dutyfree

Our family has decided that we will celebrate the Christmas 2010 holidays in Morocco this year and we need some help on planning.
Background-although we are from the US we will be leaving to and from the UK.We are a family of 4 traveling with our adult children 25 and 28.We were planning on a time frame of 12-14 days of travel including travel time to and from the UK?
Although I used a travel agency last year for our trip to Egypt and Jordan,our family has decided to rent a car on our own and travel independently this year if possible?

Info needed-
How many days in each of the main cities would you allow?We want to do the main four cities but would include any others that others recommend. Anyone rent their car from a specific agency in Morocco with a different city dropoff? Special places to stay that would be reasonable?
We are 3 star hotel people;have traveled in 3rd world areas;love the outdoors(although the hubs and I have back and knee issues);can shop and barter with the best;love historical places and the ocean.
Thanks for taking the time for your imput!

dutyfree

Thanks for posting Debby!I am afraid since we will be flying from the Uk that we will have to go in and out of Marrakech because of the air prices. May I ask how many days you think that we should allow in Marrakech,Fez,Rabat,etc. I am playing with having 13/14 days and having to deal with nothing available for Christmas in Marrakech. What city would you recommend to try and spend our actual Christmas day in if you had your choice?
I am trying to put this together myself as it was too confining for our family being on a tour last year even though it was just us-as my daughter said"it felt like we had brought a new boyfriend along on the trip" .We loved our guides but we just couldn't deal with the togetherness of a guide. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

dutyfree

What happened to Debby Harper's trip report to Morocco that she shared? Its been totally erased-anyone know what happened?

dutyfree

I am hoping that I am reading this right but if you are a US citizen just coming into Morocco for less than 90 days you DO NOT need a visa?

tizi001

yep you re reading right.

sandy_b

Debby's post most likely got pulled because it was advertising.

My friend and I are going to Morocco in mid-March so we are watching this topic also. We will have 7 days on the ground and are splitting our time between Marrakech and Fez. I envy your longer time frame.

Good luck and have a great trip,
Sandy (in Denton)

dutyfree

Fodors did write me and say that she was spamming so I so appreciate the email about it. Usually I can pick out a spammer so am mad at myself for not seeing that one coming?

Anyway, got our tickets last night so now have to figure out out to use our days wisely? How many days would you allow for Marrakech,Fez,Rabat/Meknes and a town on the ocean? Thanks!

kerouac

I went to Morocco in late December once, and I want you to know that it can get a lot colder than you probably think. We all got sick with something that we decided to name 'the Marrakesh flu' and brought it back to Paris with us for a miserable Christmas. But it was just a fluke and we still very much enjoyed our time there.

thursdaysd

Hi dutyfree - if you click on my name you'll get my TR for Morocco which might help. Are you thinking Essaouira for the ocean? If I had the trip to do over I might some time further north than Rabat, although not Tangier. And no desert time?

dutyfree

Sorry for not writing sooner but got rerouted on my trip overseas and was "forced" to spend an extra day in Rome due to a mechanical on the plane!
My trip-
The only thing I have is Marrakech at the start of the trip for 3 days.I am trying to figure out where we should stay for Christmas Eve and Christmas night that would be nice.An ocean city or try to get up to Fez for the holidays by using the back highway.
I am basically using Marrakech as the start and end of the trip as that is where we fly in and out of. I tried to find an automatic car but it appears that it is virtually impossible to find one in Morocco to rent so have rented a manual although this limits our drivers.
I was thinking of Essaouira for a few days-any suggestions? Gotta sign off as my free wifi on the plane is shutting down.
Thanks-

Clifton

I like Marrakesh, but honestly, the focus on tourists is sometimes a bit overwhelming I felt. We both found Fez to hold more mystery, allow a bit more breathing room from touts (except near the tanneries) and had more of a "cool" factor for us. When we go back, we'll spend more time in Fez.

Essaouira was definitely worthwhile. Very relaxing, none of the pressure one can feel in the other Moroccan cities. We stayed in a small place Dar Loulema. Nice, with character, pleasant owners/staff, convenient location with a rooftop for breakfast and sea views... but not top end luxury. Prices seem to have hopped up quite a bit though.

http://www.riadloulema.net/index-en.html

On rental cars, all I can say is be careful if you go with Budget. We set it up online - just for a regular car since you don't really need a 4x4 or anything for most driving. And when we got there (Marrakesh airport after a stay in the city) they not only didn't have our reservation, they didn't have a car they could drum up either. All we got at the counter was a shrug. After struggling with what to do next for an hour or so, a very nice man with a local agency at one of the adjoining counter worked one out for us at a reasonable rate. It wasn't pretty, but it ran well. So, point being - the Budget franchise in Morocco can be of spotty dependability.

thursdaysd

I liked Essaouira too, although it's less "Moroccan" than other places.I stayed at the Lalla Mira (spelling?) and would recommend it.

dutyfree

I definitely think that we will spend the 23rd and 24th(Christmas Eve night) in Essaouira as it sounds really nice. I will check into your recommendations-keep them coming. thanks!

dutyfree

I need some help as to what city to stay at between Essaouira and Rabat.
I have planned 3 nights in Marrakesh;3 nights in Essaouira and need 1 night to cut the drive between Essaouira and Rabat.
I also am wondering if anyone can provide information about which direction we should go between Fez and Marrakesh coming back to catch our flight?Backtrack to the main highway through Casablanca or go the back roads to get back to Marrakesh to cut the 8 hour drive? Any thoughts? Thanks!

thursdaysd

Have you thought about taking the train instead of driving?

