This Christmas season we decided to spend our holidays in Morocco with a couple of friends. We crafted the route way before getting there so most of it was very clear, but as Morocco is very unpredictable, things happened and we had to re-do our plan

Day 1: Marrakech

We landed in Marrakech in the afternoon, so we only had time to take a walk in the walled city and have one of the fanciest dinners we had in our whole trip in Morocco. It’s very easy to find the same type of cuisine and dishes across all the restaurants in the country, so it’s advisable to look for those special restaurants that can add that different touch. Ours was Blackchich and Naranj. We also had lunch at a very nice terrace called Koulchi Zine.

Day 2: Marrakech

On our second day there we walked around the city more than we could handle, actually and visited the Bahia Palace. We tried to visit the Jardin Majorelle, but we didn’t make it on time, so we had to pass. If you want to get there skipping the line, you can just go to the YSL museum next to it and buy the double ticket. Lines can be crazy out there.

We took a walk on the zoucs but we hated them. Sellers are too direct and they might even grab you, so we recommend not to unless you have fun with that and settle with the first option. We watched the sunset from the terrace of a cafe nearby while the markets in the central plaza were changing to night mode.

Day 3: Ouarzazate and Dades Gorges

After getting our car, we drove all the way to Ouarzazate, a very cool village where many movies were filmed. It is the location of the Game of Thrones village of Yunkai. It’s great to spend the sunset there.

Day 4: Toudgha Gorges and Merzouga Desert

We had a fast sneak peek through the Toudgha Gorges before going to the Merzouga desert. The picture doesn’t make justice to the beauty of the road that leads you there. The whole village is beautiful and and even from the road you can get all that earthy and palm trees vibe, which is just stunning.

Our Merzouga experience was a bit difficult to describe. The person who took us to the desert was a scammer and, even though his price in booking was 11€ per person, he rose it for New Year’s Eve to 60€ per person without telling anybody. Everyone in the camp was pissed, but we managed to have a good time. We spend the last night of the year on the desert, while people payed drums and the sky was full with fireworks.

Day 5: Merzouga Desert and Fez

The next morning the breakfast was never getting to the table and at 10:00 we decided to escape the camp. Many people did that while complaining to the organiser. The name of the experience in Booking.com was Erg Chebbi Camel Treck Camp. The pictures tend to not look like reality.

Once we got to Fez we had the news that our booked hotel couldn’t host us due to technical problems in the room, so they assigned us another one (apparently from the same group). They assured us that there was going to be a discount, but the price per night of that hotel according to booking was lower than ours, so we had to negotiate in order to get a decent deal (we even got free dinners!). Please always check and convert whatever price the locals mention to you.

After that incident, we drove to fez, where we spent most of our time walking around the city and the market. We managed to visit the blue gate, the market, the gardens and, finally, the Golden Doors of the Royal Palace where the king spends his days in Fez

Day 5: Fez

One of the things you really need to consider doing is the visit to the tanneries. The tanneries are stinky as hell, it really smells like all of the animals in the world died and are concentrated in a patio. We hated it. Many people visited that with a mint leave on their noses. Terrible. People will try to call you to visit their business in order to have a view of the tanneries, we really think there’s no need to, you can get into any shop and take a look at them (and test your strength)

In the afternoon we walked around the Jewish neighbourhood and it didn’t feel quite sure until we got to the Golden Doors.

Day 6: Meknes

We probably had the coolest riad there! The terrace was amazing and we could even see the Madrassa’s tower from the balcony. It’s name is Atika.

You can get in the Madrassa for 60dh and we really think it’s worth it! it’s all beautifully done and the views from up there are impressive.

After the Madrassa we visited the old stables. It’s what it sounds like: the old king’s stables. You can take cool photos there and feel small in the huge space, but that’s mostly it.

Day 7: Chefchauen

The gorgeous village of Chefchauen was a delight to visit! We noticed that, at the south of Morocco everyone speaks French, but once you cross Chefchauen, you can make yourself understood in Spanish. Even the streets have their names in Spanish there.

Day 8: Tanger

We wanted to have our hammam experience in Tanger, but we couldn’t find a decent place that allowed man and women there, so we visited the city instead. I have to say that Tanger was the most modern city that we could see in Morocco, it felt quite European and it was a softer way to go back to reality.