Places to visit on your first trip to Morocco
I had already travelled to quite a lot of places before this, but this was my first time in Africa. I was particularly excited for this trip since I’m half Egyptian but have never stepped foot onto North Africa so this was the closest, I ever got to my second origin. Honestly speaking, I had very high expectations for this country (In this article you’ll see if it met my expectations, and if not, why). We divided this trip into three main parts, Marrakech, the desert and Essaouira, but there’s much much more to discover. Looking back now, there are things I probably would’ve done differently about the itinerary, but I’ll share them all with you, so that you guys know what to consider when planning a trip to Morocco.
1.Marrakech
We started our trip with 3 nights in Marrakech, came back for two nights in between and another night at the end. I think this is probably the most popular first destination when people visit multiple places in Morocco, and I understand why, because Marrakech truly is an amazing city. Further down I’ll list all the places we have visited and if I would recommend them. It’s safe to say, that if you first walk through the narrow streets of the famous Souk Semmarine or through the food stalls on Jamaa el-Fna, it can be quite overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time visiting a country with a culture you may not be used to.
Be prepared that vendors will talk to you from all sides trying to sell their stuff and they will probably give you lots of compliments, especially if you’re a woman. Since I’m already talking about this topic, I can say I felt extremely safe all-around Marrakech. I was there with my mom, so we were two females and there was not one situation that made me feel unwell or unsafe. I’m sure everyone makes different experiences and no country is 100% safe to travel as a woman, especially at night, but since I’m seeing so many horror stories about Morocco online, just know that you shouldn’t believe everything you see or hear online. I actually experienced the people around all of Morocco as very friendly and funny. The only thing I wouldn’t recommend, is walking through the Souk when it’s getting dark, especially if you don’t know your way around yet. We accidentally did that on our first or second evening there, and the problem was not that the people we met made us feel unsafe or something but when we were there, most of the vendors had already packed up their stuff and left, so there were basically no people there anymore, aswell as no lights, which made us panic for a sec not gonna lie, because you don’t wanna get lost in any new city with only your phone flashlight left hahahah. So yes, if you want to make sure to stay safe when it gets dark, you should use the bigger streets, which will be busier in the evening with enough lights everywhere. I think there are things you should do in every big city to make sure not to get robbed for example, like don’t wear too many fancy and expensive things, that will show people you’re a rich tourist, but if you follow these basic rules, you’re gonna be on the safe side. One last thing before I’ll tell you the places we visited there, be prepared to bargain with the vendors. I was a huge victim of the jewellery stalls, so I had to bargain a lot with them and believe me I did not like it hahaha. Of course, they’ll tell you things like “this is the best price” or “best quality”, but no matter how good the quality, you should know that you will be ripped off. Sometimes it’s not that absurd and it’s still cheaper than what I’d pay in Europe, but I was telling some local that I met there, the prices I payed and he was just laughing at me.
So far so good, now I’ll tell you all the places we visited in our time in Marrakech
- Souk Semmarine: If you stay in central Marrakech, you probably won’t have another option than walking through the small and winding alleys of the Medina. You will see hundreds of vendors, selling jewelry, clothes, food, accessories, spices, souvenirs and much more. It’s also nice to cool down here in summer, since most of the streets have some sort of roofs. You will also find lots of hidden stairs leading to rooftops, where you can enjoy fresh and cold drinks.
- Jamaa el-Fna: I’d say this is also a must visit if you’re there. The whole market comes to life when the sun sets and you’ll smell delicious grilled meat everywhere. I must say I imagined the whole thing a little differently, because I thought there would be more of this traditional oriental vibe but it’s actually mainly food stalls. There were some guys with monkeys or snakes which was interesting to see, but of course it’s not the best for the animals. We didn’t try any food here so I can’t comment on that but I got my hair braided for 20€ but I think if you want to get things like Henna done, you should look for a cheaper place. (Oh, and if you’re not prepared for the vendors talking to you from all sides, you should be for this market, because it really is a different level).
