Morocco is a unique blend of ancient Berber nomadic traditions, Islamic and Arabic history, and French influence. If you’re interested in rich cultures, vibrant architecture, and stunning landscapes, Morocco is the place to visit.
MOROCCO TRAVEL | 10 Beautiful Places To Visit In Morocco (+ Itinerary Suggestions)
Why Morocco?
Morocco is a welcoming holiday destination for just about anyone, with friendly faces and colorful buildings all around you. If you are willing to put yourself out there and mingle, Moroccan people will welcome you into their homes and make you feel instantly comfortable, often telling you tales of their homeland.
Planning Your Trip
Best Time to Visit
Early October is a perfect time to travel to Morocco. It's not crazy hot, as the summers in Morocco can be, and not cold yet (the mountains there get snow in the winter months). The weather is incredible throughout the entire trip, never too cold or too hot.
Duration of Stay
It’s usually a rule to try not to go to a country for less than two weeks, so that you can really explore different areas and get a true feel for everything that region is about.
Hire a Driver or Self-Drive?
Hiring a driver and tour guide in Morocco is extremely popular and not that expensive. You have someone dedicated to you, who can give you the history of the area and make sure you get from point A to B to C easily and comfortably. But normally, everywhere I travel (India as the exception), I always opt to self-drive to give us the utmost flexibility. Morocco was no exception.
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Once we learned the rules of the road- after three cheap traffic tickets, driving ourselves around the country went as smooth as silk!
Destinations
Casablanca
After reading that Casablanca (other than the famous Mosque) was one of the least interesting places to visit in Morocco, we decided to use it mostly as just an entry-exit hub. We chose not to spend much time here- just enough time to see the Mosque, and one other attraction.
Essaouira
Our first day, we drove 4 hours from Casablanca, past Marrakesh, to the beautiful seaside town of Essaouira, known as the ‘Windy city of Africa’. The ocean breezes, called Alizée, are present all year round, and definitely made us glad we brought our jean jackets and scarves! It wasn’t cold there, just very windy.
Essaouira was also once a popular haven for pirates, because of its perfectly situated location for trade between Europe, Africa, & America. We definitely channeled our inner pirates by taking as many beautiful treasures as we could carry with us, which were all a steal! Lol.
We walked along the rampart walls of the city that enclosed the Medina (old town), and kept it protected from outside invaders. We stayed at the most beautiful, rustic, beachy-chic riad hotel called Riad Kafila. The rooms themselves were not huge, but they were comfy, and for the price, it couldn’t be beat.
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We had an amazing sunset at another beautiful Riad called Salut Maroc that had a stunning rooftop terrace with live music. One of the most colorful and vibrant and interesting places I have seen, and you should put it on your list if you’re ever visiting Essaouira!
Before we left the city, we did lots of shopping in the Medina, and we had the most incredible meal, prepared by the chef and owner of ‘Chez Zak’, Zak himself. He grilled us an 8.6 lb lobster 🦞!!! 😳🤯 …Which was the most delicious and succulent lobster I’ve ever had. It’s a tiny hole in the wall entrance to a rather large restaurant, and the night we went, we were one of only two groups of diners there! Total personal service from the owner himself. No alcohol served here, but it is BYOB.
The other meal we ate in Essaouira, which was also good, was at a dimly lit little restaurant called Le Sirroco, close to our Riad. The restaurant, like many others, and shops in Essaouira, have ‘adopted’ street cats, who have become permanent residents, so don’t be surprised if you see feline dinner pals roaming around everywhere.
Marrakesh
Driving from Essaouira to Marrakesh, about a 2 hr drive, we found ourselves on the road famous for its goat trees. If you’ve ever seen pictures of a tree in Morocco that looks like it’s growing goats, with dozens of goats in it, it’s an Argan tree.
We happened to see a small herd of goats, with a younger one up in a tree, grazing. Sooooo cute! We did stop and ask the goat herder if we could pet her goats, and she let me hold one of the babies.
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Tip- hire an awesome guide, like we did, on your first day in Marrakech. I found our guide- Mohammed Abdani - on Tours By Locals, and he was fantastic! He showed us all the best parts of the old town Medina and gave us the fascinating history. He helped us navigate the souks (craftsman markets), and took us to the best places- the stunning Ben Youssef Madrasa school, and his favorite spots to have tea and a terrific lunch.
