Marrakech for The Time Travellers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The twelfth-century minaret is the template for the Giralda in Seville. Non-Muslims cannot enter, but the ruins of the older mosque lie beside it.

The Saadian-era Quranic school with cedar carving, zellige and rooms for nine hundred students. It closes at six, so go straight in.

A seventeenth-century merchants' warehouse turned restaurant, with tagines and a rooftop. Book the terrace at dusk for the minaret view.

The tombs of the sixteenth-century dynasty, walled up and rediscovered in 1917. Arrive at opening, because the main chamber is tiny and queues are long.

The ruins of Ahmad al-Mansur's palace, stripped for its gold by Moulay Ismail. Storks nest on the walls and the old sunken gardens remain.

A friendly Kasbah café with a camel burger and a shaded roof. It is a good spot to read your notes after the palaces.

The grand vizier Ba Ahmed's late nineteenth-century palace, with painted cedar and a vast courtyard. It shows how the city's elite lived before the French.

Whitewashed tombs on bare earth, the largest Jewish cemetery in Morocco. Open every day except Saturday, and a small donation is expected.

A small courtyard synagogue still in use, tucked into the Mellah's lanes. Dress modestly and ask the caretaker for the story of the district.

Vintage photographs of Morocco from the 1870s to the 1950s, across three floors. The rooftop café has a good view over the medina.

A riad restaurant with Italian-Moroccan dishes and a licensed rooftop bar. It is a civilised place to compare the day's notes over wine.

A compact museum of the designer's work and sketches, in a building of terracotta bricks. It opens at ten, so arrive a little before.

A colonial brasserie of 1925 with palm-shaded tables and fish, steak and salads. A good place to end the weekend before the airport.