[Closed] Morocco - anyone been?

Yes, I've been a couple of times and will probably go again this year.

Rode down to Fes on the motorbike last year, solo. Amazing place! The market (oldest continuing covered market in World or something) is a fab place to waste away at least a day. Easy to get lost but it doesn't matter - just enjoy!

Outside of the main tourist hotspots, everywhere is cheap. You can stay in some beautiful places for silly money.

From Agadir, you might easily be able to get out to Taroudant - been there once before and intend to return on the motorbike this year. Should be easy from Agadir.

Rachel

edit - I meant, Taroudant not Tafraoute (though been there, too)

Yes, about 15 years ago. Loved it, very unique place only 3 hours from the UK. See the Micheal Palin documentary.
We flew to Marrakesh, then caught a bus to Aït Benhaddou and finally rode camels in Essaouira.
I’m not sure it’s quite as safe for westerners as it was though.

Spent a month or so there many moons ago, I got stuck on a rooftop in Chefchaouen for an unrememberable amount of time. We left our camper van in Spain & used buses and headed down to see Erg Chebbi which was a great experience, we were planning to head to Essaouira & the coast but got distracted by some girls & ended up in the French Alps. We didn't really do any of the big cities, travel in towns & the like can be stressful with the touts & their perceived aggression, but we spread that between our group. Some fantastic places to visit. If I went on my own I'd do some research and plan a route as rurally as possible, avoid cities & big towns as much as possible & take in the quieter spots, hopefully avoiding the touts. It's supposed to be a bit of a Mecca for surfing. I loved the sounds of the call to prayer, fresh donuts, eating meat of unknown origin from shifty street vendors, it's a deninate culturally different experience. Just do it.

I’m not sure it’s quite as safe for westerners as it was though

Indeed. Two Danish backpackers beheaded there recently.

Oh please - Morocco is a perfectly reasonable place to visit on safety grounds. Please don't start making a place sound dangerous just because of an isolated incident. Unless you are planning to never visit London, Manchester, Salisbury ever again?

Go - enjoy your stay, and ignore the grumps.

Rachel

Can agree that time in the large tourist cities Tangier’s and Marrakesh is best limited to a day or two. Worth doing but gets draining after a short time. We went trekking in the Atlas for 4 days had a guide and a mule to carry our kit, went up Mt Toubkal (4000m) snow and rock at the time we went, the Atlas area was great. Seemed very safe in 2008, crumbs was it that long ago!

Did a 2 week stint there a few years ago. Was a great place with lovely people, spent time trekking in the atlas mountains and also stayed in Marrakech & Essouira.

Went last feb for 5 days, stayed in Marrakech, loved the markets & the madness, make sure you get up into the mountains, stay in a ryad, haggle over some spices, chat to some Bedouin & watch the sunset over the mountains from a rooftop bar.

And yes seemed perfectly safe.

Lived and worked there for a few years mainly in Casablanca, Meknes and Fes.
Its safe - I drove all over the place on my own, slightly hap-hazardous, quite a bit of tourist type mither in tourist areas.
Made some good friends, ate some awesome food.

If you are okay bumbling around Europe on your own then you'll be fine, if you've never travelled anywhere then it will be a bit of an overload.

I went for a week, mountain biking, it was amazing. Very tempted to go back again.

The last couple of people I know who’ve been surfing there have suffered big time stomach problems. I think the water quality is pretty dodgy.

Marrakesh is best limited to a day or two.

You won’t get the hang of Marrakech in such a short time.

Eat the oranges. I still can't believe oranges could taste that good.

This was my breakfast in Fes on the last visit. ALL the food there tastes that good. 😋

We’re in Imlil (High Atlas) right now with two young kids. It’s a bit out of season but still awesome. The oranges are stunning, and sustaining my food-fussy son!

Very friendly, a little overwhelming at first like many places. Yes there was a murder a couple of weeks ago which had us a little concerned but it sounds as though it was an isolated incident depending on what reports you read. Certainly no hostility and ‘feels’ pretty safe. Off to the desert next, then Marrakesh and Essaouira. Climate is fantastic at the moment with low 20’s on the lowlands and still warm up here.

I’ll be back to take in some climbing and biking when the kids are older.

We spent a week in Agadir in October last year, was warm though very windy – saw lots of people kite surfing, we went for a bit of Autumn sunshine and as our hotel was on the beach, the wind was a bit of a pain for us.

Agadir is a fairly modern resort, quite a European style harbour front due to it being designed by a Swiss architect (I believe?). All very, clean and safe, lots of armed Police and soldiers around – the King has two palaces in Agadir so he likes it. You’re pretty much at the foot of the Atlas mountains so if you can take your MTB I’m sure you will be able to find something – I didn’t look. The orange taxis are cheapest, but don’t close the door until you’ve agreed a price. Most of them are unroadworthy, we got out of a couple as I thought they were pretty dangerous – no seat belts and one felt like it was going to tip when I got in!

Went in to the massive Souk in Agadir, 4000 stalls selling anything from live stock to washing machines. We weren’t pestered half as much as I thought we would be. Whatever you’ve read about bartering do it, don’t be afraid to go in at 40% of what they’re asking for. There’s a shop in Agadir called Uniprix where you can buy most of the souvenirs you want in a normal, none bartering environment, that’s the price you should be aiming for – don’t bother buying owt off the guys on the promenade, the Geodes are dyed and everything else they buy from Uniprix to sell to tourists.

