Marrakech is calling

My wife has consistently said when travel, Morocco and Marrakech come up in a conversation, she has never felt safer than in this city if comparing others - sorry no children involved on our part, but makes little difference. (Last time of visit, four years ago.) Good luck.

i was looking into going to marrakech too, though im not from america, i saw cheap flights from paris into marrakech from my city in australia. perhaps you could fly into paris first or even access marrakech from spain? another route is flying from dubai or abu dhabi into marrakech. good luck!

Carol. You might get more responses if you take your question to Frommer's. They have a Morocco board and a Morocco expert who replies to questions, when he sees them. I am going to Morocco next month and have had very helpful replies to my questions there.

I would also post on Trip Advisor and on Fodors for lots of up to date information for what you are looking for.

Thank you and I will go to Frommers. I have been reading the boards at Lonely Planet. I wish more RS people had information about Morocco as I have this unique kind of trust with the knowledge base and information I have gotten from RS helpline. Thank you.

For flying, look to the major cities that have international flights. That will mean Casablanca or Marrakech. You could also check if there are any low cost carriers that fly there or into Agadir, Tangiers, etc. You don't mention how long you have. It may be cheaper to fly into Spain and then make your way to Morocco either by ferry or using a LCC. Any of the major airlines in Europe will be able to get you to Morocco. Use the usual tools to set up reminders on the major booking engines to track flights. As to travel in Morocco - you shouldn't have any issues. We took our kids there about 8-9 years ago and traveled on our own. We flew into Gibraltar on BA, visited a bit, and then crossed into Spain and took the ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers. Then train to Fez. From Fez we went onto Casablanca and Rabat and ended in Marrakech. Flew home on BA via London. We traveled by Train and had no issues. Sorry, but can't help you with the camel trek. Do post if you have other questions.

I went to Morocco last year and loved it. We took the ferry from Tariffa to Tangiers after a flight from US to Malaga. We spent out time in Tangiers, Chefchouen (the Blue Town...go if you have the chance) and Assila. We did have the 'camel trek'.... Moroccan men on the side of the road with their camels.... get on the camel, it stands up, camel is led in a circle by the Moroccan, time for a photo op, camel kneels back down.... ride over. We still laugh every time we look at the pictures of that little adventure. Probably not what you had in mind, but that was our only Camel Trek. Have a great time. We also loved the food.

OK, a couple of things...Marrakech and Fes (both amazing and well worth seeing) are well connected by good rail service. Taking the train between them is a no-brainer, there's no reason to drive (driving would be a mistake). Shop for flights to Morocco, but I suspect you will find prices sky high. No worries, all you need to do is fly to a major city in western Europe and take a discount carrier to/from Morocco. There are insanely cheap flights to multiple locations in Morocco from many cities in Europe. Here's a good way to go: fly in to Marrakech from some European city (we flew in from Madrid for about $75), connect from Marrakech to Fes by train (or vice versa), then when you're done, fly back to Europe from there (we flew Fes to Paris for about $75). Connecting to/from our open jaw flights let us use Morocco as a "bridge" between Spain and France - letting us enjoy a few days in Paris before heading home. All this should be easy, just investigate all your options for low-cost flights (there are dozens of them, but many of the flights don't go every day, so be thorough with your searches) - also be sure you know how to avoid the pitfalls of the low cost airlines. I didn't do the camel trek but did investigate it: if you really want the real thing, you need to get over the Atlas Mountains (pretty, but a long drive), get to one of the southern towns (it will require a full day of driving each way). Ultimately I decided I'd rather spend those 3 days in Paris on the way home rather than 12 hours "camel camping", but YMMV. There's plenty to see in Morocco - a great experience for your kids and you too. After visiting the tannery in Fes, I promise you'll never look at leather the same way again. Have a nice trip.