Our Trip to Morocco – Part I

Morocco has been on my To Visit list for years… back in 2018 or 2019 when I was looking at a destination for our next Victor and I trip, I decided on Morocco but when I started to do more thorough research I realized that our kids would really enjoy it (the promise of a camel ride to a desert camp did that for me!) so we decided to go there as a family. We were all set and booked to go for spring break 2020 but then COVID… 2021 – same thing and when Morocco was still not open to tourists by early 2022 we decided to go to Spain instead and leave Morocco to the next year. And after yeas (literally of waiting) we finally made it to this magical country!

I absolutely love Islamic Architecture (no wonder I loved Andalusia so much) and deserts are my fav landscapes so no wonder I was so looking forward to going. And let me tell you – the place did NOT disappoint and exceeded my very high expectations! There is so much to see and do in Morocco that we had to make touch choices and after a lot of deliberation decided to cut the Blue City – Chefchaouen – from our itinerary. But we were able to do a roadtrip around most of the country and do pretty much everything else I wanted to do – walk narrow alleyways, bargain at souks, admire beautiful architecture, see stunning scenery, eat delish foods… and yes, a camel ride at sunset and luxury glamping in the Sahara were as awesome as they sound:)

On pretty much all our road trips we rent a car and Victor does all the driving but here we decided to get a car with a driver as we were not sure what the road conditions were. The roads and infrastructure were pretty great but it was nice to have a comfy large car and a driver who knew his way around:)

We flew in Casablanca and straight from the airport went to check out Hassan II Masque. And let me tell you something – it was absolutely SPECTACULAR – honestly for me it was one of my fav sights of the whole trip. It was huge and intricate and the level of detail there (combined with high tech features such as retractable roof and heated floors!) were mind blowing. We did not see anything else in Casablanca (from what I hear this is the sigh to see) but it was definitely worth a visit to Casablanca. They offer daily tours and if you can, definitely take it – it was very educational!

From Casablanca we headed to Volubilis – to check out roman ruins – it was definitely worth a visit.

And from there we headed to our first overnight destination of the trip – Fes. Fes did not disappoint – we spent two nights there and there was plenty to see and do.

Generally we don’t use guides but we decided to get a guide for a full day in Fes and I am glad we did – we never would’ve found our way around the labyrith that’s Fes’ medina! We walked all over the place, bought dates and local sweets at a souk, overpaid for a rug after a very heated bargaining session, checked out a tile coop (it may not sound that exciting but it was really cool to see how they make beautiful tile design by hand!), got a tour of our first madrasa (Al-Attarine Madrasa), got yelled at at a souk for taking photos (my bad!), walked through a Jewish quarter, watched traditional bread being baked, smelled the stench of a leather tannery (they did give us bunches of mint as we walked in), saw birds eye view of Fes and more!

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After spending two nights in Fes we headed south – more on that in a separate blog post so check back soon!

PRACTICAL INFO

Getting There

The only way to fly direct from the NYC area to Morocco is to fly Royal Air Maroc to Casablanca and that’s what we did. Just be aware they fly from JFK Terminal 1 and this is by far the worst terminal I’ve been to in the US.

Accomodations

I knew I wanted to stay at a traditional riad in the medina and chose Riad Myra – it did not disappoint. The whole place was stunning, service was very good, breakfast was delicious and the location very conveniet. I highly recommend it!

Restaurants

As we were in Fes only for two nights we did not have a change to try out many places. We had dinner at our Riad once and it was fine but nothing special..

Asmae – we were in Morocco during Ramadan so there were not that many places open for lunch. This place was recommended by our guide and it did not disappoint – great service, lots of delish food.

Dar Roumana – I found it on several restaurant lists and it had great trip advisor reviews so I reserved a table for us and glad I did – this was was awesome and we absolutely loved our meal! It is not easy to find but good thing the restaurant sends a porter to your hotel and he takes you to and from the restaurant – although Victor was taking notes on the way to the restaurant in case we had to find our way back.

And from Fes we headed out to Sahara but that’s a story for another blog post so check back soon!