Helpful Tips for Your Trip to Morocco

WHY MOROCCO? Morocco has been on my radar for a while. However, we were originally planning a trip to India! My boys’ passports were expiring and had to be renewed to even book the India Air flights. Their new passports arrived within two weeks; however, in that short time, the New Delhi flights became too expensive for my budget. Check out my post: Tips to Teenage Passport Renewal.

Bonus, Morocco is a lot closer than India. Ultimately, we were drawn to this northern African country due to the warmer winter climate and mystique of visiting a new continent. Read on for five helpful planning tips, but first, start practicing these two important phrases: Combien ca coute? How much does that cost — in French. And, Shukran. Thank you — in Arabic. Enjoy discovering Morocco!

These are my honest opinions and recommendations — I do not receive any compensation or discounts during our travel. This story does include some affiliate links for which I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please click the links to support my blog.

1 | Get creative with airfare

Flights after Christmas were expensive everywhere, including Morocco. The airfare to Madrid was much more reasonable, thus making it a less expensive gateway to Morocco. An added bonus was exploring a bit of Spain as well.

Take your time and price out flight options. I researched airfare pricing for seven, eight, and nine-day trips from Madrid to various airports in Morocco: Fes, Marrakesh, Casablanca, and Rabat. Google Flights makes it easy to price roundtrip, one-way, and multi-city flights. A flight into Marrakesh and out of Fes seven days later was the least expensive — by a lot. And, a tour of this route seemed to be quite common. In retrospect, Nine to ten days would have been better for our itinerary.

Read my post: A Great Morocco Road Trip: Marrakesh to Fes for more detailed information about this amazing one-week journey.

Tips for using Google Flights: My Favorite Travel Planning Tools.

Budget airline advice

Do yourself a favor and understand any budget airline’s strict rules ahead of time. I could not enter our passport numbers on the Ryanair website the night before our early AM flight. Ryanair charged us a 55 euro fee per person for not checking in online. The lines and fee process at the airport took so long that we almost missed the flight! Note: Ryanair was also very diligent in checking the size of overhead and small personal bags!

FITZ BITS TIP: Always check in online for Ryanair flights and read all of the details for every flight. For example, in Morocco, it was required to print out the boarding pass. Call Ryanair if you have problems so it is noted on your reservation.

2 | Book a tour for your journey

For the first time ever we booked a week-long private tour. We have seen folks book fully guided vacations in Iceland, Belize, Costa Rica, and Ecuador where I just do not think it is needed. However, Morocco may just be the place to do it. Check out my post: Reflection on Booking a Tour in Morocco.

Which tour company? Now it was a little risky — and quite daunting — but I found recommendations through Google searches and fellow blogger reviews. But just like my good ole purchasing days: Triple bid. Get everything apples-to-apples. Quality comes first.

Sun Trails Tour Company

Upon reading the reviews for Moroccan-based Sun Trails I felt a connection. Maybe it was that they specialize in private tailor-made tours — which is most similar to how I arrange our travels. They were a little more expensive, but everything was included: a local English-speaking driver and guide, a nice comfortable vehicle, experienced private local guides every step of the way, wonderful riads, all entry fees, and most meals. It was a real treat not having to think about all of the details along the way.

I am happy to report that we were extremely happy with our tour.

3 | What to pack for a winter trip?

PACK LAYERS. Late December into early January was a lovely time to visit Morocco. Each day warmed up to 70-degrees with a bright blue sky. It cooled down a bit at night. But luckily no rain! We were glad to have lightweight coats when the sun was down, and even more so when camping in the dunes and later in Madrid.

PACK LIGHTLY. Are you are staying in several locations? Having less stuff makes moving around much easier. We packed two small carry-on suitcases and three backpacks for our family of five. There was even a little room left for souvenirs! Of course, you can’t pack this lightly without doing some laundry. We used our Marrakesh riad’s laundry service (about $10 USD) and brought along liquid laundry soap to hand wash some items along the way.

Males

A perfect winter outfit for the guys is khaki pants, a short-sleeve shirt, and a light sweatshirt or quarter-zip pullover. And, just one pair of gym shoes. Check the forecast before going — we left hiking boots and raincoats at home after seeing the sunny forecast. I still always pack disposable ponchos just in case. The Northface has nice men’s travel pants that you can usually find at Dick’s Sporting Goods. I suggest pants over shorts since it did not get that hot in the winter.

Females

Leave the little hiking skirts, short shorts, and tank tops at home. All you need is 1) a couple of t-shirts to go with joggers or travel pants, 2) a cute long skirt and shirt, 3) a tunic and leggings, and 4) a blouse and jeans outfit. Add in a tank top for layering warmth, a scarf, a cuter pair of flats, and a lightweight sweater, jacket, and vest. My absolute favorite purchase for this trip was a pair of black Lululemon On the Fly Joggers. Free hemming! A friend bought the same pants and said she wore them almost every day during her trip to Italy.

Charging electronics

Pack a two-prong European power adapter or a universal adapter. We find it helpful to bring a powerboard with multiple USB ports to charge all of your phones and cameras.

4 | Leave space in your luggage for souvenirs

SHOPPING in the souks is so fun! Get ready to negotiate — it is the culture and bargaining is expected. Leave some room in your suitcase for souvenirs or you may want to pack an extra bag for all of those treasures. Are you interested in buying a Moroccan rug? Bring sizes, colors, and photos along. Do not be rushed. Double measure everything yourself. A large rug will be shipped to your home.

What did we fit into our suitcases?

These prices are translated to USD: A brown pouf ottoman ($25 — negotiated down from $60), a camel keychain to turn into a Christmas ornament ($1 negotiated down from $2), a wooden wall decoration ($15 negotiated down from $40), a print ($3.50), Argan oil ($28), scarves ($10 each), spices ($5 each), black soap ($5 each), a blue and white dish ($6). The latter six items were from shops that did not negotiate; however, their pricing seemed fair.

I love our light brown leather pouf. It packs flat because you fill it at home. Depending on the size, material, and your negotiating skills it may be a more expensive investment. Unzip and check the inside for stitch and material quality. I recently saw two bright orange leather poufs in displays in the Nordstrom children’s department. Someone else likes poufs too!

5 | Cash is king — plan accordingly

The tour included most of our costs. We paid the deposit on a credit card but a cash balance was due upon arrival.

There was a 4,000 Moroccan dirham limit per day at the ATMs we used. Some banks may have even lower daily limits. The Moroccan Dirham was roughly 10 dirhams to $1 USD.

Get smaller bills and coins as soon as you can for use shopping in the souks and for tips. Tipping is standard in Morocco. We used a credit card at one nice lunch restaurant and the grocery store. Everything else was cash: souvenirs, tips, other lunches, and snacks.

Always ask if there is a transaction fee when using a credit card at a restaurant or shop. And, select the local currency (dirham) when prompted and NOT USD or euro. Your bank will provide the best exchange rate. Euros were also accepted at times but I do not suggest this — the exchange rate will not be in your favor.

FITS BITS TIP: Get an ATM card and credit card that do not have International transaction fees.

Visited in January 2020

Helpful Tips for Your Trip to Morocco