Has anyone been to Morocco?

GymClassHero

Silver Member
Helllloooo!

Me and my fiance fancy a week away this year and quite a few friends have mentioned they have heard Morocco is good for a nice break.

Has anyone been and if so, give any recommendations on hotels, places to go, dining etc?

Thanks :cool:
 
Whereabouts are you going to? I went to Marrakesch last year and loved it - Time Out guide was pretty good and accurate.
 
As above, it very much depends on where you are going. I believe Casablanca is a city, Agadir is beaches and Marrakesh is markets and street entertainers, etc.

I've went to Marrakech (in 2005) for 6 days and it was wonderful. The food is great, the views are great, it's a beautiful place. We stayed at Riad Fantasia and loved it but a quite Google search shows that it has gone right down the pan, which is sad because the location was fab too.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a DM.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone!

We are planning to go to Marrakech from what we have seen so far. The hotel is on an All Inclusive basis but its cheaper to go B&B or half board with this specific hotel.

Is it fairly cheap to dine out? I dont mind street food either, as in walking about the markets abd buying food from a stall but are there healthy options available?
 
The food is amazing, really. I wouldn't want to have to eat in one place. Breakfast was about 50p each when we were there in 2005, we had these honey pancakes things and the coffee is wonderful. Fresh orange juice, squeezed in front of you was about 10p per glass!

Tagines are absolutely delicious and you can get them anywhere. When you get there you'll understand what I mean. The Jemaa El Fna is the main "square" and during the day they have snake charmers, ladies doing henna tattoos, orange juice carts, etc and in the evening the whole place comes alive with food - you can tell that I fell in love with it, right?

I'm a vegetarian now but my favourite thing then was meat tagines, just chucks of the most tender meat with big chunks of potato and a delicious gravy like sauce. Vegetable couscous is also so different from what we eat here, it's fragrant, fluffy and the portions are huge. Everything gets served with a bread basket for no extra charge.

Fruit and salads are a no no as you can't drink the water, my boyfriend got very sick for just over 2 weeks when we got back and we think it's because there was a salad on the same plate as a keebab that he ate. You can buy Evian really cheaply though and with the heat (it was really hot when we went and it was November!) you get through quite a bit - just remember to buy a bottle on the way back to your Riad (hotel) in the evening to brush your teeth.

There are some lovely things to buy - leather slippers (camel leather!) and foot stools and rugs and jewellery. There are also a lot of scams that you have to look out for, and we came across most of them - luckily we read up on them before we went so we recognised and avoided them.

You have to have your shoulders covered if you're out and about or you will get men gawping at you and they are also not afraid to grope you if you're in a crowd - just be warned!
 
Wow!! Very informative - thanks NewSlimmerMe thats a massive help.

It sounds great and i think you have twisted my arm, lol!

On the clothing front, me and my fiance are heavily tattooed - will this be an issue with the locals?
 
Just bear in mind that I went in 2005, things can change but I hope it still has the allure it had when we went.

As for the tattoos, i'm not sure. They are used to henna as it's everywhere. As a woman I recommend that when you get there you buy a shawl/scarf to cover your shoulders anyway. It respects their views on keeping covered up, it stops them hounding you to buy one because they can see you already have one, it would solve the tattoo problem and it's a lifesaver in the heat. I got a bright orange one and still have it :D

And NEVER try and get out of buying something by saying that you'll come back later/another day - they will hold you to it and they never forget a face!

Get used to hearing "lovely jubbly", "fish and chips", "do you support manchester united?" etc. It's rather amusing, they've learnt it all from watching satellite TV!

If you know any French that will also come in handy, most people speak it there.

I'm excited for you :D
 
I went last year and I agree with most of what NewSlimmerMe has said, however my friend and I wore sleeveless tops with no hassle at all - obviously we didn't go round in really skimpy clothes but knee length skirts, cropped trousers with vest tops were ok.

Jemaa El Fna is a sight to behold - Jamie Oliver did a programme there this week - might be on catch up if you have it - or 4OD

I brushed my teeth in tap water and had loads of salads no problem but my friend did get a bad stomach.

You can get a trip to Essaouira which is lovely and on the coast but takes about 3-4 hours so I'd recommend an overnight stay if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of Marrakech.

I adored it too - very friendly people - most restaurants are unlicensed but if you get the Time Out guide it gives a really good comprehensive list - it's definately a place I'd go back to and I'd even brave it alone!
 
And think of the spices you can buy!
 
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