the world where the argan tree grows naturally — spreads inland from the coast, and the Amazigh villages of the Anti-Atlas Mountains begin just an hour's drive to the east.

The reconstruction of Agadir preserved one heritage site of great poignancy: the Oufella hill above the city, crowned with the ruins of the original sixteenth-century kasbah whose walls still bear the Arabic inscription 'If you destroy the silver, you can recreate it; if you destroy the men, you cannot recreate them.' Illuminated at night, the ruined kasbah silhouette against the Atlantic sky is a reminder that beneath this bright, modern resort city lies a history of extraordinary depth.