This list of the best tips for traveling to Morocco It will help you prepare your trip to a country that we are safe, will love you for its cultural contrasts and unique corners.
Located a few kilometers from Spain, in Morocco you can enjoy labyrinthine medinas, deserts of large dunes where you can spend a night watching the stars, ancient fishing or adobe villages that seem frozen in time, Roman vestiges and one of the best gastronomies of the world, which together form one of the most incredible countries in the world.
Taking into account the cultural difference, to have the best experience and to know the kindness of the Moroccan people, we recommend you to travel with an open mind, without the prejudices or initial fears of a culture and way of life totally different from ours.
Based on the experience of our three trips to this country, one of our favorites in the world, we have made a list of what we think are some of the 10 essential tips for traveling to Morocco. We start!
1. What is the best time?
The best time to travel to Morocco is in spring or autumn, when you will avoid the suffocating heat of summer and bad weather in the form of cold and rains in winter, especially in the northern part of the Atlas. The most tourist cities in the country such as Marrakech or Fez can be visited throughout the year, although in July and August they can reach temperatures close to 40 degrees.
Another important fact is to know the month in which Ramadan is celebrated, a period in which Muslims do not eat from dawn to dusk and many businesses remain closed during the day. The start date of Ramadan changes every year, as it is governed by the lunar calendar and not the solar like ours. To have a reference, in 2019 it will be held during most of the month of May and each year is usually done about 11 days before the previous year.
Although at this time it is perfectly feasible to travel to Morocco, it is convenient to take it into account to be able to adjust the times if necessary.
2. Security
Morocco is one of the safest countries in Africa, especially for travelers. Keep in mind that tourism is one of the great sources of income for the country and the government allocates numerous resources to make you feel comfortable and protected at all times. This does not mean that in less touristy areas of the country and isolated neighborhoods of large cities, especially at night, you have to take extra precautions and inform yourself of the possible dangers before traveling areas that you do not know.
Thefts are not usual, although you have to be aware of small scams in the most tourist cities. Some of the most common are the false guides that are offered in the medinas and that work on commission for shops and restaurants, taxi drivers who do not set the meter or do not set a rate before then to inflate the price or the vendors who sell to Gold price products that do not have sufficient quality.
A good option to have a pleasant first contact and get to know the idiosyncrasy of a city like Marrakech is to book a private tour where you have a good guide in Spanish and you choose the itinerary, or book this free tour in Spanish Free !
If you visit Fez you can book in advance this guided tour in Spanish that passes through the main points of interest of the Medina.
Streets of Morocco
3. Requirements for entering the country
If you are Spanish, you do not need a visa to enter Morocco, you just have to carry your passport with a minimum validity of 6 months and fill out an immigration form that will be given to you on the plane or ship. If you are from another country you can check if the visa is mandatory on the official website of your Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition to the visa, one of the best tips for traveling to Morocco and to other countries it is always to carry one or several copies of the paper passport and another one in the cloud, either in an email account, in Google Drive or in Dropbox.
Passport
4. Vaccines and travel insurance
In the case of vaccines, there is no obligation to travel to Morocco, according to the World Health Organization. But it is advisable to make an appointment at an International Vaccination Center and bring the book with the vaccines you have, especially if you have been in areas where there is Yellow Fever.
In all cities you can find good hospitals and private clinics that have agreements with insurers but medical treatments in these centers can be quite expensive, if you do not have good travel insurance.
We always travel insured with Mondo, with whom we carry a totally adequate insurance to the needs that we will have on the trip.
Hiring your insurance here with Mondo, just for being a Street Travelers reader, you have a 5% discount.
In addition to the best travel insurance for Morocco, it is advisable to follow a series of basic precautions such as drinking bottled water, avoiding ice drinks and fresh vegetables washed with water.
5. How to start the trip
The most common means of transport to travel to Morocco is the plane, although you can also use the boat or the ferry, which crosses the Strait of Gibraltar.
The option of the ferry will allow you to make a route through Morocco in your car, although considering the low price of car rental in the country and the long time you can invest in transfers, we do not think it is worth it if you do not live near the strait .
If you travel by plane, you have direct and daily flights with low cost companies such as Ryanair, Airarabia and Vueling, to cities like Fez, Marrakech, Tangier and Casablanca, among many others. We recommend using a page like Skyscanner to check all available options.
Upon arrival at the airport you can rent a car to make a route through Morocco or take the bus or taxi that takes you to the hotel or to the city center you want to visit. Another more comfortable option with which to reach the hotel and with which you will avoid haggling, scams and misunderstandings with taxi drivers, is to book a direct transfer to your hotel from the airport, in which a driver will wait for you with a sign with your name. You can book here the transfer from Marrakech Menara Airport to your hotel or here from Fez Saiss Airport in Fez to your hotel.
Marrakech
6. Money exchange
The official currency of the country is Dirham, and although currently one euro equals almost 11 dirhams, you can get an idea of the value of things, dividing the price by 10.
To have dirhams, we always recommend getting money at ATMs, rather than opting for exchange houses. To avoid paying commissions and always having the current change, we recommend using the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
If you do not have a card with which the commission is returned, it is best to get money at the ATMs of the city since at the airports they usually charge more commission.
Also remember to always carry cash, if possible in coins and bills of little value, for the usual tips in restaurants and for taxis.
Dirham
Remember also that if you want to have internet in Morocco, in addition to being able to buy a SIM card at the airport, you can buy a Holafly SIM card being in Spain, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet in Japan much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our readerMore information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
7. How to have internet in Morocco?
If you want to have internet in Morocco, something very necessary today, especially considering the amount of applications we use in our trips and the need to be in contact with our family and friends, you can choose several options:
- Buy a SIM card at the airport or at a phone shop in the city, the latter option being the most economical.
