5 Familes Going to Morroco! Need More Help Please!

Old Jan 22nd, 2014, 06:23 AM
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5 Familes Going to Morroco! Need More Help Please!

Hi all. Thanks for the help thus far.

As a reminder, we are a group of 5 families coming to Morocco in August after a one week cruise of Italy, Spain and France and 3 nights in Barcelona.

We have 6 nights in Morocco and though going to the desert was a huge desire of ours, because of our size and the days needed, we have decided to change course. After much thought, we have decided on Marrakech as our base city.

Currently, we are thinking about the following two itinerary options and I would love your thoughts:

Option 1

4 nights Marrakech (Riad in the Medina)
-- 2 full days touring Marrakech
--1 day side trip to Essaouira
2 nights High Atlas Mountains (thinking Imil or Ouirgane)

Option 2

3 nights Marrakech
-- 2 full days touring Marrakech
3 nights High Atlas Mountains (thinking Imil or Ouirgane)

We want as diverse and experience as possible with options for all -- including active adults, lots of foodies, and kids of all ages. We would like to visit cultural places, museums/palaces/madrasas, shop the medina, enjoy short hikes, enjoy strolling and people watching, visit traditional Berber towns, possibly ride camels, take a cooking class, and eat, eat, eat!

Taking into account the above, which version do you think we should go with?

Thanks so much in advance.

Have a great day.

P.S. I also posted this on TA so some of you may see it there as well.
Lolazahra is offline  
Old Jan 23rd, 2014, 09:20 AM
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I would include Essaouira, it's quite different to your other locations. I am not a big fan of Marrakesh, I much preferred Fez, but given your time constraints Marrakesh probably makes more sense.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Jan 23rd, 2014, 02:25 PM
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I totally agree with the above post, Marrakech is too touristy, enjoy the real Morocco with a lot of culture and diversity.
Alex251986 is offline  
Old Jan 24th, 2014, 05:41 AM
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We were in Morocco in late Sept/October, 2013 and it was a wonderful trip. We spent two days in Marakeesh and that was plenty. We went to Essaouira too and that that was very different but still quite touristy. We did like it though. I would strongly recommend that you hire a driver and there are several reasons that I say that. First, not knowing the area, it would save a lot of time and a week is not long if you have to find your way around. Second, we've traveled all over the world and have never seen anything remotely comparable to the traffic in Marrakesh. There's the usual multi lanes but if someone's in a hurry they may make another lane in between or on the outside. There's the donkey carts, the mopeds, walkers and anything else that moves. We always felt that there was no way everyone was going to get out alive. However, we did just close our eyes and let out driver, Ali, handle it and it worked. Thirdly, in the desert there are sand storms which can be quite dangerous if you aren't accustomed to it and don't know what to do. We knew that our driver had everything taken care of and a plan in place so we were comfortable with it.

I strongly suggest you spend one night in the desert in a Berber tent. I agreed to that with trepidation, but it was the highlight of our trip. We took a camel ride at sunset and it was a lifetime experience. I strongly recommend it.

Our driver, Ali, was working for Desert Majesty when we went, but he has recently gone into business for himself. Here's his web site if you need it. https://www.facebook.com/moroccodaytrip

We were quite pleased with both him and Desert Majesty.

Here are a few videos that I have edited and up on YouTube although I have more to finish. I just thought it might be of interest and helpful in planning your trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Ya1...re=c4-overview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6YR3...re=c4-overview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiWTN...SNQkjZARMNzQEg

Have fun.
1Caroline is offline  
Old Jan 24th, 2014, 05:46 AM
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You can visit Essaouira from Marrakech easily by bus. A driver may make sense for Imlil.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Feb 2nd, 2014, 06:12 PM
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I'm not sure if you can do that by bus, but there are some companies that offer reasonable day tours. I think day tours is something Ali specializes in since opening his new business. It may be worth asking. Essaouira is a fun area and very different form Marrakesh.
1Caroline is offline  
Old Feb 17th, 2014, 05:21 AM
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Hi,

We visited Marrakech in December and spent four nights at Riad Kniza (fantastic place!) which is located in the medina.

1. August the temperature will be very hot. Even the locals we spoke to said it was too hot in the summer months.
2. We visited out of peak season when the streets of Marrakech were much quieter yet still very busy - not sure how you would get on with children but depends on their ages.

Marrakech is a fascinating city to visit and 2/3 full days there would be enough to see the main sights and take in the atmosphere.

You can see a small selection of photographs I took on my site, www.circa35mm.com/marrakech

Feel free to ask any further questions.
Euan is offline  
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