Agadir, Morocco

Kimia

Hi all. Thinking of heading to Morocco in the summer but have been quoted quite expensive prices (€800+ each) for a week. I'm thinking I could do better so does anyone have any suggestions for me to do this. For example

* Is it possible to book flights separately and if so do you know an approximate cost? I have googled and they're showing up at 799 each!

* Can anyone tell me some hotel recommendations?

* Should I look into booking through a UK agent and just sorting out the flights to london and back ourselves?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Galadriel

sunway.ie are doing one week in Agadir including flight and hotel for €499, this is for the end of July.

LiamMc

List of budget airline websites from Europe to Morocco. Unfortunately I cannot vouch for any of them. But they may give you better options then flying in and out of Agadir


http://www.airarabia.com/
http://www.jet4you.com/static/fr-FR/index.html
http://www.vueling.com/
http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Book/
http://www.ryanair.com
http://www.andalus.es/andalus/

If you chose to arrive into Agadir, maybe towns on the coast like Essaouira are better places to stay. I'm sure there is more up-to-date independent hangouts than that.

Tarroudant is a large town up in the mountains with two squares.

Marrakech is an easy 4 hour bus ride away from Agadir and the Atlas mountains another couple south again. Marrakech is grand for two or three nights. Bigger souks (markets), Moorish Amohad stuff.

Marrakech hotels including the small ones around the Jmaa el Fna sell short trips into the desert via different sites. A three night trip is possible, its a tight squeeze on a seven night package, but chock-a-block full of what you need to see and do in Southern Morocco.
A three day tour south out of Marrakech should include going over the Atlas mountains, Ait Benahaddou (near Ouarzarzate centre of Morocco film industry), Todra gorge, tour of an oasis town, south into the desert and camel ride, over night in desert. The travelling is long but not ardous, families with twelve year olds and up should be able for it even if it includes a few snoozes.

High summer is very oppressive in the desert and Marrakech, but from now up to the beginning of May and middle of september and later should be okay.
Daylight is shorter than in Europe during Spring-Autumn.

kmick

Unless you have a specific reason to go to Agadir I would avoid the place like the plague. I have never been hassled, harried, threatened, bugged, scammed, and make feel generally uneasy the week I spent here. To some people thats part of a trip but everyone who was with us I talked to said the same. It was one of the most unpleasant weeks of my life including

A minor assault
Food posioning
Threats to me and others in the group
Scammed numerous times in restaurants
Taxis scamming you every time you got in
Every second person offering me drugs

It starts at the airport when you fly in and have to pay the local "visa"charge which they only took sterling for. It ends when you leave the place and the bag handler shouts at you for not letting him carry your one bag on wheels.

Avoid avoid avoid.

jhegarty

I spent 8 hour there and to be honest it was enough to see everything worth seeing.

meditraitor

jhegarty wrote: »

I spent 8 hour there and to be honest it was enough to see everything worth seeing.

What were you looking at, and hour to get from the airport and drop of the bags, half an hour to get some grub. an hour to look around... then its all downhill.
By my reckoning thats 2.5 hours...... long enough, then get a plane the flock out of there.

meditraitor

kmick wrote: »

Unless you have a specific reason to go to Agadir I would avoid the place like the plague. I have never been hassled, harried, threatened, bugged, scammed, and make feel generally uneasy the week I spent here. To some people thats part of a trip but everyone who was with us I talked to said the same. It was one of the most unpleasant weeks of my life including

A minor assault
Food posioning
Threats to me and others in the group
Scammed numerous times in restaurants
Taxis scamming you every time you got in
Every second person offering me drugs

It starts at the airport when you fly in and have to pay the local "visa"charge which they only took sterling for. It ends when you leave the place and the bag handler shouts at you for not letting him carry your one bag on wheels.

Avoid avoid avoid.

+1

And just to add to this, Marakech is even worse.... horrible horrible place

meditraitor

Kimia wrote: »

Hi all. Thinking of heading to Morocco in the summer but have been quoted quite expensive prices (€800+ each) for a week. I'm thinking I could do better so does anyone have any suggestions for me to do this. For example

* Is it possible to book flights separately and if so do you know an approximate cost? I have googled and they're showing up at 799 each!

* Can anyone tell me some hotel recommendations?

* Should I look into booking through a UK agent and just sorting out the flights to london and back ourselves?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

If you really want to go, get a ryanair to Barcelona/Milan etc and then easy-jet from there....

jhegarty

meditraitor wrote: »

What were you looking at, and hour to get from the airport and drop of the bags, half an hour to get some grub. an hour to look around... then its all downhill.
By my reckoning thats 2.5 hours...... long enough, then get a plane the flock out of there.

