Africa - Comments on Moroccan Itinerary

We would like your expert opinion and suggestions on our first trip to Morocco. The group consist of my husband and I as well as my parents (late fifties) We all have travelled the world over but this will be the first trip to Northern Africa. We like adventure and culture but the main aim with our trip is a mother and daughter shopping spree in the markets with some rest next to the coast to catch some of the last sun rays (We are from Ireland and South Africa respectively) We like budget holidays (not like in hostels) so that we can splash out on great food and buy some articles. So here goes

We are flying into Casablanca Airport were we will be renting a car (hopefully from one of the local agencies but website details on them are hard to find - so if anybody can help)

Then driving to Meknes the same day for 2 nights in Ibis Moussafir Meknes - mainly the market and the Roman Ruines

Then onto Fes for 3 nights - I hear the market here is the best!!!! We are planning to stay in Diamant Vert just outside Fes

Then onto Marrakesh - but we are planning to sleep somewhere between Fes and Marrakesh - any recommendations would be wonderful ??dessert sleep/Kasbahs

In Marrakesh we will be staying in Riad Dar Beldia for 2 nights

Then drive on to Essaouira were we are renting Dar Mussarat - a whole riad to ourselves!!! For 4 nights

Then we will drive back to Casablanca with one sleep over in Oualidia - hear the oysters and seafood is great - any recommentation re accommodation are welcome!!!!

So what do you think???? We would love to spend some more time in Essaouira as we would like to rest but at the same time extra time in the dessert will be nice!!! But our main aim is the markets

We would like your expert opinion and suggestions on our first trip to Morocco. The group consist of my husband and I as well as my parents (late fifties) We all have travelled the world over but this will be the first trip to Northern Africa. We like adventure and culture but the main aim with our trip is a mother and daughter shopping spree in the markets with some rest next to the coast to catch some of the last sun rays (We are from Ireland and South Africa respectively) We like budget holidays (not like in hostels) so that we can splash out on great food and buy some articles. So here goes

We are flying into Casablanca Airport were we will be renting a car (hopefully from one of the local agencies but website details on them are hard to find - so if anybody can help)

Then driving to Meknes the same day for 2 nights in Ibis Moussafir Meknes - mainly the market and the Roman Ruines

Then onto Fes for 3 nights - I hear the market here is the best!!!! We are planning to stay in Diamant Vert just outside Fes

Then onto Marrakesh - but we are planning to sleep somewhere between Fes and Marrakesh - any recommendations would be wonderful ??dessert sleep/Kasbahs

In Marrakesh we will be staying in Riad Dar Beldia for 2 nights

Then drive on to Essaouira were we are renting Dar Mussarat - a whole riad to ourselves!!! For 4 nights

Then we will drive back to Casablanca with one sleep over in Oualidia - hear the oysters and seafood is great - any recommentation re accommodation are welcome!!!!

So what do you think???? We would love to spend some more time in Essaouira as we would like to rest but at the same time extra time in the dessert will be nice!!! But our main aim is the markets

Sounds like a great trip! If you search, there are several other recent Morocco threads that might also help. My suggestions:

Two nights in Meknes might be overkill. I made my second trip there (2 nights) this spring and in retrospect would have cut the Meknes part of the trip short. Plus, nothing beats Fes & Marrakech's markets...you could happily have another day or two in either of those cities without getting bored.

Volubilis is wonderful and can consume half a day, maybe more.

Maybe change your itinerary to do Casa to Rabat (one night) to Meknes (one night) then stop in Volubilis and Moulay-Idriss for the day en route to Fes?

We rented from Sixt, and they do have an airport location, plus locations in most major cities. We'd prepayed and were a bit annoyed that--on top of our payment--they wanted a deposit that was equivalent to several thousand dollars despite having car rental insurance through American Express. (We ended up putting it on the credit card and they tore up the charge once we returned the car, but it was still a bit worrisome.)

Just a word of warning: City driving in Morocco can take a toll on one's nerves. (And I say this as someone who also did a 6-day drive through Ireland this year.) Doing just the short drive from Casa to Rabat on your first day might allow you to get comfortable without completely throwing you into the deep end. Also, as tempting as it might be, I'd strongly suggest taking the highways from the airport that circumvent the Casablanca city center. (Of all the cities, it seems to be the craziest from a driving perspective.) In fact, on our return, we dropped the car off at the airport then cabbed to our hotel in Casa + cabbed back to the airport in the morning. You never know how long car rental return can take, and it kept us from having to deal with driving into Casablanca.

Volubilis is wonderful and can consume half a day, maybe more.

Maybe change your itinerary to do Casa to Rabat (one night) to Meknes (one night) then stop in Volubilis and Moulay-Idriss for the day en route to Fes?

Thanks for the suggestions chgoeditor - I was hoping to hear your take on it. We are planning to skip Casa altoghether as it just seems like a big commertial city - something that we rarely enjoy. I have copy and paste alot of your recommendation on previous posts into a document and tried to incorporate some of it - it is difficult to fit everything into one trip:p

We were thinking of doing a day trip to Volubilis from Meknes rather than stopping on the way. Do you think we can do the Medina in Meknes and Volubilis in one day - keeping in mind that this will be our first medina visit ever and we might want to browse at every shop:D

I would love to find some extra time to spend in the dessert with out cutting our time in Essaouira.