- Madrassa Ben Youssef: One of my favorite buildings in Marrakech. It’s an old Quran school and has such magnificent architecture. You can visit the rooms where the students used to live, and have a beautiful view over the inner court with its beautiful mosaic pool. There really is a lot to see here and it’s definitely worth a visit. (50 Dh)
- Bahia Palace: Beautiful palace with many different areas outside and inside. One of the courtyards has beautiful orange trees and other plants who’ll give shade on a hot day. Not only can you admire the beautiful architecture all around but there’s also a lot to learn about its history. (70 Dh)
- Koutoubia mosque: Even though you can’t enter the mosque as a tourist, it’s still a very pretty building close to Jamaa el-Fna. It’s a beautiful spot to watch the sunset, either from the place before the mosque or from one of the many rooftops around it.
- Jardin secret: One of the hidden gardens in this vibrant city. It’s a beautifully well-kept garden with lots of different local and international plants from around the world. It’s the perfect place to relax and cool down, walking around or drinking something in one of the cafés. (100 Dh, 80 Dh up to 24-year-olds).
- Dar el Bacha: Which use to be the residence of Thami el Glaoui, now functions as a museum. Very beautiful architecture with lots of colorful mosaics and amazingly detailed wood carvings on the ceilings and doors. This is a very typical feature of Moroccan buildings that you will find all around Marrakech, even in smaller Riads that are used as hotels or restaurants. They also have an outside area with lots of plants like orange trees and also a water fountain. The whole vibe is very calm and peaceful and there’s a lot to learn about its history. It’s also home of a café where you can choose their own roasted coffee beans from around 35 different countries. After reopening in 2019, the bacha coffee started to become a global brand but the original location is found in the heart of the Dar el Bacha. (70Dh)
- Saadian tombs: I’m not sure if this is a must visit in my opinion, but if you got some time left it’s definitely a nice place to see. These tombs originate, as the name says, from the Saadian dynasty and many family members of the royal family from. This era and the following ones were buried there. Even though he tombs and the room in which they lay in, I think there’s fairly little to do for that price. (100Dh)
These were the places that we visited in Marrakech, of course there is also so much else to do in the city, so you will definitely be able to fill your time.
2. Three-day desert trip
We tried to make these two weeks as interesting as possible so before we arrived in Morrocco, we booked a 2-night / 3-day tour to the desert with a private driver. I must say that it really was a lot of driving, so if you want to spend some more time at each stop, maybe book a longer trip. This was really one of my highlights and I’ll give you the whole tour details below.
- Marrakech – Tarmigt: On the way to our first night stop, we passed beautiful nature in the Atlas Mountains and stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant in Telouet. Telouet is also home to the ruins of the Telouet Kasbah, which was a huge palace back in the days and was bulit by the same people as the Dar el Bacha in Marrakech. Continuing our journey, we visited a city called Ait Zineb, which has really cool architecture and was the filming location for multiple movies, including Gladiator. Speaking of filming location, you’ll find many of these in the Moroccan desert, since it’s also home to the Atlas studios. For our first night we stayed at an oasis close to Ouarzazate. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very well that day, because of the long drive and the heat, so I couln’t really enjoy the dinner.
- Tarmigt – Erg Chegaga: This was the day we arrived at the desert and I was so excited. There wasn’t really much to see on our way that day, since we got closer to the dunes and the landscapes were all looking kind of similar. We had our last stop in civilization for lunch and then went off-road to our camp of the night. We spent around 3 hours driving through the sand to get there and stopped once to drink some mint tea in a small oasis. We arrived around 5pm and had some time to relax and settle in before our camel ride. Usually, I’m not a huge supporter of these kind of things but I don’t think they were treated as bad as the ones near big tourist attractions. Honestly this was really fun, we were riding for a few minutes and then stopped to watch the sunset, which really was a one in a lifetime experience. I don’t know what it was, but this place really brought me peace. After the sun set, we headed back and had dinner, which was good but soo much ahahha, I still remember how full I was. After dinner, the guys working there played some traditional berber music around a campfire and let us try some instruments (I was horrible at it). I loved the whole vibe and it was really an amazing day.
- Erg Chegaga – Marrakech: There isn’t really much to say about this day. It was quite a lot of driving and I was glad when we reached civilization with real streets instead of driving off-road. As I said we spent three more night in Marrakech, this time at a new hotel, before heading to our new destination. We were planning to only stay two nights, but my mom wasn’t feeling well, so we stayed one more.
