Hi All!
My Boyfriend and I are hoping to spend 3 to 3-and-a-half weeks in Morocco from around the 31st July. The only definite plan we have is that we want to end up in th North so we can get the boat back to mainland Span (we hope to visit friends then fly back to Dublin from Malaga). Because of this, we thought it might make most sense to start at the bottom of the country and work our way up, travelling by trains. Can anyone think of a rough itinerary for us? There just seem to be so many choices and places to go, but I really don't want to end up spending too little time in too many places...also, we are on a tight enough budget.
I look forward to hearing from you soon, THANKS!
parsissf
1
garrufatus
Travelling in August in Morocco must suppose to do so much mountains and coast as possible and so few desert an interior cities as possible.
My suggested itinerary for 21 days:
1stDay Mainland Spain - Ceuta - Tetouan, staying in Cabo Negro or Martil
2ond day Tetouan -Oued Laou
3rd day Oued Laou-Chefchaouen
4rth day Chefchaouen - Fes
5th day Fes
6th day Fes-Azrou
7th day Azrou- Cascades d'Ouzoud via Beni Mellal
8th day Cascades d'Ouzoud - Marrakech
9th day Marrakech
10th day Marrakech-Taroudant via Tizi n'Test
11th day Taroudant-Agadir
12th day Agadir-Tafraoute
13th day Tafraoute area
14th day Tafroute-Sidi Ifni
15th day Sidi Ifni-Agadir
16th day Agadir-Essaouira
17th day Essaouira
18th day Essaouira-El Jadida via Safi and Oualidia
19th day El Jadida-Rabat
20th day Rabat - Tanger
21th Tanger-Spain
If you follow this route you will see the musts of Morocco and you will not travel for more than 3 hours every day, except for days 4th, 7th, 10th, 18th and 20th.
The other problem is that you will only travel by train once you arrive to El Jadida until Tanger.
If you have 3 or 4 days more for travelling stay a little bit longer in charming places like Oued Laou, Chefchaouen, Cascades d'Ouzoud or Sidi Ifni
2
garrufatus
I forgot to say, in most of the mentioned places there are quite enough places where you should not pay more than 100 Dirhams (EUR) for a double room with no breakfast, except maybe in Tetouan, Agadir and Essaouira.
Also think about the idea of travelling by shared "Grand Taxi" especially in the most remotes roads like BEni Mellal-Ouzoud, Marrakech-Taroudant or Tafraoute-Sidi Ifni.
4
marocfan
Fly-train to Marrakech; spend 8-10 days there, with an overnight trip to Essaouria. Then to Zagora (two nights), Ouarzazate, Dades Gorge (two nights), Todra Gorge (one night), Fes (three nights), then north to wherever you wish, then to Spain. To do this you will need to take a bus, Grand Taxi or rental car for portions of this trip, as much of it is not served by trains.
Skip Agadir entirely--very touristy.
5
parsissf
Thanks Marocfan. I was wondering as well where there would be good beaches? And what's the deal with female sunbathing, I have heard of people having very mixed reactions to this....
6
marocfan
Well personally of course I love women sunbathing...lol. But I am sure alifbaa and other females will chime in on this. From what I understand, girls in swim suits on the beach are fine...but not appropriate for wearing away from the beach.
7
wardc
Since you are going to be around Tiznit there is a beach nearby If I remember right about 15 minutes away. Last time there on a weekday there was a total of 8 people on the beach my daughter loved it
8
paddypackpacker
Garrufatus, you were saying up there about distances to travel between cities/towns etc.
How long is the journey from Chefchaouen to Meknes and Fes to Chefchaouen? It looks like it's only about 100km on the map, but it probably takes a lot longer than normal?! I'll hopefully be travelling by grande taxi.
Also, would you consider it possible to make it from Merzouga to say Valley of the Roses in one day and then on from Valley of the roses to Imlil in one day??? It's probably two full days of travelling is it?! I'm on a very tight schedule...unfortunately!! I'll also try to use grande taxi for both of these trips!
Cheers, help GREATLY apppreciated...in a bit of a panic here!
9
wardc
check this link it should answer some of your questions it list some of the travel times
http://www.triotours.com/faq/ma/travel-around-car.htm
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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