I waited until I was there to book a rental car. We rented it in Fes and returned it in Marakech for 5 days. Used Budget, was a small 4 door Mistubishi with a manual 5 speed, which was fine.

Possible blizzards can hinder your drive from Fez to Marrakesh through the interior lands. Usually roads get closed when it snows.

If you follow the highway that connects Fez to Marrakesh through Rabat you'll be in for a smoother drive.

I suggest you to stick to your first itinerary, much better and much diversified.

I can strongly recommend visiting Marrakech - four days is a good amount of time to see lots of great things with some downtime each day to relax and eat!

You can get a cheap and comfortable bus from Marrakech to Essaouria, a beautiful city on the Atlantic coast and a lovely calm counterpoint to Marrakech. The bus journey lasts three hours, with a stop in the middle for toilet and snacks, and runs about seven times a day. Two days in Essaouria would be a good amount of time.

I can't speak to…

Hello again,

I have finally decided on my itinerary and here it is :
22: Early morning arrive in Casablanca Airport and take train to Marrakech . Stay in Marrakech
23: Stay in Marrakech
24: Take bus to Ait ben Haddou (Ouarzazate). Stay in Ait ben Haddou
25: Stay in Ait ben Haddou
26: Take bus to Marrakech. Take train to El Jadida and stay there
27: Take train to Fes. Stay in Fes
28: Stay in Fes
29: Take train to Meknes. Go to Moulay Idris & Volubilis . Stay in Meknes
30: Take train to Casablanca. Stay…

Hi there, thanks very much for your posting, very generous of your time as well as very informative and in-depth reporting. I plan to visit Moroccco 2019, spring or fall, for three weeks before hopping onto Andalusia for 3 wks. I have questions and one major concern that bugs me, namely bed bugs, and wondering if you have any in any of the hotels you stayed in or anyone I should avoid.

I tend to first default to using cash instead of CCs. Is Euros or Dollars a better option in small towns?

…

My wife and I will be traveling to Morocco in early March with 12 days & 11 nights to enjoy the country. We are flying into Marrakesh. I'm just starting with creating an itinerary, and I don't want it to be overly ambitious. When we travel overseas, we like checking out foodie destinations, art & architecture, enjoying nature, and if time permits, hiking. I should also say in advance that we've already ruled out a desert excursion due to time constraints and preferences. Here's what I've…

....... you seem to be trying to do too much for 9 days. Your plan is structured such you arrive in the middle, travel north, then backtrack to the starting point, travel south to the farthermost point and probably do some more backtracking.
Drop Fez and travelling north, do a smaller geographical area spending more time on the ground rather than sitting in trains and buses.
Fez is a terrific city, the idea of just whizzing through in a day and trying to do a side trip as well is a waste…

You would take 4 days and 3 night, if you want to not have stressful trip but see and enjoy also.
Alternative you can do it by your self, by bus. Look at Supratour www.oncf.ma. You can do it in stages, not go directly from Marrakech to Erg Chebbi, but make overnightstop at either Ouarzazate or Tinerhir and visit Ait BenHaddou or Todra Gorge.
You arrive late to Merzouga so stay first night at some accommodation and next night in the camp in sand dunes. Next day during the day you can explore more…

Hi..:) I travel often to Morocco and my favourite place is Dades Valley in Atlas Mountains. It's very famous for stunning rocks Monkey Fingers and excellent start point for trekking and trips to desert Merzouga, Ouarzazate, Imilchil... My favourite host there is https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1025050-d12161614-Reviews-Berber_Nomad_Trekking-Boumalne_Dades_Souss_Massa_Draa_Region.html
It's a family activity so very authentic, friendly and relaxing. They just restored their thypical…

We are taking a girls trip in November to Morocco (in and out of Paris). Wanted peoples opinions on Fez vs Essaouira in our itinerary.

Here was our rough itinerary:

Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech
Fes or Essaouira
Fes or Essaouira
Chefchaoun
Chefchaoun
Tangier
Paris
Paris
Paris

I'm guessing it would be too much to try to do Essaouira for 1 of the nights and then 1 night in Fez. Probably better to just chose one and do two nights there? Or are they both worth doing so much that we should take a night…