Morocco advice?

tony glenn

Hi, we're an 'older' couple, late fifties/early sixties, thinking of a fortnight in Morocco later this year. We'd love to explore older cities, a do a bit of shopping and a bit of sight-seeing of course. Even a day or two around a beach. Just general holiday stuff, nothing too dramatic!
We'd appreciate some tips on:
1) Best time to visit, October seems fairly moderate?
2) Best location to head for, somewhere that would suit the above?
3) General comments...is it expensive, how are the people etc.?
Thanks in advance, all advice and comments appreciated!

wagtail99

Yes October is a good time to visit Morocco but really anytime outside high summer should be fine.
There are direct flights from Dublin to Marrakech and Agadir, which are both towards the Middle South of the country. Agadir is really just a beach resort.

You can also reach many other Moroccan cities with Ryanair if you're will to change planes in another European city (eg Stansted or Madrid). One option would be to fly into one city and out of another. Look at the route map on Ryanair's site and then you can use Ryalive.com to match up connecting flights from Ireland.

Morocco can be a very cheap country once you know it, I am not overly familiar with Marrakech (I know the north better) but recent reports that I've heard about Marrakech seem to indicate that it is getting a little expensive for tourists. The less touristy places are much cheaper.

Many people often do a circuit spending time in Marrakech and then going to the Desert and on from there to the old capital city of Fez in the north. If you visit marrakech or Fez be sure to stay in a traditional house (called Dar or Riad) in their old quarters, Some people also spend time walking in the Atlas mountains, or other cities visited include Chefchaouen, Tangier, Rabat, and Essaouira (by the sea). I'd advise not bothering with the industrial/business centre of Casablanca. It is an easy country to travel around and Moroccan public transport is quite good and reasonably priced.

But at this stage maybe the simplest thing to do is to go to you local library (or buy) for a travel guide book to Morocco to get a better feel for it.

Hope this helps

tony glenn

Hi and many thanks for your detailed and helpful reply. We'll certainly take on board your advice re possible destinations, and purchasing a guide book! Thanks again.

Hello
My family and I went to Marrakech last July (very hot) and then hired a driver and went down into the Sahard desert, rode
a camel out to a little camp, stayed overnight in the desert and rode camel back next day.

It was truly amazing, my teen boys still talk about that trip to the desert.

If you PM me I can give you the contact for the person who organised the desert trip. Or simply go on trip advisor to the Morocco forum and you will find loads.

I will be honest, I was not crazy about the people. Found them quite unfriendly (unless you were buying something from them) . On the way to the desert we stayed in a very small town and went for a walk after dinner. I had the lovely experience of having a group of small boys throw stones at me. The only reason I could find was that I was different looking and whereas modestly dressed was not covered from head to toe.

Completely different to Turkey where I found the people so friendly and welcoming.

The desert is amazing though and seeing the Sahara was a highlight for us. The market in
Marrakech is very interesting, be well prepared to haggle. We also visited Essouria, a fishing/coastal town. It
was worth a couple of days visit, no more.

tony glenn

Thanks for the reply. It's good to hear other viewpoints, much appreciated.

sarkozy

We did Morocco by flying to Malaga and staying one night in Tarifa. From the town, Tangier is only 30 minutes away by Sea Cat. From there, you can explore Tangier before driving or getting a comfortable bus to anywhere. We first went to Chefchaouen, the blue Berber down in the Rif mountains, for two nights followed by four nights in a riad in Fez, then a direct bus back to Tangier and the ferry back to Tarifa for another night. We greatly enjoyed doing things that way.

tony glenn

That looks like a great way to do it....but did you have to take all your luggage as you travelled from place to place?

sarkozy

Well, yeah. Independent travel, like. But we didn't bring much.

ScottSF

Can anyone recommend a tour operator that offers overnight trips from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert? The ones that are easy to find online seem quite expensive.

I'm thinking about an itinerary to Morocco as well (maybe October or November) and tempted by the cheap Ryanair directs from Dublin. However I read that Marrakech only requires a few days. So the best option is either a desert tour for a few days (not interested in driving over the Atlas Mountains myself) or to do the Fez (Fes?) to Marrakech circuit by public transit (lots of interesting cities and historic cities along the way).

There are direct flights from London Stansted to Fez on EasyJet which can make for a good starting point.

wagtail99

ScottSF wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a tour operator that offers overnight trips from Marrakech to the Sahara Desert? The ones that are easy to find online seem quite expensive.

I'm thinking about an itinerary to Morocco as well (maybe October or November) and tempted by the cheap Ryanair directs from Dublin. However I read that Marrakech only requires a few days. So the best option is either a desert tour for a few days (not interested in driving over the Atlas Mountains myself) or to do the Fez (Fes?) to Marrakech circuit by public transit (lots of interesting cities and historic cities along the way).

There are direct flights from London Stansted to Fez on EasyJet which can make for a good starting point.

Driving outside of the main cities is easy in Morocco, and much of the road on a Fez to Marrakech trip via Merzouga ('the desert') will be quite empty. Having a car also allows you to easily go off the main routes to visit places such as the Dades + Todra Gorges and Ait Benhaddou. You could hire a car in one city to drop it of in the other, it will cost a little more but would be worth it. My only advice is not to drive at night as there are often pedestrians, cyclists, Donkey riders etc on the side of the road with no lights.

On the train line between Fez and Marrakech the only place I think is really worth stopping off for a night is Rabat, and you can see all you need to see there easily in a day. IMO Casablanca is not worth a stop.

If you're really keen on a tour, one option is top ask your guest house in your starting point of Marrakech or Fez to recommend someone, they are often clued in.

There are also buses that go directly from both Fez and Marrakech to Merzouga. It is about 7-8 hours from Fez and 10-11 hrs from Marrakech. They are run by a company called Supratours and are currently over night services. Another good bus company called CTM run services to a nearby town called Rissani.

The London Stansted to Fez flight is with Ryanair and is currently every Sunday and Wednesday.

Hope this helps

ScottSF

wagtail99 wrote: »

The London Stansted to Fez flight is with Ryanair and is currently every Sunday and Wednesday.

Yes you are correct. I was thinking it was EasyJet. If only Ryanair let you book a connecting flight instead of the wasted time booking two separate flights and checking in to each.

I still like to avoid the risk of driving in a 3rd world country but as you described the self-driving itinerary options in Morocco so well, it is definitely worth considering. Thanks!

ben.schlomo

I would highly recommend Chefchaouen, Rabat, Meknes and Marrakech. Casablanca is a hole bar the Hassan Mosque. Public transport is comfortable and easy to use. The people are lovely, dont listen to any of the people with the silly story's about hassle from shop owners in the souks etc, smile and say no thanks, youre busy or you will come back and that does it. The food is amazing too. Enjoy.