MARRAKECH MUSTS

FLY DIRECT Marrakech is exotic, but it’s also surprisingly close. Royal Air Maroc flies direct from New York to Casablanca daily (just seven hours), and it’s a short flight to Marrakech from there.

GET OUT You can spend days wandering the medina, but an entirely different experience is just 45 minutes outside town, in the Agafay Desert. The moonlike landscape is an otherworldly place to hike, mountain bike, or ATV. And the bespoke outfitter Black Tomato (blacktomato.com) can set up nearly any experience. The Terre des Etoiles ecolodge is worth a stop for lunch or an overnight.

EAT EVERYTHING That includes sheep eye—one of the many delicious bites on the Marrakech food tour (marrakechfoodtours.com), an incredible gastronomic trip deep into the hidden world of the souk.

DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT... ...taking a sidecar tour through the medina...buying a rug at Soufiane Zarib...drinking coffee at Bacha cafe...strolling the gardens of Jardin Majorelle...lounging with a cocktail on the roof at El Fenn.