The next day on our own, we visited Bahia Palace and the Jewish cemetery and had amazing meals at various rooftop terraces and cafes.
Highly Recommended Places in Marrakesh:
- Cafe De Espices, overlooking the spice market- we had lunch here on the rooftop.
- Dar Dar Rooftop restaurant for dinner & cocktails (make a resi well in advance for 1/2 hour before sunset. You’ll be happy you did!)
- Le Bistro Arabe for live music and a sexy decor & ambiance. Definitely need a reservation here too. It is extremely popular.
- El Fenn rooftop and Kabana rooftop for swanky decor and pricey but tasty cocktails!
- El Bacha Coffee- go before it opens to get your best chance to be seated without a long wait! Or, expect a two hour wait.
In Marrakech we stayed in the most beautiful Riad- Palais Riad Lamrani. Incredible room and bathroom (wifi not so great), and I heard that the restaurant was one of the best in town. It was also in a terrific location- walking distance to everything, including tons of awesome shops.
We all bought some beautiful afghans and some blue head scarves for the Sahara (we were told that is the color that represents the desert). And the shop owner taught us how to properly wrap the scarf around our heads to form the traditional turban (with face covering). This was verrry helpful once we got to the desert.
Atlas Mountains
We left Marrakesh to head towards the Atlas Mountains. We had some tea and a snack at Cafe Mousa, which has the most prefect views of Ait Ben Haddou from across the river, and a lovely staff that served us delicious tea & complimentary cookies.
We hopped across the river (you can go via bridge or actual stepping stones in the water) and headed up to Khaleesi Terrace for some of the most stunning views. It’s a small cafe run by the owner of the home below. Mustafa, who was very welcoming and kind, showed us his personal home and the weaving school for women that he created under his home. Absolutely beautiful!!
We then headed to Skoura to spend one night in one of the most beautiful properties I’ve ever come across, L’Ma Lodge. Totally magical! ✨ The staff, the food!!!, and the grounds were amazing. No other words. Stay there if you can fit it in. There’s a reason it has a near perfect rating. It’s just beyond. Try to get there with enough time to lounge around the grounds and take a dip in the pool & enjoy the sunset before your dinner.
After Skoura, we drove through the Valley of the Roses, seeing lots of Kasbahs, including visiting the famous & extremely well-preserved Kasbah Amridil. We then headed to the Dades Valley, where we spent two nights.
We stayed for two nights at the awesome Kasbah Flilou (after two other accommodations canceled on us last minute). And it was the most beautiful & quaint riad with amazing design & service. We lucked out big time! The food was delicious!!! And we felt so well cared for.
We did the super fun Monkey Fingers slot canyon hike, which I think is a must if you are in this area, and in good health (as it is about a 5 mile round trip hike). We had found the start by using maps.me & alltrails app. We did not intend to have a guide, but as we were walking to the hike, a friendly local told us he’d show us where the hike began because it could be a little confusing. He ended up coming with us for the entire 5 mile hike, and we were very glad that he did.
After the morning hike, we had another delicious meal (lunch) at the nearby and new Eden Boutique Hotel, where we got a full tour of the stunning & posh grounds & interiors before heading off to the desert. Do not miss a meal (and exploring) at this gem of a place.
Make sure you drive down to the crazy windy road in the Dallas Valley. It’s in opposite direction from where you will head next, and there’s not much to see past that, but all the tiny towns and Kasbahs on the way are beautiful to see. And the road itself is pretty awesome.
And then on the way to the Sahara, we made a short detour to see the Todra Gorge. 200% worth the 15 minute out-of-the-way detour! It was Gorge-ous! 😉 Park on one side of the gorge and walk through. The sheer nature of it is amazing, but there are lots of vendors all along, selling there fabrics and crafts too.
Sahara Desert
By far the most magical, and exciting, and most eagerly anticipated portion of this trip to Morocco! The Sahara Desert was breathtaking! We spent two nights in a desert camp outside of Merzouga, called Merzouga Luxury Camp.
