Morocco Weekend!

I’d recommend flying to Marrakech for a short visit.

Followup question... if we have 3 days... Marekech or Fes, or both? Thanks!

They're both great but Fes is one of the most amazing cities in the world and totally unique- that would be my selection.

Me and my family did a 10 days private tour in Morocco with a local company last year and it was incredible! Since you love culture, history, and food, I highly recommend visiting Fes Medina and Marrakech Medina. They are both like walking through living history, and having a private guide there is essential to navigate the tiny alleys and find the best local food spots, for Casablanca I’d rather keep Casablanca brief. A quick visit to the Hassan II Mosque is enough, Have fun !

David nailed it.

My family of seven and I just returned from Fes and Marrakech by way of the Sahara Desert and Atlas Mountains. Fes is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it does differ from Marrakech especially in its virtually untouched medina. Marrakech is not what I would refer to as anywhere near "modern", but Fes (!!!) is definitely ancient. I encourage you to read Moon's MOROCCO guidebook. It is the authoritative guide according to Rick Steves, and I concur. We had lodging (dar in Fes and riad in Marrakech) for all eight of us within both medinas, and it is a not-to-be-missed experience. Make sure that you have a guide to pick you up from your lodging and take you back or you may get (delightfully) lost! Eat tagine, brochettes, pastilla, camel burgers, etc.

We were lucky to be there during the Africa Cup of Nations and watched a game with the locals. (I'm hoping that Morocco challenges the results of the final, btw).

We had guides for both Fes and Marrakech who were recommended by the owners of our lodgings, and they were excellent. If you can, make sure you take a cooking class especially if you go to the medina to shop for the meal as well. It was an incredible experience!

I say for a weekend, pick Marrakesh or Fez.
I would say Fez needs a guide especially to explore the medina. You can navigate it easier on your own in Marrakesh.

Thank You Everyone!!!

From Malaga you can fly to Marrakech, but not to Fes.

So that's what I would do....fly and spend the time in Marrakech. If you've not been to Morocco before, you will be astounded...you've got the architecture, the culture, the history.....and the food. Do a lot of reading on where to eat, though..!!

Many people will tel you that Tangier is terrible, but I think those people have either not been there recently, or have only stopped there on some kind of tour. But to get there, I think you'd have to ferry from Algeciras...

https://www.cntravellerme.com/story/the-best-things-to-do-in-tangier

Once you decide on a plan, you will have no trouble finding a good guide...

FPAPS,
If you only have one day, no overnight, as we did, it is fine to go to Tangier. We did just that, taking the ferry from Tenarife. We chose a guide after disembarking and were very happy with our one day tour. There are several guides that meet the ferry, and many are licensed, with ID from the tourist authority. Hubby spoke with a few and we hired one man who was excellent, spoke very good English, and we felt we really got our money's worth. (I don't recall the exact price, but it was pretty cheap per person.) There were five of us. We had a narrated ride along the beach area toward the more modern parts, then returned to the old part and he walked us through the medina and along the ramparts. We stopped at a restaurant he recommended, and there was no rip-off. Excellent food, good prices, nice ambience and excellent service. Our guide took this opportunity to do some of his prayers. He did have us stop at a shop selling clothing, but it wasn't long or high pressure. The market was very enjoyable. We covered a lot of the old town and he really knew his history of the city, and lots of details about the buildings, etc.
It was quite a bargain, the city we saw wasn't trashy or overrun with hawkers. Tangier seems to suffer from old opinions and an undeserved bad rap. It is a lively port city and our one day there was a bargain and enjoyable and educational. We took the ferry back later in the afternoon. (We had left our rental car at the ferry parking lot.) I would say to not turn up your nose at Tangier.

I'm glad you wrote that, Judy!

There are people here on this forum who discourage travelers from visiting Tangier, based either on what they've read, or on visits they made 20 years ago..or more. The city is undergoing a renaissance sparked by the King, who invested tons of money into the city-- many new hotels, a luxury marina for private yachts, upscale shops and restaurants--it's become a good city to visit in the past few years..for people who don't have time to delve deeper into the country.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/inside-guide-tangier-moroccos-buzzy-port-city

Agree Judy and ekscrunchy. RS Spain latest travel book devotes over 20 pages to Tangier. I seriously doubt that he would have given Tangier that much attention if he didn't think that it was a good city to visit. He too said that it had undergone quite the transformation.

Op, you mentioned that you might have three days. Is that four nights? Does it include traveling to/from?