Morocco

Morocco, in a few days

From Marrakesh to the dunes of Merzouga, by way of the kasbahs and the gorges: a loop day by day, with the map, the experiences worth booking, everything that is free, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

Marrakesh

Days 1-2

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
  The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
• Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
  The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.

✦ Free to visit

• Jemaa el-Fna square
• The medina souks
• The Majorelle garden, from outside
• The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine ↗ (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech ↗ (€1200 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Marrakesh on GetYourGuide

2

Aït Benhaddou

Day 3 · 🚗 Car 4h

A UNESCO-listed earthen ksar on the old caravan road, and the backdrop to more films than anyone can list, Gladiator and Game of Thrones among them.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Guided visit of the ksar2h · from €20
  Up through the earthen houses to the granary at the top, with the history of the caravan road as you climb.

✦ Free to visit

• The fortified kasbah
• The film sets
• The view from the granary

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Tebi ↗ (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Dar Mouna ↗ (€80 a night) · Luxury: Ksar Ighnda ↗ (€160 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Aït Benhaddou on GetYourGuide

3

Todra Gorge

Day 4 · 🚗 Car 4h

A canyon cut by the river through the High Atlas, with walls three hundred metres high. Climbers come here for a reason.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Guided walk in the gorgeHalf day · from €25
  Between three-hundred-metre walls, then out through the palm oasis on the valley floor.

✦ Free to visit

• The three-hundred-metre walls
• The Tinghir oasis
• The Berber villages

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel La Vallée des Kasbahs ↗ (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Tomboctou ↗ (€55 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Petit Nomade ↗ (€115 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Todra Gorge on GetYourGuide

4

The Merzouga desert

Days 5-6 · 🚗 Car 3h30

The door to the Sahara and to the Erg Chebbi dunes, some of them a hundred and fifty metres tall. Camps, camels, and a very large sky.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Desert camp and camel trekNight · from €65
  Out into the Erg Chebbi by camel at dusk, a night in a camp, and the sunrise over the dunes.
• Sunrise by quad bike2h · from €40
  The faster way into the dunes, for the hour when the sand turns orange.

✦ Free to visit

• The Erg Chebbi dunes
• A night under the stars
• Gnawa music at the camp

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Mohayut ↗ (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Madu ↗ (€90 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Erg Chebbi ↗ (€95 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in The Merzouga desert on GetYourGuide

5

Marrakesh

Day 7 · return · 🚗 Car 8h

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
  The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
• Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
  The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.

✦ Free to visit

• Jemaa el-Fna square
• The medina souks
• The Majorelle garden, from outside
• The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia ↗ (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine ↗ (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech ↗ (€1200 a night) · All places to stay by budget →

📲 Book things to do in Marrakesh on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

Your own car, or a driver? · The south of Morocco is made for a road trip, but a hired driver costs less than you would think and takes the mountain passes off your hands.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Tagine: slow-cooked in the clay pot it is named after (chicken and lemon, lamb and prunes).
• Couscous: traditionally a Friday dish.
• Pastilla: a sweet and savoury pie, chicken or pigeon, dusted with sugar.
• Mint tea: less a drink than the way hospitality is done.
• Street food: msemen, harira and skewers on Jemaa el-Fna.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Turn down the unofficial guides who attach themselves to you in the medina. Politely, and firmly.
• Haggle. Starting at a third of the asking price is normal, not rude.
• Ask before photographing people, and before photographing the tanneries.
• Do not drink the tap water. Bottled, with the seal unbroken.

Words that help

English ↔ Arabic

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/morocco

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos: Pexels and Wikimedia Commons (Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0) · Details are indicative, check before you leave.