Morocco Experience

Essential Essaouira

Advantages: beautiful beawch, laid back, the medina
Disadvantages: not enough there for a week,

...hour journey from Marrakesh to Essaouira is by Supertours,coaches- the Moroccan equivalent of our National Express. There are approximately four coaches a day to and from Marrakesh to Essaouira. We took the first one leaving Marrakesh at 8 15 in the morning and boarded the last coach back at 6 pm from Essaouira. This gave us seven hours in Essaouira, which is more than enough time to explore and appreciate this delightful little town. The cost of ...
...medieval streets of Marrakesh, as Essaouira was created in the 18th century by King Mohamed III, I actually prefer Essaouira's old town to Marrakesh's one. I think this is because I feel a lot safer and we got a lot less hassle in Essaouira. even though I was only wearing a knee length dress and cardigan (unlike in Marrakesh where I was wearing ankle length skirts). I enjoyed watching kids playing oblivious to us rather than trying to be ammeter ...

duskmaiden 02.02.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Essaouira (Morocco)

Casablanca

Advantages: Western comforts if that's your thing
Disadvantages: Wealth divide, Lack of culture, unfriendly locals

I arrived in Casablanca by train and took a taxi to the city centre where i planned to stay. The taxi driver seemed to drive around in circles even though I'd given him a map in French of where I wanted to go, eventually dropping me off around half a mile away. I'd spent a bit of time in Morocco in the cities and desert and was wholey disappointed by Casablanca. Travelling on a budget I saw most of what the westerners staying at the beach resorts ...
...streets and plenty of fighting between the locals. The city itself is trying to be as western as possible. Plenty of boutiques and fast food restaurants and the touristy market in the old town area is overpriced and low quality compared to the other regions in the country. The hassan II mosque on the coast is something worth going to see. Apparently the 3rd largest in the world and the hammams are beautiful. The detail and effort is exceptional ...

Naturalsponge 18.03.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Casablanca (Morocco)

Morocco: Unique and fascinating country

Advantages: cheap and so many fascinating things to see
Disadvantages: can get alot of hassel of stall owners in marrakesh

I went backpacking in June 2007 with a freind and the first place we started was in Morocco, which is in North Africa and it very different to anywhere else I visited on the trip. Every city had something unique about it and the people changed alot between each city. For example In Cassablance the dress code for women is much more relaxed than in Marrakesh. The first place we went to was Marrakesh. We landed here on a flight from Luton with Ryanir. ...
...soon as we enetered the airport you could tell that you were no longer in Western Europe where everything had to run smoothly and quickly! We waited for about 30 minutes to get through passport control, got our bags only to join another que for about 45 minutes to get some money changed over. They had no money exchange open and everyone from the flight all wanted to get money changed over. When the staff eventually found a banker they only found ...

crazyfishUK 30.09.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of General: Morocco

Tanger - very Moorish!

Advantages: Great for cheap shopping, good fun, an introduction to Africa
Disadvantages: Traders can "hassle", lots of begging

...Tarifa in southern Spain to Tanger in Morocco. You can see the Atlas mountains of Morrocco from Tarifa even on a fairly misty day but on a really clear day you can make out settlements, small clusters of traditional white houses tempting you over the water. There are various options for travelers wishing to visit Morrocco from the Spanish mainland and Tarifa (like Algeciras which also has ferry departures for Morrocco) teems with travel agencies ...
...four sailings per day to Tanger and we opted for the nine a.m. crossing to maximize the time available to us (the crossing takes 35 minutes). We arrived at the terminal and exchanged our voucher for our tour pack and were instructed to be wearing our FRS stickers when the ferry docked so that the guide could find us. My heart sank; I'm not very good on guided tours. It's the old curiosity thing again; I want to find things for myself, I want to look ...

fizzytom 04.07.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Tanger (Morocco)

Fabulous Fès

Advantages: Not as "touristy" as other parts of Morocco, steeped in history, a beautiful city
Disadvantages: Beware small children and Moroccan men

...me that the city of Fès was a must-visit. A BRIEF BACKGROUND Fès is Morocco's third largest city, and the oldest of the Moroccan imperial cities (the others being Marrakesh, Rabat and Meknes). Founded in 789, the city began to flourish, populated not only by local Muslims but also those from other parts of North Africa and the Middle East. A substantial Jewish community also made their way to Fès, and the Jewish quarter is still in existence today. ...
...(walled city sections) in Fès, Fès el Bali - we were told - is best explored, at first, with a local guide,who will ensure that you get used to the lack of road signs and the small, winding alleyways before leaving you to your own devices. After being very disappointed with the guide we'd been recommended (a different story altogether...) we opted to make our own way around the medina. If you've never been to Africa, as I hadn't, pre-Fès, not even ...

emmorticia 27.05.2008 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Fès (Morocco)