3. Essaouira
The next day we were heading to Essaouira. We chose supratours to get there, which is a bus company, and I think it’s probably the easiest way to get around over these longer distances. The bus was actually quite luxurious; we had Wifi, comfortable seats and we stopped for about 30mins in between to eat some lunch. I’m not sure if this is the case for every bus, but I was pleasantly surprised. I know, that this was a bus mainly used by tourists, but I’ll talk more about another bus we took, later.
We stayed 5 nights in Essaouira, which was probably a bit too long, even though it’s a very nice city.
We mainly spent our time walking around the city, looking through cute shops and enjoying the calm vibe compared to Marrakech. Since it’s a city located next to the sea it’s definitely colder than the other places we’ve been to, but I really enjoyed it. Of course, you can also go swimming, which we actually didn’t do, cause it was not that warm.
One thing I personally didn’t like was the harbour, because of the smell. Usually, I’m not that sensitive when it comes to intense smells but it was a little too much for me. Generally, Essaouira is famous for its fresh fish that you can eat at basically every restaurant, but we just tried it once and it was honestly not too good (I think the restaurant was called Chez Ali).
One restaurant I do recommend is called Triskana and it was actually the best food I had on our whole trip. It’s not really traditional Moroccan food, but after some days I really did get tired of reading “Tajine, Couscous and Pastilla” on every menu.
In general, I would definitely recommend Essaouira, especially if you find Marrakech too hectic or exhausting. The people there are quite chill and very friendly.
Day trips from Essaouira
- Sidi Kaouki: We booked a one-day surfing trip to Sidi Kaouki, which was really fun. There are lots of surf schools in Essaouira where you can book surf lessons there or drive somewhere else with them. My mom never went surfing before and I feel like the waves there perfect for all levels of surfers. We had lunch in Sidi Kaouki since it was included in the price. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from there, because I had my phone in a locker, and the only part I saw of Sidi Kabuki was this little area at the beach with a few surf schools and restaurants. The people there were really nice and chill.
- Safi: We did another day trip to a city called Safi. I actually wouldn’t really recommend it, but I’m still gonna talk about it. Safi is a very untouristy city, which means that there wasn’t really anything to do. I’m almost sure we were the only non-Moroccans in this whole town and we weren’t too sure if the people there were too happy about us being there. After arriving there with our bus (again supratours) we tried to find a café or at least something to sit down and go to the toilet. This was a nearly impossible mission, because they either didn’t have a toilet, or there were only men sitting in there and we didn’t know how acceptable it would be to sit there. At some point we found some fast-food restaurant to sit down.
All the “tourist-attractions” that we found online were either closed or not accessible, which was quite sad. We also didn’t find a way to get to the beach, which is supposed to be very nice. At some point we passed some street through a small park with lots of dead street dogs and cats, which was definitely too much for me.
After all these experiences we still had around 2 hrs until our bus back to Essaouira would have left, but as we arrived at the bus station, there was just another bus leaving and they asked us if we needed to go to Essaouira.
We were really quite desperate so we just entered the bus. (I wouldn’t recommend this of course, because we weren’t a 100% sure if that bus would actually bring us to our destination, but everything went well.) This was the bus I was talking about earlier, because it was for sure more authentic. The bus was packed with Moroccans and we basically got the last seats. No one in this bus spoke English so it was a little difficult to communicate with them, but they were all very friendly. This bus also didn’t have an AC so it was very hot and when you wanted to get off you just went up to the bus driver and asked him to stop. Since we stopped every few meters it took us quite long to get back but it was a very interesting experience.
In the beginning of this article, I promised to tell you, whether I think Morocco is worth visiting or not. After listing all these things, I will definitely say yes. I think Morocco is a very diverse and interesting country and there’s much more to see, so I hope I’ll go back some day.
One thing that didn’t quite convince me, and I hope I won’t offend anyone with this, is the food. I came with very high expectations, because of what I saw online and I must say it didn’t quite meet them. I must also add that I don’t eat meat, so I’m sure you’ll have better experiences when you eat everything. The traditional food I tried, like Tajine or Couscous were often quite bland and not that interesting. This is only my personal opinion of course and I know that there are lots of people out there who like Moroccan food.
If these weren’t enough reasons for you to visit Morocco, I’m sure these pictures will convince you.
That’s it for now 🙂 I hope you enjoyed reading this article and I could help with planning your stay in Morocco.