We’re back home from our first trip to Morocco. It was a first for all of us even though Morocco seems like an obvious destination for everyone that loves traveling. To be honest, neither me or Matej never really wanted to go there. With no special reason. Morocco was just never a part of our travel plans or wishes. And then came march this year, when we’ve just returned from Vietnam and Malaysia, but as always, our wanderlust didn’t leave us alone.So Matej browsed and found the inexpensive flight tickets to Casablanca with Air Arabia. It was just what we wanted, a shorter break from our every day life at home and while planning another, longer lasting trip. I’ll get into more details about traveling to Morocco in future posts, today I’m writing about our trip generally.

Just arrived to Casablanca airport and waiting to get our rented car!

Getting ready for Morocco was easy

Well since we’re a family now, we usually do plan a bit more before traveling than we used to. We used to just packed our bags and left. Well, now we do a lot of stuff that I already wrote about before we left. Besides all the bookings, there’s also packing that now involves a 3 and 1-year-old kids. For our almost 3 years old it’s easy. Some clothes, a toothbrush and some toys. For a 1-year-old there are diapers and wipes to add beside clothes. I usually prefer to have diapers that we use, but if we travel for longer periods, we buy diapers at the destination. But all in all, getting ready for Morocco was easy (I won’t mention that I forgot some important things like baby/toddler carrier…) as Morocco is a well-traveled destination. So there’s a big choice of places to stay, cars to rent and similar. We were also counting on getting food that our little ones would like and we weren’t wrong.

Exploring Marrakech bazaars.

We started our Morocco trip in Casablanca

That’s where our plane landed from Venice. By the way, Venice airport is under renovation, so it’s crowded and might be a bit intense. Casablanca was just a short stop for us as we just sat in our rented car and drove to Marrakech. There is a highway from Casablanca to Marrakech, so our start was easy. Arrival to Marrakech was easy too (thank you, navigation). It was like we’ve been there before. We didn’t get lost, just parked our car and walked to our riad. Both kids were excited once we entered the riad. Well, they are always excited when we travel. they love new places, specially places where we stay. We walked all over Marrakech the second day and I suddenly understood, why Morocco is so popular. It’s different in just the righ way, so easily accessible and affordable. We loved it and had a great time in Marrakech.

I loved this shop somewhere in Marrakech. I could never find it again, there are so many streets, alleys,… Marrakech bazaar is a maze!

From Marrakech to the desert

We continued to the mountains from Marrakech and passed the Tizi n’Tichka mountain pass at 2260m. Of course the kids were asleep so we didn’t stop! Before reaching the sand dunes (an obvious place to go when in Morocco), we made two overnight stops. One in Ouarzazate and the other one at Todra valley. We traveled through lush valleys, passed so many simple villages and towns, stopped at any places of interest along the way. When the kids fell asleep in the car, we just drove as long as they slept. We liked the fortified village Ait Benhaddou and Todra gorge. The overnight in a simple guest house at Todra valley was wonderful. We loved the green oasis along the river, it was like a fairytale.

Our beautiful riad in Todra valley.

The desert in Morocco is hot!

I’m sure things aren’t always as hot as we experienced them, but it sure was hot when we arrived to Merzouga. It was around 2 pm and the temperatures were way above 40 degrees. So we stayed in our riad and chilled. Our riad was just next to the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi so we didn’t have to go far for the fun in the sand! As our kids are still so young, we opted for just one night in Merzouga and believe it was enough. We went to see the dunes in the early morning, which was really nice and the temperatures were stil low. The heat continued from Merzouga to N’kob. N’kob was actually my favorite place during this trip (except for the heat). We stayed in a perfect little riad and discovered the perfect ksar (fortified village) just a few hundred meters away from the riad. This ksar of N’kob is totally not touristic and at such a beautiful setting. We had the best dinner in our riad, cooked by the owner. The night was (too) hot, but all the rest was awesome!

The sand dunes of Erg Chebbi are breathtaking!

From the desert to the coast

We had to include a few days on the coast because of our little ones. They love the sea, beaches, sand,.. We stayed in Agadir for a few days and then moved up to Essaouira for two more days. Agadir has a better beach, but it’s a resort oriented place. Kids are different from us, they didn’t care about the surroundings, they just enjoyed the sand on Agadir beach. We adults always seek perfection. And kids just enjoy the moment, no matter if the water isn’t clear. Essaouira has a great vibe. It’s an old town with many narrow alleys, full of beautiful, small shops. There’s also a nice fish market and a lively square with cafes. But we didn’t like Essaouira beach so much. It wasn’t really clean and the wind was strong! We did stay in a wonderful riad again and had a great time there!

Enjoying the beach of Agadir. Baby Oliver is totally soaking up the local culture with his head cover!

My overall opinion about Morocco

I was actually surprised at how nice Morocco is. I’ve heard so many stories from Morocco. Some great, others the opposite. I tried not to expect anything. We actually had mostly just good experiences. That must be also because we rented a car and pre-booked our accommodation. So there was no hassle for these things. People were generally friendly, they all loved our kids (some too much, they all wanted to kiss them), roads were all good, we found all places so easily. It was a really easy trip for us. We liked all the places we visited, but being honest, we wouldn’t return to the beach side in Morocco. We prefered the lush valleys, the desert, simple towns. And since Morocco is not too far and is very affordable, it might get on our travel maps again!

I will get into more details about the destinations in Morocco and places to stay (and similar) in future posts!

Until next time,

Ajda