Rabat City Tour: Kasbah of the Udayas, Hassan Tower, Chellah & Medina

Rabat is often skipped by travellers rushing between Fes and Marrakech, yet it is one of Morocco's most pleasant cities: clean, green, by the ocean and full of history. Its historic centre, a mix of the old Islamic city and the modern capital built in the 20th century, is listed by UNESCO. On this private half-day tour, a licensed guide takes you to the essentials. You start at the Kasbah of the Udayas, the 12th-century fortress at the mouth of the Bou Regreg river, with its monumental gate, blue-and-white lanes and Andalusian Gardens. You walk through the medina and its souks, quieter and easier than those of Marrakech. Then you visit the Hassan Tower, the great unfinished minaret, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V with its royal guards on horseback. You finish at Chellah, where Roman ruins and a Merinid necropolis lie in a garden of fig trees and storks' nests. Perfect if you are staying in Rabat or arriving by train.