A palace garden courtyard in Marrakech: a marble fountain, banana palms and carved stucco galleries

Couple questions: Honeymoon planning

Is a summer honeymoon in Morocco a good idea?

It can be, if you build it around the coast and the mountains rather than the desert. July and August are very hot inland, and the Sahara is hard work then. Essaouira and Oualidia stay breezy, the High Atlas is cooler, and a pool riad in Marrakech makes the city work early and late.

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Answered by the Morocco Honeymoons team. Checked October 2026.

The short answer

The earthen ksar of Ait Benhaddou climbing its hill in afternoon light, palms in front and the granary on the crest — Ait Benhaddou, on the road south to the Sahara

In more detail

Our planning guides all say the same thing about high summer: intensely hot inland, lovely on the Essaouira coast. The Atlantic towns are cooled by the ocean and the trade winds, and our destination notes suggest a light layer for the evenings even in summer.

A good summer honeymoon might start with a few nights in Marrakech in a riad with a pool, with sightseeing kept to the early morning and the evening. Then go up into the High Atlas around Imlil, about an hour away, for cooler air and lodge dinners, and finish with several nights by the sea.

A riad patio at night, lit low around its fountain, trees and carved arches — Riad Livia, Marrakech medinaPhoto: Dutch Morocco Investments SARL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

If you still want a desert night, the Agafay near Marrakech is easier than the Sahara in summer: arrive in the late afternoon, eat as the light goes, and sleep under the stars. Book the coast early: Oualidia is busy with Moroccan families in July and August.