Lynn_Critchley

Australians wishing to spend about a week in Morroco, Sept 2011,between holiday in UK and finishing in Alicante, Spain. Would like to travel by ferry and /or train into Spain.Any suggestions, love traditional and cultural stuff, less of the touristy things, Low to mid range budget, ages 75 and 56 years,well travelled in Europe, are we in for a shock or is it safe and secure as poss in this day and age? Your comments please

Michael

This may be too late for this Christmas trip, but other readers might find this useful.

We went to Morocco in 1993 for about ten or twelve days. We chose to visit the three imperial cities--Marrakech, Meknès and Fez. We landed in Marrakech, spend a few days there, then took the train to Meknès, stayed in Meknès for two full days and then took the train to Fez. I think that we stayed in Fez for at least 4 days and then took a long distance bus back to Marrakech. The train ride and the bus would have taken about the same amount of time.

We did not have a guide in Marrakech. We also were locked into the ruins of the el Badi palace during the lunch hour because we refused a guide for the ruins. Our lunch was the citrus available in the sunken garden. Any time anyone offered to help us, be it to lead us only 100 yards, that person expected payment. Urchins swarmed around us and tried to pick my pouch. The night market has wonderful food if you are willing to be adventurous. Sheep’s head was a little much for us, but vegetables cooked and in salads were readily available--we ate both with no dire consequences.

the first 30 pictures of this set were taken in Marrakech: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/

We chose not to visit Casablanca and Rabat. The guidebooks did not make them sound particularly interesting.

We took the train to Meknès, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/. The next day, stepping out of our hotel, we were immediately accosted by half a dozen men offering their services as guides. They all spoke French, and we were about to settle on one when my wife insisted on an English speaking guide. One of the men found us one who arrived at the hotel within 30 minutes. I think that for two days of guiding, we paid about $100 with tip (negotiable, and prices have surely risen) plus a meal in a simple rotisserie (it was good). This included the taxi ride to Volubilis, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/, and Moulay Idriss, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/, which in those days was restricted to day visits for non-Muslims. I think that a guide is imperative, but it need not be one with an official badge, although the cost differential between official and unofficial guides is probably minimal. It might be useful to sound out the person just to see if discussion and banter is possible. Our guide was very good and could talk a good line--he presumably had been an extra or a translator for the Elaine Mays disaster that was filmed in Morocco.

We then took the train to Fez-- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/. We hired an official guide for half a day. He was OK but not as good as the guide in Meknès. When we went on our own, we were assaulted at the gates of the medina by men wanting to be our guides. We refused, and after a couple of days, they recognized us and no longer bothered us. My wife purchased a house robe in Fez which is a man’s djellaba in fine royal green wool. It would have been better, and not necessarily more expensive to have it made by a local tailor, because when she had it shortened, it was impossible to keep the trim to relocate it at the shortened hem. The trim is simply twisted wool thread--one sees them strung along houses in the medina--this window contains the ends after the twisted thread is taken down http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/ --and it simply unravels when cut or taken off. However, it might have been difficult to convince the tailor to fit a man’s djellaba on a woman. There is a state shop in the European section of Fez, where the items for sale have fixed prices. If intending to do serious shopping, it might be useful to see was the prices are like in that store--if it still exists. We saw a bowl for $40 which was just too big for us. The guide took us to a ceramic shop where a bowl in exactly the same style but smaller was being offered at a starting price of $60. By the time the guide and the vendor were willing to do some more negotiating (after we had purchased a rug in another store) we had no more money and it was too late. We never did get the bowl.

From Fez we took two excursions. One was to Azrou on market day. It is definitely worth the 2+ hour bus ride to the town. I have only one picture which was taken with a wide-angle throwaway camera because I made an error when loading my camera and the film did not forward:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/. The market, held on open terrain outside the town, is a regional one with relatively few tourist items. We tried to price a Berber rug, but the price given was outrageous and we were not about to negotiate it down since it was large enough to create transportation problems. But we did purchase two pillow cases. The seller divulged little information while selling the items, but once he sold them, he was very open about what to look for in quality and in pricing, knowing that we would no longer negotiate with him.

The other trip was to Sefrou, again on market day (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622870770847/ ). At one point I tried to take a picture of a farrier and was vehemently denied the opportunity. If I had to choose, I would choose Azrou even though it is a longer bus ride.

We were there at the end of November, and the weather was what I would imagine the L.A. weather to be. But we had sleet on the way to Azrou as the road does go into the mountains. All guides, official or unofficial, will take you to stores. I assume that they get a cut. Once you accept tea, it is difficult to walk out empty-handed. Vendors are expert at noticing where your eyes stop and will immediately zero in on your taste. If your taste goes toward formal rugs, that’s what they will pull out. If you prefer tribal type rugs, then they’ll pull that out. Bargaining is expected, and be happy if you can knock off 50% from the original offer. One might be able to get lower prices if able to banter fluently in French to extend the conversation, and in the process the bargaining.

bilboburgler

I'd do Marrakesh 5, Rabat 4, Essouira 3 and Tarodant or Tafrout 2 days.

Most things should be open around Christmas, French is the right language. If the family like a pool the you need an international type hotel if not then try a Riad.