Morocco Travel Planning is the summary of my six-week road trip through Morocco during the autumn of 2015 (October and a bit of November). The pace of traveling was slow and flexible. I could go and stay wherever I wanted with a rented car.

Morocco Travel Planning 2015

Morocco Travel Planning – General Planning

My travel planning for Morocco started two months before the trip. I used only the Lonely Planet Guide and ignored any other articles about Morocco from the internet. I considered that the guide book offered me enough, well-synthesized information to plan my trip. I could choose the places in the guide book where I wanted to go for six weeks – tourist places, UNESCO heritage sites, as well as off-the-beaten-track places. However, after booking the flight ticket, I realized that six weeks weren’t enough for how much I wanted to visit. Unfortunately, I had to give up my plan to go to the very southern part of the country – Western Sahara (Agadir, Taroudant, Tiznit, Tafroute, Mirleft, Laayoune, Dakhla).

Morocco Travel Planning – Fixed Plans

Before leaving to Morocco, I had booked/ contacted/ written / messaged:

– my flight ticket, which I bought almost two months in advance

– my car, which I booked a few days after buying my flight tickets (with a later extension made three weeks before the trip)

– several Couchsurfing contacts who could have helped me with information, accommodation, and phone calls if anything happened to me in Morocco during my stay

– several Couchsurfing requests accepted in Marrakesh, Casablanca, and Rabat (I messaged my hosts before the departure to Morocco as I knew I wouldn’t have time for messages during my stay in Morocco)

– a collaboration with a traditional riad in Fes-el-Bali (the old medina in Fes): here I wrote about Casa Aya Medina in exchange for free accommodation

– a four-day camel trek in the desert near Zagora-M’Hamid/ Erg Chigaga (the highest chain of dunes in Morocco): here I wrote about this Desert Camel Trek with Tizi Trekking in exchange for a free camel desert trek (4 days)

Morocco Travel Planning – Intentions, but nothing fixed

When I traveled to Morocco, I wanted to do/ go to the following places (but I hadn’t fixed dates for them):

– stop in Bhalil village for an interview with Kamal Chaoui, the owner of Dar Kamal Chaoui Berber guest-house

– explore all of the four Imperial Cities of Morocco (Fes, Marrakesh, Rabat, and Meknes)

– stay in local, traditional riads as much as possible and enjoy their elaborately colorful decorations (wood carvings, tilework, stucco plaster)

– sleep in local camping grounds as much as possible (Dades, Todra, N’Kob, Zagora, Chefchaouen) – I brought my small tent with me during the trip

– explore local fortified mud-brick villages (ksar, or ksour)

– go to at least one local hammam and see how Moroccan women integrate this into their daily lifestyle (you can read about this experience I had in Marrakesh)

Morocco Travel Planning – Final Result

The final result of the trip to Morocco, where I stayed for six weeks, is a series of 21 travelogues. Enjoy your reading and let me know your opinion about Morocco. Which is your favorite place in Morocco? Why?

Morocco Travel Planning 2015

Fes old medina and the new town, Ville Nouvelle (4 days) –

• two flights from Bucharest (Romania) to Fes (Morocco), via Brussels-Charleroi (Belgium)
• explored Fes old medina (Fes-el-Bali)
• hiked up to Borj Nord and the tombs of the Merinides
• explored Fes new medina (Fes-Jdid) and the Jewish quarter (mellah)

Fes old medina (I): smells and prayers – Morocco

Fes old medina (II): smells and prayers – Morocco

From Fes to the Tafilalt Oases crossing the Middle Atlas Mountains (4 days) –

• explored the old medina in Sefrou; breakfast with troglodytes in a cave in Bhalil village
• road trip from Bhalil to Midelt, via Dayet Ifruah Lake – Ifrane – Azrou – Middle Atlas Mountains
• discovered Kashbah de Myriem (monastery and Berber carpet workshop) near Midelt; meeting with Pere Jean Pierre (one of the survivors of the rebels’ massacre in a Christian monastery in Algeria)
• road trip from Midelt to Erfoud, along the Ziz Gorges & Valley
• half-day road trip around the fortified mud-brick villages (ksar, or ksour) near Rissani – Tafilalt Oases

The road from Fes to Midelt with stops in Sefrou and Bhalil – Morocco

The road from Midelt to the Tafilalt Oasis along the Ziz Valley – Morocco

From Erfoud to Zagora, with stops along the Todra, Dades, and Draa Valleys (5 days) – 

• road trip from Erfoud to the Todra Gorges, with a stop in Majha Fezna (khattara underground irrigation system) – Ksar el-Khorbat – Museum Sources Lalla Mimoun
• road trip through the Todra Gorges up in the mountains to the Berber village of Tamtattouchte; a long drive along the Dades Valley (‘the valley of 1000 kasbahs’)
• a short drive up the serpentine road through the Dades Gorges; road trip from the Dades Valley to Ouarzazate, via Boumalne des Dades – Kella M’Gouna – Skoura – Ouarzazate
• explored the town center of Ouarzazate; road trip along the Draa Valley, via Agdz – Tamnougalt and a short detour to N’Kob desert town
• back to the Draa Valley; a long drive along the Draa Valley, with stops in Oulad Othmane – Ksar Tissergat – Zagora