Lol , too true..

But I was in Casablanca the day before , so my standards were very low.

cfitz

meditraitor wrote: »

+1

And just to add to this, Marakech is even worse.... horrible horrible place

I've been to Marrakech a few times and I liked it every time. Actually I'd say it's one of my favourite cities to visit. For the sake of perspective, what other cities do you like and dislike??

I haven't been to Agadir since 2006, but it didn't feel very unsafe to me. Spent 2 weeks there that included lots of walking, taking taxis, and driving a rental car.

meditraitor

cfitz wrote: »

I've been to Marrakech a few times and I liked it every time. Actually I'd say it's one of my favourite cities to visit. For the sake of perspective, what other cities do you like and dislike??

I haven't been to Agadir since 2006, but it didn't feel very unsafe to me. Spent 2 weeks there that included lots of walking, taking taxis, and driving a rental car.

I stayed in a riad, got close to the natives and realised what a crap country it was, maybe your guide/5***** hotel was nice but its people are a cross between french and roma gypsys , horrible horrible country and horrible wankerish people.....

If you want my top five list of countries/cities then

1. San Fran
2. Barcelona
3. Italy(south of rome)
4. Vancouver/Canada
5. Limerick (or the Irish Marakech)

meditraitor

Ive also been to Algeria and Libya and found the locals to be wonderfully welcoming people.......... morroco is just one of those shatty countries like northern italy or saudi aarabia....

LiamMc

meditraitor wrote: »

I stayed in a riad, got close to the natives and realised what a crap country it was, maybe your guide/5***** hotel was nice but its people are a cross between french and roma gypsys , horrible horrible country and horrible wankerish people.....

It's all coming out now. Cough it out there, you're back home now, you're safe. All finished? That's good.


For me Morocco is one of the best value destinations around. It has several cities that were capitals at different times so have their own treasures. The countryside can be green rolling hills to mountains. In the South is desert and castles. There are small port town with sand and sea. Because of the trade between different regions (West Africa, France, Spain, Portugal) there is varied atmosphere in many of the towns.

cfitz

meditraitor wrote: »

I stayed in a riad, got close to the natives and realised what a crap country it was, maybe your guide/5***** hotel was nice but its people are a cross between french and roma gypsys , horrible horrible country and horrible wankerish people.....

If you want my top five list of countries/cities then

1. San Fran
2. Barcelona
3. Italy(south of rome)
4. Vancouver/Canada
5. Limerick (or the Irish Marakech)

In Marrakech I've stayed in 3 different Riads and one Ibis hotel. What's an Ibis, 3 stars max? In Agadir I stayed in the Intouriste - I reckon maybe a 3 star as well. I've also stayed in guesthouses in Agdz, Telouet, Demnate and Tabant. And I stayed in a tent on the edge of the Sahara near M'hamid. On all of the trips I drove a rental car so I didn't have a guide shielding me from the common people or whatever way you like to put it.

rabii

I worked in Agadir for 2 years and I didn’t see what you talking about accept if you are talking about places like milk-market in Limerick
Places that could f**k you in the street and no body well help you,
1st all tourist they don’t have to pay visa to visit morocco accept if you are from Asia and if you have a booking to a hotel you well not pay it even if you are from Asia.
2nd no body can offer you hache accept if you look like a drug dealer, cos of the tourist police
3rd if you travel with agency they well let you know that (the beg taxi are 5DH for any destination not passing 15km, and for the red taxi starting at 5MDH = 50 cnt in the city even if you going one meter you have to pay 5DH the same in Ireland do €5,
4 if you are going to market or soke you don’t go just ur self you need to go with local or guide (even the Moroccan theme self’s they are not baying from city market)
More then all that if you have a problem with bag handler, taxi driver, and drug dealer there is something called police.
But if you just don’t like the place then that’s a personal problem you have to accept others

celticlunatic

Hey Rabii,
Why can't you take that persons word for how they were treated in Morrocco. I have heard 1st hand accounts of women being spat at and harrassed when holidaying over there.
I'd love to go but would not put my girlfriend through any nasty experiences she doesn't need on what is supposed to be a relaxing week!
I value peoples feedback on experiences in different countries so find it annoying to hear you dismiss another posters experiences.
Why should they like the place if they had a miserable time and from the sounds of it they would have been ringing the police every 5 mins!
It's a pity the harrassment exists, I'm sure it is a country that would have lots to offer.