Take a camera and take as many pictures as you can, but don’t be surprised if you’re asked for money afterwards.

Food was ok, Agadir has a couple of good restaurants apparently, we didn’t bother in the end as the food in the hotel was really very good, we did has snacks out, Ice Cream/coffee etc. which was all very good and very reasonably priced considering.

We all liked it and have already booked for this summer.

I was there at the start of December on a surfing trip. Flew into Agadir then went up the coast to Imi Quaddar. It's the second time I've been and will definitely be going back again. Good food, good weather, decent surf. What else do you need as an escape from the UK winter?

4 times, last time a year ago on my own. Other trips with mates or wife. It has its charms but the brutality of the poverty and inequality, oppressive religion and the aggressive attitudes towards your wallet do get a bit wearing after a while. A local once said to me 'the two things you don't want to be in Morocco, one is a donkey the other is a woman.' Does rather sum it up for me and I wouldn't rush back there.
Marrakesh is much cleaned up and modernised. In the 70s I remember dwarf acrobats, massive overloading of vehicles, blue men and the commercial use of camels in El Fnaa. I'd be a bit iffy about the water quality around a big place like Agadir let alone getting hold of the right board. Would you judge a country by its lavatories? I would be interested in a report back by the OP.
In terms of terrorism, Morocco has done pretty well staying on top of it. I was there during the Arab Spring and not much happened, I saw a Macdonald's window broken and a cafe a had been blown up a few weeks before. What concerns me a bit is the number of Moroccans who signed up to ISIS, what will they get up to after they return?

I've been quite a few times to Tangiers and had a couple of weeks wandering. I usually was based in Tarifa and would pop over on the ferry for a few days at a time. Loved Essouira for windsurfing and kiting.
Never felt threatened there really, unlike some bits of Egypt where things can get a bit intense.

BIL went a couple of years ago he was offered a great price for his mrs & daughter

I think that quip says more about the person who made it up than it does about Morocco, @rocketman

Rachel

Thanks for all the info everyone, I've been giving it some more thought and I'm still on the fence about it a bit. The biggest put off is I seem to suffer from severe bad luck, I recently went to Italy and on the first day of a 7 day trip managed to shred the cartilage in my left knee while out walking.

Debating extending by a few days and checking out Essaouria and then a final couple of days in Marrakech. Main part of the plan is to land in Agadir and get to Taghazout straight away, then work things out from there.

I've travelled before but not to northern Africa so it'll be a new experience in that respect (travelled alone in France, Spain, Italy, US).

I think that quip says more about the person who made it up than it does about Morocco, @rocketman
Rachel

What were you saying about grumps?

Bet the Moroccans show females much more respect don't they?

Bet the Moroccans show females much more respect don’t they?

I've been there three times and would happily return. (My wife loves the place as well.) However, in a bike trip across the Atlas mountains the only person to get stones thrown at her was the sloe woman in our group. After we found out what happened we always made sure someone was with her when riding through villages.

I am lucky enough to have worked in Morocco taking people on 5 week trips round, it is a pretty safe country especially when out of the big towns.

Only small points i can offer in addition to above:

- Avoid Tangiers if you can, it is the money changing / drug buying town, most people who have been mugged or put off my Morocco were in Tangiers.
- A lot of shopkeepers will ask you instantly where you are from and set price accordingly, if you are from the US you'll be paying the most, UK almost as much, i used to tell them i was South African as they'd set price a lot lower.
- If you are in Marrakesh, don't buy from the shops closest the main square, they are for the Yanks that step off the coach, buy lots by Mastercard to take home, then leave, the further you go into the market the more you can barter price down, further still and you will find yourself in the workshops often making the stuff and you can buy direct.
- Agadir is OK, but a bit soulless, it is where the elderly French go to "over-winter" so is set up more as a Moroccan Bournemouth.
- If you can get out in the mountains and desert, the most common entry in to desert is Erg Chebbi, worth seeing Dades and Todra gorges and Cascades D'Ouzoud.
- If you find yourself up North in Rif mountains, visit Chefchaouen, a quite relaxed place with beautiful blue building and not that far then to Fes and Meknes. Fes is worth visiting simply for the ancient part of the city and the amazing small passageways of the medina, a real step back in time.

It's alright nothing to write home about, I'm happy to ask for a discount over here in shops but it was awful over there it takes an age so I imagine the above is sound advice. Marrakech is worth 2 days most, I eventually left the old city and looked around the new city as I was there too long. The tunnelled markets are okay but you're obviously not gonna do your grocery shopping on holiday and there's only so many little trinkets you need. I did have these really really nice crepe kinda thing with butter and some kind of red spices on it. Anyone know what that is? The pastry and mint tea are nice, I found tagine a bit dull. Go for one of those Moroccan baths.

Essaouira is nice for a day, you can buy barbecued seafood on the port and it's a lot more chilled than Marrakech.

I wish I had a bike as the Atlas Mountains looked mint. Going surfing sounds like a good idea as there are many more interesting and welcoming countries.

It gets fairly chilly in the evenings but heats up during the day. Some people I met there said that Fez was good.