I'm headed to Paris May 19 for a few days then planning to spend a week split between Cairo and Morocco. Yesterday 15 people were killed in an explosion at a cafe on Jeema Al F'na Square in Marrakech.

There has been precious little about the bombing in US news coverage and the State Dept website has not updated it's travel warnings for Morocco.

We're planning to stay at La Mamounia.

Things continue to heat up in Syria and the trouble continues in Libya so we're in wait and see mode. This will be out first visit to both countries.

What are your thoughts?

I can't give you specific recommendations...every situation is personal. That said, I was in Morocco a month ago. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Marrakech, which is one of my favorite cities, on this trip. We were in Casa, Fes, Tangier, Chefchaouen and Meknes, plus just briefly in Moulay Idriss, Volubilis and Rabat.

My family loved Morocco and my Mom--who I was traveling with--and I felt very safe during our trip. We saw two protests, though it wasn't entirely clear what was being protested. Both seemed very peaceful (people holding signs, someone with a bullhorn, but not any violence). Additionally, there was apparently a protest in Meknes while we were there, but we didn't see it firsthand.

If I had a chance to go to Marrakech on my most recent trip, I absolutely would have been in the Djemma el Fna. It's a fascinating place.

If I were going back today, there's not much I would do differently. Most of the time (except for Casa and Tangier) we were staying in riads, at which I feel pretty safe. (Many are unmarked and off the beaten path.) I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable staying at bigger, better-known hotels like La Mamounia, because I do think those would be target (though they probably have fabulous security). Additionally, we weren't in many places where tourists gather to the extent they gather in the Djemma el Fna. Probably the most similar place that we visited would be the Place Lahdim in Meknes, which relatively inconsequential compared to the Djemma el Fna.

So there are my thoughts and relatively recent experience. (I do also think there's truth the logic of, "What's the safe day to do fly? The day after a plane crash." Similar, what's the safest time to go to Morocco? Probably today, or in the next month. Security will surely be beefed up.)

I had lunch in that place about five years ago.

Seems to me it is all over the news.

I would go again if I had plans.
Maybe major Moroc hotels will become like those in Cairo,
with concrete barriers, metal detectors, and guards with M-16's.

Thanks for your comments.

We're still planning to go. We may spend a couple of days in the mountains and less time in Marrakech.

thanks again,
d

Have a great trip! Where else are you planning to go in Morocco?

I've posted some recent experiences in a few threads including here and here.

We were/are planning to visit Ouarzazate and Ait Benhaddau. I see that you've been to both and I appreciate you pointing me to your suggestions.

We are still kicking it around and haven't booked accomodations. The plan was to go somewhere exotic and relaxing. We've had a really stressful winter/spring with family sickness and death. So our concerns are not just with out safety but with the worry and stess level of our family back home.

Now with Ghadafi's son's death in a NATO strike, we're considering postponing North Africa and returning to Laos (our favorite place).

We're gonna give it a few days before we making a decison.

I really appreciate your suggestions and well wishes.

Thanks again,
dan

Consider that there are probably more than 15 people that die on the roads in Marrakech every day.

Of course, and I do appreciate your putting it into perspective.

I've been in Europe during times of terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Athens, Paris and the Air India flight off Shannon. Attacks in Bali, Nairobi and unrest in Cyprus and Thailand did not keep us from going visiting there.

I guess the large scale volatility across north Africa and the Middle East right now seems more daunting and maybe doesn't figure into the kind of trip we are looking for this time.

But we're still considering it...guess we'll flip a coin.

Thanks again for you thoughts,
dan

Re. Libya, etc., as I was planning my most recent trip, I pulled out my map and realized that the distance between Libya and parts of Morocco is similar to the distance between Italy & Spain/Portugal. I wouldn't postpone a trip to the Iberian penninsula if there were fighting in Italy, so that convinced me not to worry about Libya.

