dinks

Hello.
My wife and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary by taking a month-long trip to Europe and Africa this September. We intend to spend 5 nights in Morocco at the end of this adventure.
Can anyone suggest some itineraries for the 5 nights? We will fly into Marrakech on the 23rd and out of Casablanca on the 29th (1:45 AM) to go home.
My initial thoughts are 3 nights in Marrakech and 2 nights in the desert. I am banking on there being sufficient transportation options between the desert regions and Casablanca.
Thanks in advance.

Alex251986

Hi ;
i'd suggest the following itinerary that can suit your dates, for 08 days you trip wuld be as follow:
23rd Sep: Arrive into Marrakech, check in your riad and enjoy the local atmospher in the square experience the local life.
24Th: Exploring Marrakech.
25th: Marrakech Dades Gorges, via ouarzazate- ait_ben haddou, skoura to overnight in Boumalen Dades.
26th: Boumalen Dades- Todra Gorges, Merzouga overnight in one of the Hotels at the Edg Of the Erg Chebbi.
27th: explore the region, back at the afternoon depart on a camel ride.
28th : Merzouga - Fes.
29 th: Fes -Meknes-Rabat, Casablanca where your trip ends at the air-port. if you depart at 1:45AM.

Otherwise you can stay one night in Merzouga and experience the camel ride on the day you come from Dades Gorges, then give the Extra day to explore Fes, as it's a very interesting imperial City as well.
You can find Public Transportation which will not allow you to enjoy the sights, and stop for pictures, that's an easy, cheap and quick mean to use in your trip in Morocco.
You can also hire a rental Car, using your Guidebook, stop anywhere, and explore whatever you like, but you will miss some places which are hard for the simple Car.
you can also use a private tour company that can manage your trip from the pick to the transfer.
So if you have any questions feel free to ask here.
Good luck.

geetika

Merzouga to Casa is quite a long distance, you'll spend the whole day just to get to Fes. Suggest you get there on the 27th itself and spend the next day exploring Fes, the last day you can drive to Casa via Meknes, Volubilis & Rabat, there's really nothing to see in Casa except for the mosque. It'll be a tight schecule but doable all the same, happy travels

tower

The OP's questsion menions transportation options. For the itinerary suggested, auto is the only practical way to go. Driving in Maroc is quite doable, even to Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi..roads are reasonably well maintained and signed, we had no trouble finding petrol. We rented in Fes and returned to Rabat...no tack-on fee if I recall. Did about 1500 miles without any anxious moments. I would no even consider public transportation to these very widespread locales. You're in for an exciting visit.

tower

Dinks....5 days to visit all of the places you ask about is really going to be a rush. Distances and driving times will make that most difficult. You leave no room for contingencies and it'll seem like a whirlwind to you, IMO.

Here are some not so good Maroc pics (scanned, pre-digital),,but may give you an idea of the depth and breadth involved. Most places you mention are seen herein. But bar in mnd, it was a three+ weeks trip.

stu
https://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Morocco#

TimCullis

Five nights in Morocco is NOT enough to do a sand dune trip from Marrakech and then get over to Casablanca.

robertino

It is possible. Strenuous, but possible.

23 - land in Marrakech, check in ( I liked Dar Vedra), tour around with a prearranged guide. You will need one to keep the parasitic faux guides / children / whatever they are away. Without a guide, you will be relentlessly bothered from the moment you leave your hotel to the moment you return to it. Have a nice dinner - I liked Maison Arabe. I did not like Cafe Arabe.

24 - rent a car - easy at the airport. Drive to Todra Gorge. Driving over the Pass - Tizi Tichka?) is cool. Stop at Ait Benhaddou for lunch. Overnight at the Gorge at Dar Ayour. But don't let anyone talk you into buying anything. The mother of some guy at the hotel makes rugs...

25 - drive to Merzouga / Hassilabied and check into Nasser Palace. Relax and hang out at the nice pool.

26 - relax, drive around the Rissani oasis towns, back to Nasser Palace. Have a preagganged camel trip into the dunes. Overnight in a tent. very cool.

27 - early drive from Mergouza to Azrou, or you could push a little farther to Meknes. I never quite got to Meknes, but I have the pleasure of staying at the incredibly weird Hotel Panorama in Azrou.

The greatest part of this day is the astounding topographical diversity. Sahara dunes, flat scrub, Arizona cliffs, Scottish Highlands, cedar forest, Bavaria - all in one day. Albeit a long day.

Warning - there is a speed trap in the part that looks like Scotland. Pay very close attention to the speed limit signs when they go from 80 to 60 for no apparent reason. The police were nice though. Make sure you have cash.

28 - see a little of Meknes, then to Casa. I would just go straight to the airport.

OK, admittedly there are problems with this itinerary. The drives are VERY long. 6 hours from Marrakech to Todra. About 4 hours from Todra to Merzouga. 6 hours from Merzouga to Azrou.

But it's doable.

Also, Marrakech is short-changed. But one day would certainly have been enough for me. If you decide it's not enough for you, you can go back!

Of course, you could add days to Morocco, or just stay in Europe for those 5 days and make Morocco your next trip.