Currently planning a 5 day trip to Morocco, starting and ending in Marrakesh in early Spring. I am interested if anyone on the forum could share tips for traveling in Morocco using the Europe Through the Back Door philosophy? Staying in quality local hotels, good places to enjoy local food and non heavily touristed sights. Which cities in Morocco are worth some time spent exploring? Which should be avoided?
Any recomendations would be quite helpful.
Thanks!
Marrakech and Fes were the most interesting for me. Casablanca not at all, though we did, for a lark, have lunch at "Rick's Cafe" and surprisingly, the food was excellent!
We used the Eyewitness guide book and I can recommend it to you.
We were in Morocco two years ago in May. In Marrakech we stayed at Riad Dar Najat--a fantastic location near Old Town. (Note: Just looked at this hotel on Booking.com--carefully review cancellation policy before booking--I don't remember it being so strict when we booked.) Check the reviews to see if it's what you're looking for--we liked it! One of our favorite restaurants in Marrakech was an Italian restaurant near the hotel--Pepe Nero. With only 5 nights you might spend a couple of nights in Essaouira. We didn't make it there but wish we had!
We really liked Fez and Rabat a little better than Marrakech but if you're going in and out of Marrakech it's probabaly better time spent to explore nearby.
Enjoy Morocco!
Marrakesh is one of the most touristy places in Morocco! You don't have time to cover much of the country as you really need 2 weeks just for the highlights.
With the very limited time that you have, try either the Atlas Mountains or Essouira on the coast.
I didn't find Marrakesh particularly "touristy", but if at times it is, there is a very good reason. I guess most of the wonderful places we all yearn to see are "touristy" in one way or another but travel is so accessible now that people are able to go wherever they wish. Nothing to be done about that. Some would say the UK is "touristy" but we all love to travel its width and breadth nevertheless.
Sallam 'lekum Brian,
It's great to see that you're coming to Morocco, well done!
Morocco is a relatively compact country to visit, with many travelers choosing to do a 10- to 12-day round trip from either Casablanca or Marrakech. For a 5-day journey such as yours, you'll have to set your sights a little closer to your base of Marrakech which is itself worthy of at least a 3-day exploration. You may wish to look at a day's visit up into the Western High Atlas around the village of Imlil, and a day or two's journey to the coast and the eclectic medina of Essaouira.
Happy planning,
Darren Humphrys
Good advice above. To add my own...
You will find Morocco both exotic/adventuresome, but also a lot more heavily touristed than you probably expect - it's a cheap sun and beach destination for northern Europeans. So it's got a lot better tourist infrastructure than you might expect (at least in the popular areas). Trains are quite good.
Most interesting cities (IMHO): Marrakech & Fes. Meknes also good. Essouaria - mixed - it's a delightful location (on the coast) so is (literally) a breath of fresh air, but has become quite a bit touristy as it is now very popular with the sun-and-sand set (and cheap package tours from northern Europe. Least interesting: any of the ferry ports on the north coast, and Casablanca (the movie was filmed in LA, anything like "Ricks" is newly constructed for tourists). Connect Marrakech and Fes by train (a long day, but easy and comfortable - trains are a legacy of the French colonial days).
With just 5 days, you don't have much time for excursions - I'd split it between Marrakech and Fes, save the coast, mountains and desert for another trip. It'll help if you can speak a little French - it's everyone's second language (they speak it badly, so your bad French won't be mocked as it might in Paris).
Consider flying in to Marrakech and out of Fes - don't double back just to fly out of Marrakech. There are crazy-cheap flights to both from multiple cities in Europe. Last time I was there, we were in Spain and our return flight to the US departed from Paris. We used Morocco as our connection: flew from Madrid to Marrakech (took the train to Fes), then flew out from Fes to Paris. Flights were dirt cheap, it worked out perfectly.
Morocco is awesome. Have fun.
I think that David has a good plan. With 5 nights Marrakech and Fes would be a good combo. We also took the train between the two cities and as suggested, it is a long ride but very comfortable.
If you go to Fes, puchase a copy of "The Fes Guide--The Thematic Tourist Circuits with a map of the Medina" at a local tobacco shop. It's about 10 EUR and an invaluable guide to the city.
