Experience the best of Larache

Larache lies on the Atlantic coast of north-west Morocco, at the mouth of the Loukkos river, a port town of whitewashed houses and a fishing harbour. It was part of the Spanish protectorate from 1912 to 1956, and its centre keeps that stamp: the grand oval Place de la Libération, once the Plaza de España, is lined with arcaded buildings and cafés, and a medina of narrow lanes opens off it.

On a hill across the Loukkos stand the ruins of Lixus, a Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman city, where salting works and mosaics survive and a legend places the garden of the Hesperides. The French writer Jean Genet is buried in the old Spanish cemetery in Larache. Fortresses guard the river mouth, the fish market lands the day's catch, and the lagoon of Moulay Bousselham, a bird reserve, lies down the coast.

Seafood is the local pleasure, from fresh sardines and fried fish to prawns, eaten at the harbour stalls, and the Loukkos plain grows strawberries. The Atlantic keeps summers mild and breezy, and winters bring rain, so late spring and early autumn are comfortable.