The road from Erfoud to Todra Gorges with a stop in Ksar El Khorbat – Morocco

The road from Dades Valley and Todra to Skoura and Ouarzazate – Morocco

Traveling the Draa Valley to Zagora, with a detour to N’Kob – Morocco

Camel Desert Trek – Camel Desert Trek from Zagora to M’Hamid (4 days) –

Camel Trekking – Zagora M’Hammid (yellow – car, green – trekking)

• Day 1: hiking & camel riding in the Jbel Bani Mountains, via Faija Plateau – Col Oum Laachar Pass – Oued Lemhassa Valley – near Tighrghrin Oasis; camp near a well
• Day 2: walking & camel riding via Tighrghrin Oasis – Ouad Mhasser Valley – Afrokh Nomad Camp; camp between the dunes in Erg Chigaga
• Day 3: walking & camel riding from Erg Chigaga Dunes to the Bogarne Dunes; camp between the dunes in Bogarne
• Day 4: walking & camel riding from Bogarne Dunes to Ouad Naem; jeep ride to M’Hamid Lghzlan Camping

Camel Desert Trek – from Zagora to M’Hammid – Morocco

Long drive from the Sahara desert to Marrakesh (1 day) –

• road trip from Zagora to Marrakesh, with a stop in Ksar Ait Benhaddou; a long drive past the Tizi N’Tikka Pass in the High Atlas Mountains

The road from Sahara to Marrakesh, with a stop in Ait Benhaddou – Morocco

The Pink City of Marrakesh (4 days) –

• explored Marrakesh old medina (souqs and madrassas)
• explored Marrakesh old medina (palaces, tombs, and mellah)
• explored Jardin Majorelle; lunch at Naima’s family + local hammam in the afternoon
• a short stroll with Zineb in the old medina

Marrakesh: the pink city – souqs and luxury (I) – Morocco

https://travelingauthentic.com/index.php/marrakesh-souqs-luxury-ii/

From Marrakesh to Casablanca, with stops in Essaouira and El Jadida (4 days) –

• road trip from Marrakesh to Essaouira, with stops at Argan oil cooperatives
• explored Essaouira old medina
• road trip from Essaouira to El Jadida, with stops in Safi and Oualidia
• explored El Jadida and Azzemour

The road from Marrakesh to Essaouira with stops at Argan oil cooperatives – Morocco

The road from Essaouira to El Jadida with stops in Safi and Azemmour – Morocco

Several days in cosmopolitan Casablanca (2 days) – 

• explored Ville Nouvelle and the old medina in Casa
• morning visit to the Grand Mosque by the Atlantic corniche
• a short stroll with Coco in Quartier Habous (the new medina)

A few days in cosmopolitan Casablanca – Morocco

Rabat – The Royal City of Morocco (2 days) –

• explored Chellah archaeological site
• an afternoon stroll inside Kasbah les Oudaias
• explored the old medina and Ville Nouvelle in Rabat
• visited Tour Hassan and Mausoleum of Mohammed V

Rabat – The Royal Capital of Morocco – Morocco

The road from Rabat to Tangier – Sale, Larache, Lixus, and Assilah (3 days) – 

• road trip from Rabat to Larache, with stops in Sale’s old medina and the Exotic Gardens of Bouknadel
• an afternoon stroll in the old medina in Assilah – the City of Arts in Morocco
• road trip from Larache to Tangier, via the archaeological site in Lixus and Larache old town
• explored the old medina and the new town in Tangier

The road from Rabat to Tangier with stops in Sale, Larache, and Assilah – Morocco

Tangier – the Gateway to Africa – Morocco

From Tangier to Meknes, with stops in Tetouan, Chefchaouen, and Moulay Idriss (6 days) – 

• road trip from Tangier to Chefchaouen, with an afternoon stop in the medina and Spanish Quarter (Ensanche) in Tetouan
• explored the old medina in Chefchaouen; rested at the camping site in Chefchaouen for one day
• a long drive from Chefchaoeun to Moulay Idriss
• explored the Roman archaeological site in Volubilis; explored the old medina in Moulay Idriss
• an unexpected visit (with Allal) to the Roman aqueduct near Moulay Idriss; a short drive from Moulay Idriss to Meknes

Successful negotiation in Tetouan’s medina – Morocco

Chefchaouen – The Blue City of Morocco

The pilgrimage to Moulay Idriss and Roman Volubilis – Morocco

From Meknes back to Fes (5 days) – 

• explored the old medina and the Imperial City in Meknes; bought a small Berber kilim
• a short drive from Meknes to Fes; staying in an authentic Moroccan palace – Dar Moula
• three days in the medina of Fes – shopping, daydreaming, food tasting
• two flights from Fes (Morocco) to Bucharest (Romania), via Milano-Bergamo (Italy)

The Imperial City of Meknes and the last days in Fes – Morocco

This is the summary of my six-week trip to Morocco. Enjoy your reading and let me know your opinion about traveling to Morocco. Which is your favorite place in Morocco? Why? Where would you go?