If you’re an ardent handicraft pilgrim like myself, the medinas of Morocco will be your mecca—especially the UNESCO World Heritage–listed walled city of Fez.

WHY EAT DINNER OFF A PLAIN OLD WHITE PLATE WHEN YOU CAN FEAST FROM A MOROCCAN PLATTER? MOROCCAN CERAMICS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR VIVID HAND-PAINTED DESIGNS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY POTTERY SHOPS YOU WANDER PAST IN THE SOUKS, IT’S HARD NOT TO GET LURED INTO THOSE MESMERIZING WHIRLPOOLS OF COLOR.

Mosaic ornamentation, or zellige, is ubiquitous in Morocco; you’ll find it in hotel lobbies and restaurants, in mosques and palace chambers, even in the bathrooms. Though the art of mosaic tilework goes back to the Bronze Age civilizations of the Mediterranean, zellige developed uniquely in Morocco. The Moors then took it with them to Spain and Portugal, where it thrived under a different name: azulejo.