- Buy one Holafly SIM card, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, saving you all the time of the negotiations and making the whole process to have internet in Marreucos much more comfortable, fast and easy.
In this case, with the Holafly SIM you will have several Gb to surf the Internet (depending on the option you choose), they will send it to you for free at home, you will keep your WhatsApp number and you will have assistance service in Spanish. You can buy your Holafly prepaid SIM card here with a 5% discount for being our reader.
More information on the Holafly post, the best prepaid SIM card for travel
8. Travel to Morocco for free or with agency
After our three trips to the country, Casablanca, Meknès and Fez in 5 days, Marrakech and Essaouira in 5 days and the Kasbah route in 4 days, we recommend traveling to Morocco for free, rather than choosing to hire a travel agency.
Traveling on your own will allow you to have freedom, which in a country like Morocco, we believe is essential as well as being a unique experience that can serve as a practice to develop in other countries with similar cultures and in which it is more difficult Move for free.
Having a rental car or own, is perfect to enjoy the trip to the fullest, being able to decide when and where to stop at each moment of the route. In addition to stopping in its natural wonders, villages anchored in time and labyrinthine cities, during the trip you will be able to know the kindness of the Moroccan people on more than one occasion and in the most unexpected moment.
If you do not want to drive, public transport such as train or bus is a good alternative to move between the most tourist cities of northern Morocco. Another convenient way to get to know several areas of the country is to stay in a large city and make small day trips to one of its essentials that are closer. In this case, if you want to know better the history of the country and the places you visit, it is interesting to book some of these guided tours in Spanish that are in the best known cities.
Visit Chaouen, one of the best tips for traveling to Morocco
9. Essentials of Morocco
The list of places to see in Morocco is immense, especially in the northern part of the country. Depending on the days you have you can make a complete route through all its most famous places or go visiting different areas of the country in small getaways.
If you are going to make a great route through Morocco we recommend you to start in the city of Tangier, the gateway to Africa, which still retains the charm of glorious times gone by. Near this city is the beautiful white-walled fishing village of Asilah, located on the Atlantic coast. The route can continue down southbound to Chaouen or Chefchaouen, known as the blue city and considered the most beautiful city in the country. After walking through its streets and taking thousands of photographs, the next stop on the trip will be in Fez, an incredible city. There are many things to see and do in Fez, although it is best to get lost in one of the most impressive medinas in the world and then do some of the various excursions, such as the nearby Roman site of Volubilis and the souks of Meknès, one of the 4 imperial cities of Morocco.
If you have more days you can move to the most famous city in Morocco, Marrakech, where after completing this list of the best places to visit in Marrakech, you can know some of the wonders that are closer as the beautiful coastal town of Essaouira or the Ouzoud Waterfalls.
To complete the trip there is nothing better than making the Kasbah route with which you will enjoy places anchored in time such as the spectacular Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, the incredible arid landscapes of the Dades and Todra valleys and the emblematic Sahara Desert.
10. Sleep in the Sahara Desert
One of the best tips for traveling to Morocco is to spend a night in a jaima under the stars, in the middle of the Sahara desert. The mythical Sahara, the largest warm desert in the world, has two access areas with the necessary infrastructure to make this experience unforgettable: Zagora and Merzouga. Before deciding on one of these two places, keep in mind that although Zagora is a little closer, its dunes and desert are not as spectacular as those of Merzouga, something to consider when deciding on one or another.
You can reach these two places by rental car or taxi from Marrakech and there hire one of the 4 × 4 tours, which includes spending the night in the desert.
Another more comfortable option and with which you will avoid haggling and small scams, is to hire one of these excursions in Marrakech, with a guide in Spanish, which will pick you up directly at the hotel.
Some of the best, depending on the days you have, are:
For more information on the tour you can consult this specific post about the desert excursion from Marrakech
Merzouga Desert
More tips for traveling to Morocco
Other of the best tips for traveling to Morocco They are:
- Try the best dishes of Moroccan cuisine such as tajines, couscous, eggplant zaalouk, pastry, olives and sweets.
- Looking for accommodation in a riad, beautiful and ancient Arab palaces with an inner courtyard, rather than a hotel to enjoy a unique experience. We stayed in Marrakech at Riad Assalam and Fez at Riad Ibn Khandoun, both highly recommended.
- Haggle for every item you want to buy in the souks or service you want to hire, but always within the logic. Never try to make the seller lose money.
- It is important to wear a dress adequate, especially if you are a woman and in the special case of visiting a madrasa or mosque.
- Although in the most tourist spots you can communicate in English, French is the most used language after Arabic, although in tourist places they usually speak Spanish.
- Remember that you do not need to carry adapters for the plugs, since these are the same as in Spain.
- If you are going to drive, respect the speed limits and the rules for safety, in addition to avoiding a possible accident, you will not have to pay the fine at any of the numerous police checkpoints.
Tajine
Do you want to organize a trip to Morocco?
Get it here:
The best offers of Flights to Morocco here
The best hotels at the best prices in Morocco here
Book the best tours and excursions in / from Marrakech in Spanish here
Marrakech guide in one day
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
Rent your car in Morocco at the best price here
The best offers of Flights to Morocco here
The best hotels at the best prices in Morocco here
Book the best tours and excursions in / from Marrakech in Spanish here
Marrakech guide in one day
Book your travel insurance with a 5% discount here
Rent your car in Morocco at the best price hereIf you feel like helping us expand the list 10 essential tips for traveling to Morocco, add yours in the comments.
