Better Morocco Deal?

tony glenn

We're about to book two weeks for two in Morocco (September), split between Agadir and Marrakech, flights, hotels and extras included. Between 1100 and 1300 euro depending on hotels we choose. Just checking if there's a better deal out there....or if we should hold off for 'last-minute' deals?

wagtail99

Why not just book your own flights and accommodation, for instance Ryanair fly twice weekly from Dublin to Marrakech.
You can easily compare price of the package with what you could do yourself and it would also allow you to do more than just spend a week each in Marrakech and Agadir - maybe also go to the desert and visit the mountains and gorges on the way to the desert and back. Another option would be to fly in to Marrakech and then out of somewhere in the north (Fez or Tangier), you can get back to Ireland from these places with Ryanair a simple change somewhere in Europe, see Ryalive.comm or you could do it in reverse, into the north and return back from Marrakech.

tony glenn

Well, thanks for that advice....we've booked our own flights in and out of Marrakech, plus a good hotel for five nights on arrival and two nights on deparure. Massive saving so far!
Further advice now needed for the seven 'free' days in between.
We're thinking maybe Essouria, then Agadir, but we'd really love to experience the desert as well.
Any thoughts on an itinerary that would suit two fifty-somethings?
Any suggestions appreciated, and thanks so much for the heads-up before we pressed the package tour button!!!!

wagtail99

For me, 7 days seems way way too much in Marrakech. The return Marrakech to Dublin flight is at 20h so you could get back there from most places in the country on that day so you don't need to bother with the final 2 days there.

Firstly I'd advise buying (or Library Loan) one of the guide books e.g. Rough Guide / Lonely Planet, especially as you have booked the flights now. That'll give you some ideas.

Then it depends whether you want to stay down in the Mid-South or would like to travel up north.
You could say, hire a car (Driving is fine once you leave the big cities) and head for the desert from Marrakech, you could visit Ait BenHaddou, then on Ouazazate/Skoura. Go from there to the Dades and Todra Gorges, and after them on to Merzouga for the desert. Then drive from Merzouga to Fez, a few days there and then you could drive back to say Essaouira for your final few days. There is also a train line that goes from Fez to Marrakech with several daily departures. One thing, don't bother with Casablanca, even for the big mosque.

Anyhow get the guide book, that's your first task.

Hope that helped

tony glenn

Many thanks, loads of info to follow up!

tony glenn

OK, I'm going slowly Trip-Advisor crazy here, so many options, so many choices etc etc.
We had already pre-booked the following accomodation:
Five nights Marrakesh, one night Essaouira, five nights Agadir, two nights Marrakesh. (We're arriving departing Marrakesh btw)
The two five-night bookings are flexible and can be amended if need be.
My main question? The desert trip! On the one hand, it seems that the 3 day/two night tour is a good idea....but on the other hand, it's a lot of travelling (and the camel riding wouldn't be possible for various reasons). It seems crazy to go to Morocco without seeing the Sahara, but would it mean we missed many other amazing sights? And is the Sahara vist as fantastic an experience as it seems?
HELP!!!!
PS: And whatever we decide, is it best to pre-book, or wait until we get there?

wagtail99

Given the accommodation bookings you have maybe you could rent a car for 3/4 days from Marrakech and spend a few days driving to/from the desert at Merzouga. That avoids the need to actually book anything and the driving will be easy enough once you get away from the city. I gave you a rough suggested itinerary in my last posting. But get that guide book and decide for yourself what is of interest to you.
All the best