Meknes, known as "the Versailles of Morocco" is one of the countries most striking imperial cities in north Africa.

Meknes was founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids. Initially it was a military settlement. In 1672, it became the capital of Morocco under Sultan Ismail. He undertook such palatial building operations that the city became known as the "Versailles of Morocco". Unfortunately, the grand scheme for a royal palace was never completed and today little of the construction remains.

The city centre is a large productive area surrounded by a fortress of ancient monuments and extravagant palaces. This is where they make olives, wine, cereal crops and citrus amongst other things. This is an authentic Moroccan "Souk" (market). You can get everything here from silver bracelets and their world famous olives to carpets and slippers.

The souks of Meknes are quite small in comparison to those in Fez. There are plenty of shops where you can find leather, djellaba's, carpets and silver. In just over an hour you can see all the nice shops.

Meknes has a surprisingly large number of restaurants for its population size. In the old town there are some really good restaurants. There are a couple that claim to be the "best in Morocco" and whether they are or not is debatable, but they certainly are very good. In the new town, there is a much wider at all types of price ranges.

Close by, there's Volubilis - the most important Roman ruins in all of Morocco. An absolute must see.