Ville Nouvelle, Modern Art Museums and What to Eat in Rabat

South of the brownish-red Andalusian Wall that marks the edge of the old Medina, Rabat opens into the Ville Nouvelle, laid out from 1912 onwards by French planner Henri Prost under Resident-General Hubert Lyautey. Rather than demolishing the historic walled city, Prost built a separate garden capital of wide palm-planted avenues, white arcades and Neo-Moorish and Art Deco public buildings.

Avenue Mohammed V, MMVI and the Museum of History and Civilisations

• Avenue Mohammed V and Cathédrale Saint-Pierre: start at the central Bab El Had or Mohammed V Gare de Rabat Ville tram stops and walk down the wide pedestrian median flanked by date palms, the Moroccan Parliament, the historic Post Office and the 1930s Art Deco facade of the Renaissance Cinema. Two blocks east on Place du Golan stands St Peter's Cathedral (1921), an extraordinary geometric white concrete church whose twin spires frame a cultural space inside.
• Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMVI): opened in 2014 as Morocco's flagship national art gallery, its white double-skin filigree facade houses a permanent survey of modern Moroccan art from post-independence pioneers such as Ahmed Cherkaoui, Jilali Gharbaoui, Farid Belkahia and Chaibia Talal to contemporary installation and photography.
• Museum of History and Civilisations (Archaeological Museum) and Bab er-Rouah: five minutes south on Rue Brihi, the national archaeological collection showcases prehistoric tools, Roman mosaics and the famous 1st-century BC/AD Hellenistic and Roman bronze sculptures recovered from Volubilis (including the Ephebe Crowned with Ivy and the bust of Juba II). Continue west to the monumental Almohad gate of Bab er-Rouah (Gate of the Winds), whose vaulted stone chambers now host public art exhibitions, overlooking the green expanse of the Royal Palace esplanade (Méchouar).

What and where to eat in Rabat

Rabat's dining scene bridges home-style Rbati family cooking, street snacks inside the Medina, and refined restaurants in Hassan and Agdal. Look out for five local favourites:

• Tagine Mqfoul and Couscous Tfaya: Rabat's signature sweet-and-savoury celebratory pairing of tender lamb or chicken topped with slow-caramelised onions, cinnamon, honey, raisins and chickpeas.
• Pastilla (Bastilla): crisp layers of paper-thin warqa pastry dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon over spiced pigeon or chicken and toasted almonds, or filled with Atlantic fish and vermicelli.
• Sardines, fried sole and grilled sea bream: order a mixed platter of fresh catch at simple fish stalls near the Medina gates or at riverfront restaurants along the Bou Regreg marina after visiting Hassan Tower.
• Harira, Bissara and Msemen along Rue Souika: in the late afternoon, Medina counters ladle bowls of velvety tomato-lentil-chickpea harira soup alongside griddled flaky flatbreads (msemen) and almond pastries.