Yes, the Marrakech bombing does give great cause for concern. I would, however, hypothesize that the Djemma el Fna is the busiest gathering point in the most popular city for tourists in the country. (I don't have hard data, and I would be surprised if the Djemma el Fna has the highest percentage of tourists of any attraction in the country...I suspect the beach destinations probably have a higher percentage of tourists.)

If I were planning a trip to Morocco today, I'd probably pick great sites that aren't central points of congregation for foreigners. So it might include:
* Fes al Bali
* Chefchaouen
* Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech
* Ouarzazate, Ait Ben Haddau & camping in the Sahara
* Volubilis
* Riads in bigger towns

chgoeditor I enjoyed reading all your reports on Morocco.

Could you kindly make recommendations re the best town for markets in Morocco. I am planning a trip with my mom (it would probably be our first and last opportunity without the men :-D) and would like to make it really special. We would not really be into carpets and leather jackets but would LOVE jewelery, silver, pottery and cloth.

Thanks for your assistance

Dracularsa

By no means am I an expert, but in my experience...

Pottery: You'll see pottery for sale in every city. However, the styles and colors vary significantly from town to town.

So it's not just enough to say, "Where's the best pottery?" My Mom loves the pottery markets in Rabat & Sale, but I don't like the colors available there. In Fes, all of the pottery has deep blue colors (sometimes with green & yellow accents), and you won't see "Fes blue" pottery in other places. While in Morocco, you'll see a lot of tadelakt walls--which is a plaster/lime finish. In Chefchouen I saw tadelakt-style pottery that I haven't seen in other cities, except at an upscale store in Meknes.

Jewelry: I'm only a gold buyer and given gold prices I wasn't shopping for gold jewelry on this trip. I did, however, buy gold in Marrakech on in 2004. Our guide knew I wanted gold & steered me to Marrakech. I can't tell you if that's because he got the best kickback there or the gold stores really are the best there. Because I haven't shopped for much other jewelry, I didn't notice regional variations. I'm sure there are some.

Silver: I assume you're looking for silver trays, teapots, etc., and not silver jewelry. Brass and copper seem to be much more common than silver, but I did stumble across a fairly large silver area within the medina in Fes al Bali (the old medina). My recollection is that it was toward the "bottom" (downhill) part of the souk near where the section that has a lot of pottery stalls. I haven't looked closely at silver, but assuming the market for it is similar to brass, my sense is that for new metalwork, there's much more uniformity in styles from town to town (unlike pottery). That said, the quality of new brass--and possibly silver, too--seems to be an issue. For example, I collect antique Moroccan brass trays. The old ones are heavy and hand-hammered. New ones are generally much lighter weight and the design is stamped/pressed into the metal. I haven't seen a new brass tray in Morocco that I've felt the need to buy, and when I've looked at Moroccan antique stores, the prices seem to be higher than on eBay.

Cloth: Again, not something I've bought much of, but I have purchased a few blankets, wraps, etc. in Marrakech and Fes. You'll see a lot of things woven from "silk" but much of it is actually what they call cactus silk, woven from agave. The cactus silk cloth availability seems to be widespread. If you're looking for more ethnic designs, availability is probably more regional.

These regional variations make shopping tough--particularly if it's your first trip--because presumably you'll only visit each city once on a trip. You have to make buying decisions on the spot without knowing what you might end up liking better/buying at your next stop.

In terms of sheer size, I loved the Marrakech souks located just off the Djemma el Fna. On top of that, the ville nouvelle in Marrakech has some very upscale Moroccan stores that were an interesting juxtaposition to the stands in the souk. Fes el-Bali is probably my second-favorite in terms of shopping. While I've been to Casa, Rabat, Tangier and Meknes, the shopping didn't wow me there. Chefchaouen is a great little town and the market is fun, but it's much smaller than the big cities.

One other note: You may want to plan your itinerary depending on what you expect to buy in each town. Leave the cities with heavy and fragile items for the end of your trip to help save your back & reduce the risk of breakage.

aahhh you see you are an expert!!! exactly what I needed

thanks so much for your detailed imput - it always helps to hear the opinion from somebody with some local experience.

I've have copied you answer and will use it to plan our trip

regards