Forget Marrakech...Tangier's now Morocco's hot spot
May 7, 2012, 11:17 am
#1
Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 15,651
Forget Marrakech...Tangier's now Morocco's hot spot
....so says Conde Nast Traveler.
I know I'm one of the few on FT who recommends Tangier, so wanted to share this article. For those of you who made a cruise ship stop in Tangier & got turned off by the tireless touts, know that Tangier's really cracked down on that stuff in an effort to improve its image...and it's worked. From what I understand, tour guides face fines for pestering tourists, and when we were in Tangier for ~5 days last spring, not a single person asked us if we needed a guide or tried to steer us to his friend's restaurant or his uncle's rug store or his brother's spice shop. It was a refreshing change.
I know I'm one of the few on FT who recommends Tangier, so wanted to share this article. For those of you who made a cruise ship stop in Tangier & got turned off by the tireless touts, know that Tangier's really cracked down on that stuff in an effort to improve its image...and it's worked. From what I understand, tour guides face fines for pestering tourists, and when we were in Tangier for ~5 days last spring, not a single person asked us if we needed a guide or tried to steer us to his friend's restaurant or his uncle's rug store or his brother's spice shop. It was a refreshing change.
May 15, 2012, 6:30 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 10
Any experience booking award flts from the US to Morocco? Ideally starting from SFO but any advice would be appreciated. We're planning a trip in 2013 and wondering which airlines we should start accumulating miles for an award flt.
I tried Delta: SFO-RBA but not seeing any available flts on the delta.com web site.
thanks!
I tried Delta: SFO-RBA but not seeing any available flts on the delta.com web site.
thanks!
May 16, 2012, 11:32 am
#5
Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
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Your best bets are with a SkyAlliance airline (Delta, which allows you to connect in Paris for an Air France flight to Morocco) or OneWorld (American, which allows you to connect in Madrid for an Iberia flight to Morocco).
As BA304 mentioned, Casablanca is one of the main international hubs. (I haven't Marrakech flights recently, so I'll take his/her word for it that Marrakech is also seeing a lot of international flights.) If you're willing to transfer to a low-cost carrier in Europe--which may require a lot more coordination, including changing airports--you will have more choices of arrival cities in Morocco.
The train from Casablanca to Rabat is only about an hour.
As BA304 mentioned, Casablanca is one of the main international hubs. (I haven't Marrakech flights recently, so I'll take his/her word for it that Marrakech is also seeing a lot of international flights.) If you're willing to transfer to a low-cost carrier in Europe--which may require a lot more coordination, including changing airports--you will have more choices of arrival cities in Morocco.
The train from Casablanca to Rabat is only about an hour.
Jul 12, 2012, 10:58 am
#6
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Munich, Germany
Programs: Miles&More Blue, SPG Silver
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I just returned from a 14 day roundtrip through Morocco. The intinary was:
Rabat
Fes
Merzouga (Erg-Chabbi)
Ait Ben Haddou
Imlil (Atlas Mountain Region below Toubkal Mountain)
Marrakech
El Jadida
Casablanca
My favorite was Fes. Definitely the most original medina in Morocco. Not like Marrakech which is very touristy. Still for a first visit to Morocco Marrakech is okay but if you want to see the real Morocco you need to go to Fes.
All in all Morocco is a great country with so many different landscapes to visit.
Rabat
Fes
Merzouga (Erg-Chabbi)
Ait Ben Haddou
Imlil (Atlas Mountain Region below Toubkal Mountain)
Marrakech
El Jadida
Casablanca
My favorite was Fes. Definitely the most original medina in Morocco. Not like Marrakech which is very touristy. Still for a first visit to Morocco Marrakech is okay but if you want to see the real Morocco you need to go to Fes.
All in all Morocco is a great country with so many different landscapes to visit.
Aug 9, 2012, 9:37 am
#9
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EXP, mid-tier with pretty much everyone else
Posts: 873
Another flight option if you wanted to get to Tangier would be flying into Gibraltar (and going to the top of the Rock) then hopping on the fast ferry to Tangier, I think it was around 3 hours when I did it back in 2000.
Aug 9, 2012, 11:27 am
#10
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I don't think there's a Gibraltar to Tangier ferry any more. I think ferries now run to the recently opened Tangier Med port, which is about 40 km from the city of Tangier.
Aug 12, 2012, 5:48 am
#11
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: Delta Skymiles
Posts: 88
Forget Marrakech...Tangier's now Morocco's hot spot
Been driving all over Morocco and Tangiers is the only city that is serving Alcohol freely during Ramadan. Just an FYI.
Casablanca - Meh, it's a metropolitan city. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency.
Marrakech - More "cultural" than Casablanca and more authentic. Stayed at the Le Meridien.
Fez - Tourist Trap capital.
Tangiers - Sorta like Miami Beach lite....
Casablanca - Meh, it's a metropolitan city. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency.
Marrakech - More "cultural" than Casablanca and more authentic. Stayed at the Le Meridien.
Fez - Tourist Trap capital.
Tangiers - Sorta like Miami Beach lite....
Aug 26, 2012, 12:56 pm
#12
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
I'm looking at flight options from BOS to RAK for Christmas, but everything seems to involve multiple stops with horrible long layovers. If there is an IRROPS due to winter weather the entire trip would collapse.
Not sure what to do.
Not sure what to do.
Aug 26, 2012, 1:49 pm
#13
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Location: Frankfurt
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You could do one stop with BA but you would have to change from LHR to LGW (which isn't the end of the world).
Aug 26, 2012, 8:13 pm
#14
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: Delta Skymiles
Posts: 88
I was just in Tangiers earlier this month (Morocco Road trip) and it's definitely a great town. With plenty of bars and clubs, all along the beach. I would recommend Hotel Continental, it's less than 5 minutes walk from the beach/bars/clubs and for what you get, it's a bargain. Just make sure to ask for an a/c room.
Aug 28, 2012, 1:19 pm
#15
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Wow, Miami Beach lite doesn't come close to describing the Tangier I know. It's more like Dar Es Salaam. I don't know the whole town, but driving from the ferry terminal to the Rabat highway is not that pretty at all. An Ibis was the only clean hotel I could find when the ferry was shut down due to slightly rough seas. This was a few years ago. Are there any better hotels now?
As for flights, I would recommend flying to Paris and relax for a day or two, then fly down on AT. AT is an excellent airline and way better than AF or any other Euro airline either in economy or business.
As for flights, I would recommend flying to Paris and relax for a day or two, then fly down on AT. AT is an excellent airline and way better than AF or any other Euro airline either in economy or business.