Morocco trip report
 

Along with my 80-year old Mom and cousin, I traveled through Morocco for 11 days following this itinerary:

Tangier - 2 nights (stayed in AirBnB in the Kasbah)
Chefchaouen - 1 night
Fes - 2 nights
Marrakesh - 3 nights
Essaouira - 2 nights
Casablanca - 1 night

We had decided not to do the desert largely due to time limitations and interest in seeing more city sights. Our last day included a drive up the coast with stops in the major cities of Safi, El Jadida and Oualidia. The pace and itinerary worked very well for us and except for a fairly long day of driving from Fes to Marrakesh, the drives were reasonable and shorter than we expected. The people of Morocco are warm, hospitable and go out of their way to be accommodating. The food is amazing. We felt great and were careful to drink only bottled water.

A few 'off the beaten path' highlights include Domaine du Val L'Argan just outside Essaouira. This lovely winery served an amazing lunch with three wines (first time trying gray 'gris' wine.) We also enjoyed La Fromagerie, again just outside of Essaouira on the way to Safi. Meeting the owner was a treat.

Our driver, Salem, from Moroccan Family was the consummate guide and made everything so easy and pleasurable. I just wish I'd known in advance that he could book riads and get a good deal and trust his impeccable judgement. He suggested a few restaurants which were spot on perfect. Wouldn't travel to Morocco with anyone else.

Hi, rhorho,
So glad that you used Moroccan Family and you got to meet Salem! He is a gem, isn't he? I'm so pleased that it worked out for you. What I appreciated was how he "got" us and understood our interests and style, and was able to take us to a few places we wouldn't have known about on our own that were really special.

And of course, he does provide the full range of services, including booking riads. If I recall, didn't you already arrange your itinerary and bookings before contacting him? I just want to clarify this for others who might read this in the future.

Sounds interesting. How much does a driver guide cost? How did you make contact?

<<Sounds interesting. How much does a driver guide cost? How did you make contact?>>

As I was the person who first recommended Salem and Moroccan Family, I'll give you the answer; you can reach him through the website: https://moroccan-family.com/

We had worked with another small company who hired Salem to be our driver (which was, it turned out, the best thing that could've happened) but we also had some of our hotels booked through the company. So contact Salem directly if you're interested in his rates.

Yes, you can reach Salem through moroccan-family.com as noted. The emails are [email protected] or [email protected]. Better to check with Salem on costs, I do not know if there is a variation depending on your itinerary, number of people, etc. I do know that Salem was a wonderfully safe, thoughtful driver and we always felt comfortable in the vehicle with well-timed stops. He was easily able to find a few out-of-the way places I added to our itinerary.

Thankyou for your great trip report. Many people on this forum have praised Salem of Moroccan family, but how did you contact him? We contacted via e-mail and got no response, but we need to firm up our air travel very soon, so we are getting worried. How long before you heard from him? Thankyou britchick

Salem‘s company is https://moroccan-family.com and his email is [email protected].

Or, as the OP wrote, you can reach him at [email protected].

He is usually very quick to respond so do try again!

Progol I just read your great trip report and tried to access the Moroccan-family.com website. It doesn’t work for me. I will try to send an email but wanted you to know that the website isn’t working.

It doesn’t work for me now, either, but it did a couple of days ago. I would check again tomorrow. I assume it’s a temporary glitch as we’ve been in touch and continues to expand his work.

ccrossner - check in a day or so, I’ve been in touch and is now aware the site was down, and will have the problem fixed.

You can contact him by email, if you want to get in touch.

ccrosner - the site is up and running again if you want to check it out.

https://moroccan-family.com

Thanks, Progol. I was able to access the site yesterday and will get in touch with them once I have figured my itinerary out.

rhoho, I see you spent two nights in Essaouria and three in Marrakech. Did you wish you had spent another night in either of those places or were you satisfied with the amount of time spent? Right now, I'm planning two nights in Essaouria and four in Marrakech and am wondering if I should add a night to Essaouria...or take one from Marrakech.
Thanks for your opinion.

barefootbeach,

We were able to squeeze one night in Essaouira and felt we got a good taste of it. Two nights would’ve been perfect. I don’t think you need 3 nights there.

Marrakech has a lot more to see and I think 4 nights is just right, although it’s definitely got an intensity that can be challenging with its many touts and hustle culture. Still, it’s an important city and a wonderful intersection of the old and the new.

I’m including a link to my trip report; it might give you a sense of what you’ll find in each of the locations.

https://www.fodors.com/community/afr...urney-1653790/

I wound up doing three nights in Essaouira and three in Marrakesh. I think two and three would be fine, and would use the additional day elsewhere, probably Fes.

Thanks Progol and Thursdays...both of your trip reports/comments were helpful in planning my initial trip which was scheduled to begin March 22...alas, the Coronavirus concerns got the best of me (I have asthma & over 60) so I just cancelled it a few days ago. Now that i"m rebooking for later this year, I thought I'd take another look to tweak the plan. Luckily, I was able to reschedule without losing any money. Just a lot of disappointment!

I understand! I am also over 60 and am immuno-compromised. I am not planning any travel at this point.

And I understand, too, barefootbeach! I’ve already canceled my trip to China that was scheduled for the end of the month and am wondering whether we will travel to Spain and Portugal, my Plan B trip. It’s a very uncertain time.

We are also 60s and early 70s and am monitoring the current state of the CV in Europe to make a decision.,

Progol & Thursdaysd, (sorry rhoro for going off topic in your thread!) yes, this virus sucks in so many ways. The thing is, we don’t have that many good years to travel so it’s awful when we’re derailed! Hope we all make it to our dream destinations this year!