Morocco

[tinaja]

Who has been? Did you go solo? Was it a hard trip?

I was listening to the Marrakesh Express by CSNY this morning. I got triggered. But I was triggered before that looking at some southern Spain and then crossing into Morocco. A girl has to dream.

[sophie]

I went 4 years ago.. loved it. Went with a adventure group (British based) as I was traveling solo. Good choice for me. Fabulous trip and hit all the places I wanted to see. Reasonably priced as well which was a bonus. Would have no problem recommending it.

[mei]

I've been and I really liked it. we only spent six days there but it felt like three weeks with such diversity in places, weather, people, everything that we saw in those few days. I travelled with my bf at the time, so that part was easy. we used Marrakesh as a base, took public transport for two days into the mountains (which was pretty disastrous but also a great adventure) and rented a car for another 2 days to the coast.

[riverhorse]

I've only been to Marrakech but absolutely adored it. Was there for about 4 days and did a half-day cooking course while I was there.

[whothingie]

Love it and have spent a considerable about of time there over 6 visits. The first time I used a small group tour and discovered that as it was winter I was a tour group of one which was perfect. Had a driver and as guiding and driving are two different areas of licencing they supplied local guides in all areas. If you enjoy photography its a photographers paradise.
Casablance is all about the romantic image, the airport and not much else. Other cities can be fabulous.
The other trips I did I spent time with a friend I'd made (wife of a local policeman so the rules could be flouted a bit) and we drove and went to smaller places spending a few days in each.
It can be slightly challenging with 'men' or more really brash young men in your face with hard sells of tourist tat etc etc, and hygiene can be a bit hit and miss, but that can also be said of many places.

[tzarine]

i have a total love/hate thing w morocco.

my best memories of marrakech are sharing ftour w a group of ladies outside the mosque during ramadan & a young restaurant owner inviting us for iftar, an amazing spread they set up for us.
the lovely aminas of our riad in meknes. a walk outside the city in fes. spent a day in casablanca. had a lovely dinner in a local restaurant overlooking the sea. great street food. sadly, neither rick nor ilsa nor victor are there.
the architecture is stunning. the food great. had a lovely spa treatment for a fraction of what it would cost in ny.
but i got really really tired of the aggressive inyourface vendors. just too old for that. have always been too old for that.

[Phar Lap]

Cosmos Tours have a Spain, Portugal, Morocco tour which I was looking at. It hit all the right spots for me.

[ozziegiraffe]

That sounds like it could be good, Phar. What are their tours like?
I saw a tv program today of someone travelling by train through Morocco. Looks amazing.

[sophie]

Off to the great bear rainforest today. Probably no internet for the week but hopefully lots of bears.

[rikita]

i must admit i have mixed feelings - it was one of my most exhausting and most expensive trips (though that in part had to do with booking a three day tour with private driver and more luxurious accomodation than we usually take - and in part with just getting exhausted with negotiating and thus paying too much even though we knew it was too much). on the other hand, it was also exciting, we got to see so many interesting things ...

my impression was that if you have a driving license, it might be a country where it is worthwhile renting a car, as at least for our trip, some of the transport options weren't that great (might be better if you just take more time and don't try to see the whole country in three weeks), and traffic didn't seem too crazy.

some things going through my mind ... if you eat at the food stalls at the main square in marrakesh, make sure to fix the price beforehand, we ended up having our most expensive meal there ... one of the places i liked best was el-jadida, as it was less crowded (might be different at different times, though) and thus more relaxed, and our day-trip to the oualidia lagoon. and chefchaouen is beautiful of course, though a bit difficult to get to on a tight schedule (especially during ramadan). and the trip through the mountains to the desert - riding camels to a desert camp is quite touristy and still worthwhile, especially looking at the stars there at night ... ah, and people are very child friendly (something the children might have mixed feelings about, if the waiter at the restaurant suddenly picks her up and carries her to our table), but vendors also take advantage of the fact that children want to have everything they see ...