KBG

I am reposting this as it wasn't showing up under Morocco Forums.

We are planning a trip to Morocco in April. We only have 8 nights and want to get the most of our trip w/o running ourselves ragged, crisscrossing the country. Made that mistake in India and tried to see too much.

We wil be starting out in Fes, spending a couple of days there. We'd love to see Marrakech but due to time constraints I think we will bypass it. Any recomendations on a stop in the desert coming from Fes? I think we will rent a car for this leg. We would want to spend at least one overnite in a tent and on a camel safari. I assume we will need at least 1/2 day driving to get from Fes to a desert locale. If anyone can advise on the weather to expect in the desert in April that would be great.

From the desert locale we would like to head west to Essaouria. We would like to decompress a bit before heading home and back to reality. Is Essouria good for the beach in April? Can anyone comment on how long it will take us to drive from the desert, say Merzouga, to Essaouria? By looking at the map it appears we would need to pass through Marrakech.

Any comments/recomendations on car rental pros and cons would be appreciated. Do we need 4x4? Can we drop off in a differnt city than where we picked up? We are leaning against getting a guide. We've made it through a couple of trips to India w/o one. I am guessing/hoping that we can make due in Morocco w/o one.

My wife speaks some HS French. Neither of us speak Arab. How much of a hindernance do you think this will be, especially out in the desert villages.


Thanks!

Luisah

You've asked a lot of questions and I can only answer a few so I hope others will respond.

April should be a good time to go, not too hot yet. When I was there several people said to come back the end of March for great weather.

Your wife's high school French will help and it would be a good idea to brush up on it. There are so many tourists going to the desert that I think you'll find some locals who speak English, definitely in the hotels, but probably not as many as in the cities.

I think you will need a 4x4 to get into the desert if you don't hire a guide. You could drive to Erfoud and hire one there if not before you go. It's more than a half day drive from Fes to Erfoud, the jumping off spot for Merzouga. The group I traveled with estimated 9 hours which included a stop for lunch. The roads are narrow and winding so take longer than our highways.

We drove back from Ouarzazate to Marrackech and it was several hours so I think from Merzouga to Ess. would be a full day.

I hope this helps some. You might also do a search for trip reports and other posts about Morocco.

Felly

Luisah's advice is really good.

As for the beach and Essaouira, I wonder what you mean by "good for the beach." Essaouira is a beautiful seaside town, but it isn't a "beach" town, if that makes any sense. It's really windy, and a lot of the coast is a bit rocky, so it isn't the greatest sunbathing/swimming place.

Here's a tip in case the really long drive from Merzouga to Essaouira proves to be too much for one day (I think it will). People rave about the town of Skoura, which I think would be on the way. You might enjoy breaking up the drive with a night's stay there. That way you can really enjoy the Kasbahs along the road, especially Ait Ben Haddou, near Ouarzazate. Skoura is about 40 minutes away from Ouarzazate.

Marrakesh is great, but Fez and the desert are a more interesting combination, so I think it's fine that you're skipping it on this trip.

Hope that helps, a little.

KBG

Thanks for the info Luisah and Felly. The info is very helpful, especially about Essaouira. I was hoping for a day or 2 of laying about on the beach and swimming. So Can anyone recomend an option?

thx

sebti

With only 8 days, I would focus on either Marrakesh & Essaouira or Fes and Merzouga. With the latter option you will also have to factor in one day each way for travel (it's minimum 9 hrs driving). Going from Merzouga to Essouira in the same trip with such limited time is completely counter productive to your aim, which you stated was to not run yourself ragged and try and see too much. I can already tell you you are trying to see too much!

The other poster was correct concerning Essaouira's beaches- you go to Essaouira for the town itself, not for the somewhat unappealing beach. A better beach is to be had further north in Oualidia, but that being said, you will find the Atlantic waters much too cold in April to be able to bathe.

You won't need a guide for your trip, there's nothing so complicated to sort out that a good guide book won't be able to help with. And you don't need a 4x4 to drive to Merzouga. You will save money by renting a car, say in Fes, and returning it to Fes. And I know plenty of people who have managed fine with just English, although I think it is worth trying to learn some Darija before you come here. LP has a good Moroccan Arabic phrasebook.

KBG

Thank you all for the great info. We will be dropping Essaouria from the trip. Way too much driving in such a short period of time. I think we will spend some time in Fez and then shoot southwest to a desert/oasis locale and then on to Marrakech.

Thank you all!