Dakar or Marrakech?

Dakar is a seaside city. It sits on a peninsula, with N'Gor, Yoff, sheltered Anse Bernard and the Almadies coves all in town, and the car-free N'Gor island a few minutes away by pirogue for calm swimming. The catch is the season: the water is cool and the surf heavy through winter and spring. It turns warm only in the humid rainy months, and you should avoid the water near the port and Hann Bay.

Marrakech has no coast at all. Swimming there means a riad plunge pool or a hotel pool, which matter a great deal in summer. The nearest beach is the cool, windy shore at Essaouira, a long drive away, and the Lalla Takerkoust reservoir makes a lakeside afternoon rather than a beach day.

Both cities eat well, and in both the best meals are home-style, but the flavours are quite different. Dakar cooks with the sea: thieboudienne at lunch, yassa and peanut mafé, fish grilled on the shore at Ngor and Ouakam after the pirogues land at Soumbédioune, and charcoal mutton at the dibiteries after dark. French bakeries and Lebanese mezze add variety.

Marrakech is about slow cooking: tagines, Friday couscous, pastilla and tanjia from the hammam embers, plus grill stalls and snail soup on Jemaa el-Fna at dusk. Its weakness is repetition, since many medina menus serve the same few dishes. Wine with dinner also means a licensed restaurant or hotel.

Marrakech has the richer sightseeing because almost everything sits inside one walled, UNESCO-listed medina. On foot you can reach the Koutoubia minaret, the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia and El Badi palaces and the storytellers of Jemaa el-Fna. The Jardin Majorelle and the Yves Saint Laurent museum add a modern chapter just outside the walls.

Dakar's sights are fewer and spread out, but its high points are powerful. Gorée Island and the House of Slaves are a moving reckoning with the Atlantic slave trade. The Museum of Black Civilisations and the IFAN collections cover African art more broadly than Marrakech's small museums do.

Dakar is the place to go out. Bars fill around midnight, clubs often run until dawn, and you can choose between ocean-facing lounges in Almadies and Ngor, expat bars on the Plateau and local dance floors in Point E and Mermoz. Nights there are about dressing up and dancing more than drinking.

In Marrakech the evening is the theatre of Jemaa el-Fna followed by a long dinner. Going out after that means lounge bars and a few big clubs in Hivernage and Gueliz, at resort prices, and the city suits a sunset cocktail better than a night that ends at dawn.

Marrakech has the great landscapes. The snow-capped High Atlas is within an easy drive, with village walks from Imlil, waterfalls in the Ourika valley, the climb of Jebel Toubkal and winter skiing at Oukaimeden. Closer in, the stony Agafay desert offers camel rides, balloon flights and clear night skies.

Dakar's outdoors is mostly its coast: basalt cliffs, the Mamelles lighthouse and Africa's westernmost point. Surfers will find reef and point breaks around Ngor, Ouakam and Yoff that Marrakech cannot offer. Inland there is only Lac Rose and the giraffes at Bandia, as the country around is flat and built-up.

Neither city is a strong base for days out, but Dakar has a few more that fit into a day. The Petite Côte gives you Toubab Dialaw, the Somone lagoon, the pirogues landing at Mbour and the shell island of Joal-Fadiouth. Touba's Great Mosque is a long but realistic outing by motorway.

Marrakech's best-known escapes, Essaouira and the kasbahs of Ait Benhaddou, really need a night away. Closer in, the choice comes down to village souks at Asni or Amizmiz and the lone Almohad mosque at Tinmel.

Both cities are warm towards children and short on things made for them, but Dakar is a little easier. Its beaches, especially calm N'Gor island, give children a natural playground, and the Gorée ferry and the Bandia safari make good outings. On the other hand, you need malaria precautions, and the traffic and broken pavements tire small legs.

Marrakech asks more of younger children, with crowded lanes shared with motorbikes, persistent sellers and fierce summer heat. A riad or resort with a pool makes it workable, and older children who enjoy markets get the most from it.

Getting around takes effort in both cities, though for different reasons. Dakar is stretched along a long peninsula, so distance is the issue. The TER railway and rapid bus line handle the main corridors well, and taxis and ride-hailing apps cover the rest, but peak-hour jams can be severe.

In Marrakech, the medina itself is the challenge. It is compact and walkable, but it is a maze of unnamed alleys shared with carts and motorbikes. You will need petit taxis to reach Gueliz or Majorelle, and there is no rail transport within the city.

Marrakech is a shopping destination in its own right. The souks north of Jemaa el-Fna are arranged by trade, so you can follow lanes of leatherworkers, dyers, metalworkers and carpet sellers. Gueliz boutiques and the Sidi Ghanem showrooms then offer calmer, design-led alternatives.

Dakar's shopping centres on one thing done well: fabric. You can choose wax prints or bazin at the HLM market and have a tailor make a garment within days. The Soumbédioune artisan village covers carvings, leather and drums.

Marrakech is easier on the budget, mainly because of where you sleep. Simple medina riads offer real character for modest money, and palace entries, taxis and stall food are all cheap. Bargaining in the souks decides what you pay for souvenirs.

In Dakar, eating locally and getting around by taxi cost little, but comfortable hotels charge close to southern European rates. Decent budget rooms are scarce, so a trip there costs more than its street prices suggest.

Dakar is a music city. It is the home of mbalax, with bands playing late in clubs and music bars, and the biggest names still play hometown shows. Sabar drumming breaks out at weddings and wrestling matches. The Sorano National Theatre and the Grand Théâtre national add ballet, traditional ensembles and concerts, alongside hip-hop and jazz.

Marrakech's performance happens mainly in one place: the gnawa musicians, drummers and storytellers of Jemaa el-Fna each evening. Apart from the Popular Arts Festival and the tourist dinner shows, there is little to buy a ticket for.

Marrakech is built for unwinding. Bathing is part of daily life here, from the neighbourhood hammam with black soap and a kessa glove to marble spas with argan oil massages. The riad courtyard, with its fountain and orange trees, shuts out the noise of the lanes.

Dakar offers hotel spas in Almadies and Ngor and some yoga, in a city that is loud and dusty in the harmattan. Real calm there means retreating to N'Gor island or heading down to the Petite Côte.