There are many, many camp options, and they all pretty much offer the same type of experience. There are always about a dozen or so large, luxury tents with bathrooms and hot showers (although ours never quite got too warm). There’s usually a big dining tent, with all three meals included, and various activities and excursions to sign up for and experience (some at an added cost.)
There is also entertainment at night, with the Berber workers at the camp playing music around a fire at night, and inviting the guests to join in. To get to most of these camps, they pick you up from Merzouga, and you can choose to get to the camp via 4 wheel drive (quickest arrival), or about a 1.5 - 2 hour camel ride. We opted to get there quickly by vehicle & do a camel ride the next morning for sunrise.
SUPER glad we chose this, as being on a camel for 2 hours is not the most comfortable experience! While the tents and experience at the camp are luxury, being out on the sand dunes feels so incredibly humbling and primitive.
We went sandboarding, took heaps of photos at sunset, rode camels at sunrise, took a jeep tour through the desert to visit nomadic tribes and hunt for fossils, and rode fast quad bikes through the middle of nowhere and up to the highest Sand dune. All an experience I will never ever forget.
Driving Tips for Morocco
While the roads are very smooth and well-paved, if you plan to drive yourself around the country, this tip will help you avoid any bumpy moments with law enforcement. Do not go a single mile over the speed limit when approaching any towns! You will get many speed limit signs when approaching any town, no matter how tiny. They will go quite rapidly from 100km to 60 to 40. Follow them to a T!
At almost every main intersection in every little town, there are local police camped out there. Some are sitting, and some are standing. As you approach the intersection, STOP, no matter what, look at the police officer, and wait for him to wave you through. And don’t forget to smile!! Seriously. If they do tell you to pull over, and ask for your passport, ID, etc., they may make you get out of the car & follow you to the ticketing table, on the side of the road. They generally charge cash on the spot for a ticket, which was about 300 Dirham, equivalent to $30USD. This is normal.
Always wear your seatbelts! Even in the back seats. We were pulled over the 3rd time, because our friend in the backseat had a faulty seatbelt that wouldn’t close, so she wasn’t wearing it when we went slowly, pausing, through the police intersection. They pulled us over, and charged the fee. This time, they did not give us any Dirham back because our friend snapped a fun photo of the cute cop, who had been very smiley. Do NOT take photos of the police (or anyone) without their express permission.
Essential Information
Languages
Morocco has two official languages spoken throughout the country - Berber and Arabic. French is also widely spoken everywhere while Spanish is common in the northern areas.
Mobile Coverage
Morocco has excellent mobile phone coverage throughout the country except in the mountains and deserts. 4G is commonly available in most cities and towns. The three major mobile service providers in Morocco are Méditel, Maroc Telecom and Inwi.
Health and Vaccinations
No vaccinations are required for travel to Morocco. Medical facilities in cities and larger towns are adequate, with qualified French-trained doctors available as well as some expat doctors in Marrakech. It is best to bring any medication you might need during your vacation.
Currency
The official currency of the country is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD), with one USD being roughly equal to 9.7 MAD. Dirhams are a restricted currency and unavailable in other countries. It is important to note that visitors cannot carry dirhams out of Morocco so make sure that you exchange all your currency before you leave.
Cultural Sensitivity
Some Moroccans, especially women and older men, do not like to be photographed or videotaped due to a combination of religious and popular beliefs and superstitions. In Morocco people generally do not openly discuss internal politics, and may not be overly receptive to your points of view. Avoid discussing the King or the royal family.
Additional Tips
- Mint tea is served everywhere!!!! It is Morocco’s signature drink and you will be offered it as a welcome drink everywhere you go.
- Because Morocco is a predominantly Muslim country, alcohol is forbidden and is not served in many places. However, many of the newer and more modern Riads, restaurants, and hotels throughout Morocco, especially in the bigger cities, do serve wine and beer.
- If eating out, where no utensils are provided, eat with your right hand.
| City | Must-See Attraction | Recommended Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Marrakech | Ben Youssef Madrasa | Explore the souks with a local guide |
| Essaouira | Medina | Walk along the rampart walls |
| Atlas Mountains | Ait Ben Haddou | Visit Khaleesi Terrace for stunning views |
| Sahara Desert | Merzouga Luxury Camp | Sandboarding and camel riding |
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