Travelling to Morocco: what to know
It's three hours away by plane and the biggest cultural shift you can get close to home. These are the keys to making it go well.
The classic route
Marrakech, the Atlas and the desert, over seven or eight days. It's what almost everyone does and it works. With ten days or more, add Fez and Chefchaouen, which are very different from each other.
Getting there
Direct, cheap flights from several Spanish cities. And from Tarifa there's a ferry to Tangier in about 35 minutes, the fastest way to change continents there is.
The budget
Between 40 and 70 euros per person per day with simple riad accommodation and eating locally. One of the best ratios of what you see to what you spend. Organised desert excursions are what push the total up.
Where to stay
Riads are traditional courtyard houses converted into accommodation, and they're part of the experience. They're inside the medina, so sometimes you arrive on foot because cars can't get in.
Haggling
In the souks it's the norm and it isn't a confrontation, it's a conversation. Start well below what's asked and meet somewhere in the middle. If you don't want to buy, a friendly no and walking on is enough; stopping to look reads as interest.
What wears you down
The persistence of sellers and of people offering to guide you through the medina. It isn't dangerous but it's tiring. What works is not stopping and saying no naturally, without entering conversation.
When to go
March to May and October to November. In July and August Marrakech regularly passes 40 degrees, and the desert is simply unviable by day. Winter is pleasant during the day but very cold at night in the Atlas and the desert.
Practicalities
Carry cash in local currency, as many small places don't take cards. Drink bottled water. And if you're going to the desert, bring warm clothes for the night however hot the day is: the difference is enormous.
Keep reading
Browse every budget destination, or go back to the board and filter by month.