Morocco at Christmas

We usually start at Marrakech then go to Essaouira, Tiznit, Tafraoute (but not necessarily in that order), and we also go further north to Meknes. If you are planning to do some trekking you might want to keep it down to 4 or 5 towns or 10 days, perhaps 6 for 2 weeks. We go to 7 or 8 in 2 weeks with only "trekking" in the souks and it can be grueling! (get a guidebook and look at the descriptions of the towns before you go).

My friend and I planned what I felt was a prety decent itinerary for a 10 day trip back in March. We lucked out and had a home base (free) in Marrakech. Overall though, I felt we got a good feel for the country, had the opportunity to experience different climates, locations, etc in 10 days. Right off the bat, we booked a private driver once we were in Marrakesh. We had scoped out the usual touist tour groups, but found for the price, lack of Air conditioning, anf French guides (which neither of us spoke), it was only a tad bit more to actually hire a car, and the car company knew of an Engligh speaaking driver (who cost us a minimal 150 dh a day) to drive us around. Basically, we knew we wanted to visit Ait Ben Haddou, Todra Gorge, and spend an overnight trekking on a camel out into the Sahara Desert from Merzouga (a lot further from Marrrarsh then Zagora is but we figured, well, when is the next chance we will have to sleep in the Sahara Desert, since both of us work in Manhattan) for a total of $300 each for 3 day fully escorted private car, stop when you want, take photos when you want, pee when you want. Honestly, besides airfare, that was our biggest expenditure. It wa the best money we could have spent. Our driver knew of every working toilet along the route, only a few holes in the ground for us. You could always opt for a 3 day adventure to the Sahara desert with a packed tour company, but the best decison we made was to tell them (sahara tours) we would think about it, walk out of the building and follow a random man around the corner to the car rental place. He quietly walked passed us as we exited the Sahara Tours building and said, looking for a tour, and we followed him around the corner.

I go on too much, if you want more info on how the whole thing went down, and how to hire the private driver we LOVED, pm me... Anyway. our 10 days in Morocco was spent with a 3 day trip to the desert AMAZING - a few days in Marrakech - brousing the souks, AND 3 days in Essaouira, which we loved. Much less hectic than Marrakech, but we live in NYC, so we wanted to get away from Chaos. In 10 days, we saw the city, the moutains, a Kasbah, the Sahara desert (in which we slept overnight in a Bedouin tent) and the ocean/seaport town of Essaouira. I felt it was the best overview of a large VAST country which we could honestly swing with some down time included.

Add Walkinginmorocco to the list of tour companies NOT to patronize.

Marocfan speaks truth!!!