Morocco Ultimate Travel Guide (10 days itinerary)
Are you currently planning a trip to this incredible country? Here is a ten days guide with all best things to do!
Morocco has been on our bucket list since many years but somehow we always had to cancel our departure in the past year’s plan!
Finally we made it happen and we simply fell in love with this country.
This blogpost will help you organise and plan your next trip to Morocco covering mainly Marrakech and the road path to the Sahara Desert with stop overs in untouched places.
Considering Marrakech as arrival and departure city of this beautiful trip, the final focus of the trip will be reaching the most beautiful part of Moroccan Sahara Desert side!
Have a read down and start dreaming about this country!
everything you need to know about this part of Morocco!
Days suggested: 10-12 days for this trip
Best time to visit: April- June, September - November
Getting around: Car
Airport: Marrakech Menara Airport
Currency: Moroccan Dirham
Language: Arab, French, English
all infos in a
Glance
Days 1-4 (3 nights): Marrakech
This is the city you will be flying to. Marrakech has an international airport and it is super close to the city centre.
Marrakech is more than a city with a lot of history, Marrakech is a complete experience, a vibe. Made of colors, flavours, smells, incredible mosques and unique sights.
The Medina is the centric heart of the city where most of the activities happen. The market here is a labyrinth of little shops and stands where you will find everything: from bags and shoes, to colourful spices, jewelries and much more!
Things to do:
one
Lose yourself in the Medina
Start strolling around the Medina, the most ancient centre of Marrakech. Here is where everything happen!
two
Visit Koutoubia Mosque
The most famous Mosque of the entire city will welcome you with its incredible beauty and originality!
three
Watch all craziness happening in Jamaa el Fna square
This square will get super crowded after the warmest hrs of the day. At sunset it gets full of vendors, orange juices sellers, tattoo makers and snakes enchanters.
four
Head to the area around Ben Youssef at sunset
This is one of the most beautiful area of the Medina. the warm colors of the sunset reflecting on the sand coloured walls will turn into a special Wonderfull show before the last lights of the day will disappear.
five
Visit Madrasa Ben Youssef
The inner part of Madrasa Ben Youssef is a hidden piece of architectural art! You don't want to miss it!
We suggest you to visit it in the morning before groups visiting hours.
Luxury relax in the middle of Agafay Desert
Rent a car or hire a driver to take you to Agafay Desert, which is around 45 mins from Marrakech. Experience the beauty of sleeping one night in one of the many luxury camping in this desert made of little stones. Here you’ll be able to experience the desert in a complete relax.
During our visit , we have had the chance to stay at Scarabeo Luxury Camp and our time here was simply perfect!
Days 5-6 ( 1 night): Ouarzazate
Leave early and take the road back to Marrakech with direction Ouarzazate. This town which turned quite famous for many movies that have been filmed here close, is the perfect place where to stay to visit Ait-Ben-Haddou.
Although many agencies will suggest you many activities to do in Ouarzazate we didn’t find any exceptional thing to do apart from visiting the old town Ait-Ben-Haddou early in the morning.
Jump on the car and take your way to the deepest part of Morocco. Spend one night in the small village of Tinzouline and explore the palm plantations and local village. In the morning get back on your way passing Zagora and reaching the doors of the Sahara in the locality of Tagounite where you will be spending one night.
We suggest you to stop for 1 night in Tagounite to rest a bit; the journey could result a bit long but believe us! Totally worth it!
Explore the wildest side of Morocco
There are mainly to ways to access Sahara in Morocco: one is in Merzouga, maybe the most touristic one and the other is in Erg Chigaga, where you will find the tallest sand dunes of Morocco. To reach Erg Chigaga you will have to drive all way down and reach M’hamid, a little village surrounded by sand.
Make sure to have previously book a stay in one of the many desert camp resorts of Erg Chigaga. We had the pleasure to spend 2 nights at Umnya Desert Camp, so we left our car parked in m’hamid and the staff picked us up with their 4x4, took us on a 1 and half hour drive through the desert before reaching the Umnya desert Camp.
We took the chance to relax and spend a lot of time at
Day 10: back to Marrakech
Drive all the road back to Marrakech before your return flight.
We personally opted for a stop over in Ouarzazate again as the way back from the desert to the city of Marrakech could take more than 8hrs of driving.
Some tips and suggestions:
Food and water
poisoning is really a big problem...
Price negotiations
For tourists while traveling the country: really take care of always drinking bottled water. Although cities like Marrakech have got much better with their tap water, this is almost everywhere in Morocco not to be drunk. Important to avoid fresh veggies and fruits that may have been washed with tape water. Always try to make sure that food is fresh and have been well cooked.
Always negotiate the price in a respectful way:
of course prices offered to tourists are always almost the double of what the prices would actually be, so you can always negotiate the price offered, no m after if while shopping or grabbing a taxi. The important thing is to do it always in a respectful way!
Respect Locals
Don’t take photos to local people without asking!
Is Morocco safe to travel?
Yes, Morocco is definitely a safe country where to travel to...
As many muslim countries, people don’t really appreciate cameras, even more if you’re taking photos to them. Always try to respect them, so if you’re really wanting to take a picture including locals, make sure to ask them before.
Make sure to avoid suburbs of the cities. Most of the people are super friendly and will love to stop for a chat. Don’t forget to never take pictures without before asking as this may result offensive for them.
Avoid walking by night by yourselves.
Driving in Morocco is quite easy… it could result a bit more difficult in the cities like Marrakech but apart from there the traffic is not so intense. The road that leads you to the desert in Erg Chigaga is a wonderful easy road to drive!
Morocco
Most of tourists won’t need a visa to enter Morocco. A passport will be only required for you’re flight and at the entrance of the airport. You can check if you’d need a visa or
Morocco
Visa
do I need one?
