1

I wouldn't say Fez is any less touristy than Marrakech.

2

.....look at Ryanair fares, from Barca., they fly from both airports in Barca. to Marrakech. a combination of the two airports with single tickets should get times to suit you.

Marrakech is very Moroccan and you'll find tourists every where in Morocco, impossible to hide them, they just keep coming out right where you can be offended by the mere sight of them.. Horrible red things with white patches carrying maps they can't read, asking stupid questions, reminds me of someone,............ME.

Go to Marakech, worth while, see if you like it, maybe you'll come back to try some where else another time.

3

For whatever reason, I have not been able to get the Ryanair site to work. I have enabled cookies. It takes my information, but doesn't give any flight info.

Soultraveler, I've read about your adventure somewhere before, because I remembered Mozart. Your reports on Morocco make me even more anxious to get there. Thanks a bunch.

4

Ahhh, the cookie needed to be "bookryanair.com" instead of "ryanair.com". That may indeed be the way we go. Makes sense to get south quickly, then explore our way north. We will probably go to Marrakech because DH is a geomorphologist in love with sand dunes, but Fez sounds more interesting to me.

We should have no problem fitting within Ryanair's weight limit for carry-on. May have to scrunch a bit on that 21.6", but even if we had to check, it would still be a cheap flight.

Thanks for that tip.

5

csdcsmith - the beautiful Merzouga sand dunes are not near Marrakech or Fez. The best sites in Morocco are very spread out (many hours drive) but well worth the effort. There certainly are MANY places in Morocco where you will see few tourists, but Marrakesh is always swamped with them because of the cheap flights & package tours.

The medina in Fez has far fewer & just the fact that it has no noisy traffic and motos makes a HUGE difference. Marakech is like the disneyland ( & tout city) of Morocco & April is the busiest month, so be forewarned as it's a fave European getaway.

We took a cheap flight out of Marakesh & it took us longer to get out than it took us to get in over land! So keep that in mind.

Other than Fez medina, I wouldn't spend much time in the cities as the gems are in the countryside, Atlas mountains, like near Ait ben Haddou, Essouria or 1000 kasbahs etc. etc

You won't meet any locals in Marakesh, just people wanting to sell you something, but you will in the countryside and small villages. If you speak French, that will be a BIG help.

You'll love it! Don't miss the Merzouga dunes in the Sahara...the best part of Morocco & getting there is half of the adventure & can be done by bus.

6

Spain...especially Andalusia will be exotic & wonderful BEFORE Morocco & the shared history like Granada & Seville, Jerez etc will set it up nicely, but after the total culture shock & sense assault (if you do more than Marakesh) may seem pale in comparison.

Something else to keep in mind.

7

Soultraveler, here's our thought process on the order of things. Please, please critique this at will:

We get to Barcelona March 23 and plan a few days there before leaving about March 28 for points south (coincidentally the same day you went to Morocco). We return to the States April 22 from Barcelona.

Going to Morocco next would allow us to avoid the Easter (April 4) build-up in Andalucia.

We are both sun-sensitive and hot weather bothers us. Earlier may be cooler than later. (Also for that reason, I'm not nearly as excited about the Sahara as DH is.)

While we generally agree with the build-up of excitement, we figured we might really appreciate the slower pace in Andalucia after Morocco.

We want to savor Andalucia for what it is. Anticipation of Morocco might interfere with that.

On another note, your descriptions of the Grand taxi rides scare me S*less. I've got a whole lot of living I want to do.

8

I like Fes, but I much prefer Marrakech, which most visitors who post in this forum say has less hassle than Fes. If you want suggestions for what to do/see around Marrakech, let me know and I will send you a PM.
Grand Taxis are not for the faint of heart!

9

It sounds like a good plan, csdcsmith! You shouldn't have to worry about too much heat then & you could run into rain and cold. ( Semana Santa in Seville is spectacular and worth seeing but also often gets partly rained out, twas quite cold when we went and the Sahara was cold at night!).

http://www.soultravelers3.com/2007/03/semana-santa-in.html

I've had friends who were disappointed in Spain after Morocco, so that's why I mentioned that as Southern Spain is awesome, but Morocco can be so intense, that it may well seem a let down if seen after wards which is a shame.

Different countries have spring break at different times, so it will be hard to miss that impact. although we saw it at high season and outside of Marrakesh, this was not a problem. Easter week in Andalusia is stunning & if you pick a small white village it doesn't have to be crowded like Seville or Malaga etc:

http://www.soultravelers3.com/2009/04/spain-stunning-semana-santa-easter-procession-in-andalusia-white-village.html

It's true, Grand Taxis are not for the faint of heart, but then the whole country is not for the faint of heart! (Unless you stay in a luxury riad the whole time). If we go again to Morocco, then I would rent a car, even though we have had friends that showed up and the car they ordered was not available. Ha! They ended up with a junk heap instead of the 4x4 they ordered, but thus is life in Morocco and part of it's charm. ;) Like the alley cat fight we saw in the middle of the Marrakesh airport while waiting a looooong delay, it's that edginess that makes it more exciting.

What you plan will not necessarily come about, but still it is easy to do independently (even more so if you have some French, but we don't as Spanish is our 2nd language). You could take a bus from Marrakesh to Merzouga which we considered as the locals do & we've had friends that did that.

http://www.soultravelers3.com/2007/04/morocco-reflect.html

You'll love it and want to go back!

10

Grand Taxis are a great way to travel in Morocco. They are cheap, flexible and fun.

This is a trip of a week i once did in Morocco and really liked (i'm aware that other options are possible).

Day1. Early flight into Marrakech. Taxi from the airport to the Gare Routière. Grand Taxi to Essaouira (arrived there at 1pm)
Day 2. Full day and night in Essaouira
Day 3. Grand Taxi to Taroudant, change in Agadir (Inezgane). Sleep in Taroudant and decided to rent a car there next morning.
Day 4. Drive with rental car to Tafraoute in the Anti-Atlas - purple skies - sleep in Tafraoute.
Day 5. Explore the beautiful region around Tafraoute and drive back to Taroudant in the evening
Day 6. A driver from the rental company joined us to drive us back to Marrakesh (he would drive the car back alone). This way we were able to drive through the High Atlas, via the Tizi-N-Test pass, with several stops along the road. The GT use the faster but less scenic road. Sleep in Marrakech.
Day 7. Full day and night in Marrakech
Day 8. Fly home

11

If you like to live dangerously, then and only then take a Grand Taxi. The locals refer to them as "mad cows" because of the way they drive (speeding, passing on blind curves, etc.)
Most people who have posted in this forum over the past five years or so think Fes has more hassle than Marrakech. And Fes doesn't have anything comparable to Marrakech's Jemaa' el-Fna.

12

If you like to live dangerously, then and only then take a Grand Taxi.

I didn' find it to be more dangerous compared to taking a bus in some parts of Latin America.
Anyhow, it is very convenient for transportation between towns and a great way for meeting people. To have more comfort, one can pay for an extra seat.
I also think it is a good introduction to the African continent, as the equivalent of Bush Taxi/Taxi-Brousse is widely available and popular in the rest of the continent.