Imperial Cities and Volcanoes

Málaga has spruced itself up. In 2003, the Museo Picasso opened in a 16th-century Renaissance palace and is dedicated to the artist's extensive life's work. This historic old city invites you to take a stroll and its buildings gleam like new. Above everything towers the Alcazaba, a mighty walled fortress. The port was completely redesigned when the city was opened to the sea and you can now take a lovely stroll along the promenade. In Malaga's hinterland, you can see the most beautiful aspects of traditional Andalusia. From a distance, the typical Andalusian villages look like white dabs of paint shining out from the brown of the barren mountain landscape.

The old city of Cádiz, around 3,000 years old, has a picturesque location on a narrow headland, right by the Playa de la Caleta with its elegant beachside promenade. Visit the Andalusian capital of Seville and you'll be transported back to the heyday of Moorish splendor and rule, but also the age of discovery. This town sits on the Guadalquivir River and was a center of Spanish maritime trade with the New World. Many buildings in the old town are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the splendid Moorish Alcazar fortress and the huge Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede. Seville is a fun-loving city that is still at the center of Andalusian culture and is considered the proud birthplace of Flamenco.

With a population of around one million, Tangier is constantly on the move: The port city west of the Strait of Gibraltar, whose cosmopolitan charm has attracted many writers, has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom for years. Those who yearn for more traditional oriental magic find what they are looking for nearby: Tetouan, the „white dove of the Mediterranean“ with its gleaming whitewashed houses, is not far away. The lively, authentic medina is hidden behind its thick city wall. Or would you prefer even more color? Then let’s go to Chefchaouen – the facades of this charming city shine in an extremely photogenic azure blue.

Few and far between are the occasions, on which one can experience two fascinating windjammers together and directly compare their maneuvers. When both yachts glide along side by side under full sail, they offer a truly breathtaking spectacle.

Around 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Casablanca is Rabat, one of the country's four imperial cities. This modern capital with its historic center was accepted onto the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2012. Hassan Tower, Rabat's landmark, dates back to the time when the city was the Sultanate's capital. Close by, and yet built hundreds of years later, is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. You can find this regal residence in the elegant French-influenced residential quarter, Ville Nouvelle, with its boulevards and splendid Art Deco colonial buildings.

Few and far between are the occasions, on which one can experience two fascinating windjammers together and directly compare their maneuvers. When both yachts glide along side by side under full sail, they offer a truly breathtaking spectacle.

With more than 5 miles of beach, a modern promenade, and countless restaurants and bars, Agadir, the "White City by the Sea," is a mecca for sun lovers – and a starting point for exciting excursions into the backcountry. Taroudant, about 50 miles to the east, was once the residence of a Berber prince, a rich caravan center, and an important trading post. Through one of the five massive city gates in the mighty clay walls, you enter the lively medina with its numerous souks, where Berber handicrafts, leather goods, silver jewelry, and the famous argan oil are traded.

Few and far between are the occasions, on which one can experience two fascinating windjammers together and directly compare their maneuvers. When both yachts glide along side by side under full sail, they offer a truly breathtaking spectacle.

The "Island of Fire", a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, has been continually recreated by volcanic eruptions. A third of Lanzarote is a bizarre lunar landscape of barren, beige-grey lines of hills and "fire mountains". In sharp contrast to this are the snow-white houses, golden beaches, and sparse green vegetation. Its quaint wine-growing areas of La Geria have been declared an all-embracing art form by the Museum of Modern Art. The painter, sculptor, and architect César Manrique understood art as the link between man and nature and made a vital contribution to the look of his island home through his artistic creations.

With its black volcano almost 6,561 feet high and endless white beaches along the coastline, the island of Gran Canaria displays a huge variety of landscapes. It's a "continent in miniature" with rugged rock formations, dense pine forests, dry valleys and reservoirs inland, lush vegetation in the north, shimmering dune landscapes in the south, and weirdly shaped cliffs in the west. Almost half the island has been registered by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve. The capital, Las Palmas, is no less colorful, with its port and history stretching back 500 years. The showpiece of this historic old town is the magnificent Santa Ana Cathedral.