Best place to post about Morocco

I generally see them under Beyond Europe, but a question particularly about the ferry connection from Spain to Morocco would be appropriate in either.

We were just in Morocco in September. Loved it!

darrenblois thanks for the response. Curious you travel on your own or used a tour group? Debating if we can navigate on our own or should sign up with a tour.

We booked almost all of it ourselves:

• flight from Halifax to Heathrow. Pub supper. Overnighted at airport hotel
• flight from Heathrow to Gibraltar for a couple of days
• hotel arranged for car service to Algeciras Port
• ferry from Algeciras to Tangier Med
• arranged car service (Tangier Taxi) to drive us to Chefchaouen. Stayed at Casa Perleta
• took CTM bus to Fes. Riad Jean Claude
• here is where we used a tour company. We booked a 3-Day-Fes-to-Marrakech-Desert-Tour with Morocco Fabulous Travel. They were fantastic. We had booked a semi-private tour, but no one else booked so we got a private tour instead (they would have refunded us had we balked at the slightly increased cost). First day, stop if lovely Ifran, barbary apes in the Atlas Mountains, drive to Merzouga, camel ride to our tent in the desert. Second day, berber market shopping, including rose oil cooperative, night in the Dades Gorge. Third day, argan oil cooperative, Atlas Studio Tour (boring), Ait Ben Haddou, drive to gate near our riad in Marrakech
• few days in Marrakech. Riad Les Oliviers et Spa
• flew back to London (Easy Jet)

Have been to Morocco several times since the 1990s (and it's awesome).

If you have a bit of common sense, and if you can manage the slightly more advanced or "edgy" parts in Europe (say, southern Italy, anywhere east of Germany) on your own, you can probably manage Morocco just fine without any kind of "guide" services. If you have more than a little experience traveling independently, most parts of Morocco (the places you are probably most interested in) are not really much more challenging.

You will experience some touts asking you to engage their services ("friend, need guide?" and "can I practice my English with you?" which then becomes "need guide?") but all you need to do is say no. The situation with being hassled by young men has improved tremendously over the past decades. Years ago it was pretty relentless (high unemployment among youths, can't really blame them for trying), but in recent years the government has cracked down to give tourists some relief. Don't let that stop you.

While Morocco feels exotic and alien (it is) it's also a mass tourism destination for western Europeans, and much, much "easier" for you than most people think. ATMs, 7-11s, familiar franchises everywhere. Crowds of football tourists, stag parties and other familiar features right outta Amsterdam or Prague. Yes, the writing (in Arabic) is impossible for most of us to decipher, but you'll also see signage in French everywhere (and English in many places, too) - international tourism is a major part of the economy (at least where you will be going). A little French (even very, very bad French) will go far.

Stop thinking of it as "Kabul" and start thing of it more as "Cancun" and you will have a more accurate picture.

Morocco is to Western Europe (particularly France) as Mexico is to the USA: with deep and longstanding historic and cultural ties, a source of irregular labor and historic immigration, great food, exotica...and cheap holidays, fun in the sun. The metaphor is surprisingly accurate. It's still Africa, and it's still the Islamic world, so you will get all the "exotic" you want, but it's generally a lot easier to visit there than you probably expect.

There's no Rick's American Cafe, and no good reason to waste any time at all in Casablanca, or the ferry ports on the north coast, for that matter. Skip the ferry. Instead, fly straight to the good stuff in the interior (Marrakech and Fes). Flights from cities all over western Europe (particularly from Spain, but also from Portugal, France, northern Europe) are dirt cheap (Ryanair and multiple low cost carriers). Flight schedules may not go every day (every 2 or 3 days in some cases) so search flights carefully across multiple days).

Morocco is an awesome place to discover, and it's way easier than most people think. Have fun and السلام عليكم

Thanks for that info. We usually travel independently so it's nice to get this positive feedback.

I'll just add that if you're flying in and out, you are likely missing Chefchaouen, not to be missed. We really enjoyed the ferry. Great view of Gibraltar!