Also people on other sites are very negative about renting a car and recommend taking the train between the cities and then renting the car in Marrakech for the journey to Essaouira and then onwards to Casa. What is your take on it - I've looked at the train website and a 1ste class ticket for an adult between Casa and Meknes cost E11 (we will be 4 adults). It seems the parking in these towns are the big problem - thats why we planned to stay in the Ibis and outside of Fes in Diamant Vert because they have parking. But if there are alot of sightseeing spots between these towns that one would like to stop at - it seems a car is better.

Thanks for the suggestions chgoeditor - I was hoping to hear your take on it. We are planning to skip Casa altoghether as it just seems like a big commertial city - something that we rarely enjoy.

In case I wasn't clear with my Casa to Rabat suggestion, but I really meant you should just drive to Rabat the first night, not Meknes. The King Hassan II Mosque is beautiful and worth the trip, but if you decide to see it, do it after you've driven through the rest of the country...Casa traffic is crazy!

We were thinking of doing a day trip to Volubilis from Meknes rather than stopping on the way. Do you think we can do the Medina in Meknes and Volubilis in one day - keeping in mind that this will be our first medina visit ever and we might want to browse at every shop:D

I have a hard time articulating why we didn't love Meknes as much as other cities. But if I had to boil it down:
* On both my trips, I was in Meknes after Fes, and the Fes medina is far better than the Meknes medina.
* We found people at restaurants and shops to be a lot pushier in Meknes.
* My impression is that the medina shops in Meknes seem to have a higher concentration of items geared toward Moroccans doing their daily shopping. Tailors, kid's clothing, housewares made in China, etc. (That said, I loved the cover market on the west? side of Place el-Hadim, which has a lot of butchers, olive sellers, spice merchants, etc. But you could see it in half an hour or less.)

If you were driving to Rabat after arrival, you could drive from Rabat to Meknes in a few hours (more or less depending on whether you're taking the highways or local roads). Arrive in Meknes & spend an afternoon/evening exploring the medina & possibly going to the Dar Jamaii Museum. I think that would be more than enough time.

The next morning you'd drive to Volubilis, which is about an hour away. Spend 3-5 hours there, max (including Moulay-Idriss) then continue on to Fes, which is another couple hours away. Granted, it's a long day, but it's en route so it makes sense to stop in Volubilis on your way to Fes.

I would love to find some extra time to spend in the dessert with out cutting our time in Essaouira.

We didn't get to the desert on this most recent trip, but on our prior trip we'd gone down to Zagora & M'Hamid to camp. On the next trip, my Mom wants to do Merzouga dunes. Where/when are you planning to go into the desert? Your OP makes it sound as if you're stopping from Fes to Marrakech. It's my impression that most desert trips are done roundtrip from Fes or Marrakech where you leave your car, etc. in the city & go in a vehicle with off-road capabilities driven by an outfitter, then are delivered back to the city.

We did 2 camping nights, each in a different location. It worked well for us, and moving allowed us to get back into Zagora during the day (this was in the heat of September, so the pool was quite welcome!). Not sure about how desert camping in Morocco changes once it cools off.

Also people on other sites are very negative about renting a car and recommend taking the train between the cities and then renting the car in Marrakech for the journey to Essaouira and then onwards to Casa. What is your take on it - I've looked at the train website and a 1ste class ticket for an adult between Casa and Meknes cost E11 (we will be 4 adults). It seems the parking in these towns are the big problem - thats why we planned to stay in the Ibis and outside of Fes in Diamant Vert because they have parking. But if there are alot of sightseeing spots between these towns that one would like to stop at - it seems a car is better.

FWIW, we stayed in two different Ibis hotels in Casa. They are very cookie-cutter and fairly utilitarian. I'm glad you're staying in riads in a couple places, because that's really the best way to get a sense of more traditional Moroccan homes, hospitality & furnishings (assuming they're not modern/utilitarian riads).

On this last trip, we did the train from Casa to Fes to Tangier, then picked up the rental car. In part that was because we knew we'd be spending a lot of time in both cities and wouldn't be using the car much on those legs of the trip.

I haven't looked at train schedules, but I imagine you could get almost everywhere you're going--except Volubilis and the desert--via train. The trains seem to run on time and are generally clean and pleasant. (We got first class seats, with 6 people per compartment. Seats are assigned, though it wasn't entirely clear that people paid attention to the assignments.) Ticket prices were reasonable.

Also, even when you're staying in the medina, there seem to be parking lots outside most medinas and porters who will carry your luggage to your hotel/riad for DH10 or so. Every time we parked on the street, we figured out there is a licensed "guarde coache" who will help you get into & out of the parking space, watch the car, etc. for a small (reasonable!) fee.

Here's what I'd ask before you decide whether to rent a car or take the train:
* How many in your group are willing to drive?
* If just one or two people are driving, will they be disappointed if they don't have a lot of time to look at the passing scenery?
* Do you have a non-driver who would make a good navigator? (I haven't used GPS/sat nav in Morocco, so I can't speak to its accuracy. Still, I think map reading ability is key even with GPS, since it helps you figure out good stopping points, etc.)
* Do you want to make stops in smaller towns en route? Do you want much flexibility to your plans?
* How aggressive are your drivers? What kind of driving do they typically do? (City, country, highway, etc.) Are they comfortable driving manual transmission cars? Are they comfortable driving on the right-hand side of the road?