freddofrog04

Hi

I am planning to travel to either Morocco or Russia for approx 8-10 days in late September.

Understanding they are totally different destinations, where would you travel and why ?

I will be travelling on my own so will probably do a organised tour or similar to pack in as many sights as I can during this time.


Many thanks.

Gwendolynn

Well... I've been to both. I forget when the optimal travel time to Morocco is. But I don't recommend northern Europe in late Sept. Once did a trip thru Scandinavia and St. Pete. in early Sept. and 'twas nothing but rain, rain, rain. You have to be careful about travel times in Morocco, too... becuase of various weather conditions. However, they are both wonderful travel experiences (probably even in bad weather -

tower

Fred:
we were last in Maroc in early spring...great weather...drove about 2000 miles from one end to the other...one other time its was fall and was nearly as nice.
(One day of rain)

See my scanned photos (pre-digital) of Maroc to give you some idea of the weather in spring...(April-May)

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Morocco#

We were in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine this past October..very cold in the Moscow, St. Petersburg regions (low-mid 40F)....slightly warmer as we went south to Belarus and Kiev. We started out with a Viking river trip from Moskva to St.P...and then we split on our own to Bel and Ukr.
See pix...(I would highly recommend the Viking trip, but you would need 12 days). This was my third foray into Russia..twice, many decades ago,during SSR days.
The changes are overwhelming!

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/Russia2008#

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuartto...raineKiev2008#

Best wishes for a good choice and great trip.

Stu T. ([email protected])

tower

P.S. Fred.....all digital pics are best viewed as "slide show"...the scanned Maroc pix can be enlarged by clicking on the magnifying glass icon, since some are in groups of two or three pix.

stu

Gwendolynn

My mind is starting to function again - The issue in Morocco is sand storms. We went thru one and it was not fun. But I should think a tour operator would be aware of the problem.

corli33

Definitely Morrocco. I think the culture is more exotic and the weather is better. Also, if you're American, it would be better to go to a country that's not your enemy because let's face it, if hypothetically Iran attacked us, Russia would be right there supporting them.

tower

Corli...Be aware that this is a travel forum...Fodorite Lounge is meant for politics and the like. The OP is deciding which country to travel to...it's his choice, not for you to add your personal political opinions to the mix. I assure you that you would have a real spirited and educatonal discussion on this matter in the Lounge.

zeppole

tower,

I don't have any problem with corli's remarks. In fact, I was going to ask whether the OP had any problems in a country that has significant anti-Israel sentiment, and in some respects, anti-Semitic as well. And all Americans will have to worry about where they travel if we become involved in another war with a Muslim county.

My only problem with corli's remarks is that I don't think it's true.

My problem with going to Russia at any time is the high degree of violent crime there and the difficulty of getting safe emergency health care there. Were I to get sick in Morocco, I'd feel safer, especially knowing it's a short hop to Spain.

corli33

I realize this is a travel forum. The OP asked which would you choose and why and I gave my reasons.

nytraveler

Neither country is first world - and travel will be more difficult than in europe.

Russia is likely to be quite cold by then (summers are veryshort in the north) - can't comment on Morocco weather at that time.

Russia does have a significant amount of petty street crime - and only you know how wordly wise you are. (We've traveled there independently and had no problems at al. But we did upscale hotels and took cabs everyplace that was too far to walk.)

I thin it really depends on what YOU want to see/do.

And I wouldn't let politics be an issue - that can be an issue anywhere.

Michael

Travel in Morocco is not a problem, at least not between the old imperial cities. We went by train from Marrakesh to Meknès and then to Fez. We took a first class bus from Fez to Marrakesh. Traveling in Morocco is similar to traveling in Mexico.