These are just the highlights from our trip to eastern Morocco. I’m not big on writing, so it’s broken down into sections and has lots of pictures 🙂
We flew into Tangier from Lisbon and stayed the night to get our rest since we had a bus ride down to Chefchaouen (the blue city). You could fly into Marrakesh or Casablanca, but we only had 5 days there, so we wanted to make the most of our time. We decided to skip those two cities and stay to the east of Morocco.
Chefchaouen
The bus ride to Chefchaouen from Tagier was 4 hours and cheap (maybe 7 euros)! When you arrive at the bus station you could walk or take a taxi to the medina (city center). Once you arrive, take our your camera! There is no possible way to take a bad picture there. There is so much culture, color, food, and warm people. It was easily our favorite part of our journey.
Fez
We then took an overnight bus down to Fez and that was fairly long (maybe 8 hours). We immediately saw the huge contrast between the two cities. Chefchaouen was definitely more touristic while Fez was rich with history and smells. You need to visit the colorful tanneries but prepare for the strong smell.
On a side note… there will be many people in the medina who offer to help and they work on commission. Nothing is free! All they want to do is take into a store that has a nice view of the tanneries but they also want money. Look above for signs to the tanneries and go where you want without any help.
The medina is full of great food, livestock, and tons leather goods. We only stayed a half day because we had another overnight bus to Merzouga. The gateway to the Sahara!
Sahara Desert
We arrived into Merzouga exhausted and without a plan. We didn’t know where to go or what to do so we got talked into an excursion into the Sahara.
On a side note… NEGOTIATE everything if it doesn’t have price sticker. It’s the national sport. Also, don’t buy anything in the medina unless it’s food, it’s best to buy clothes or souvenirs outside the medina (in our experience).
We paid 85 euros per person for a one night stay at a campsite (plus an overnight bus ticket to tangier) in the Sahara and it was an amazing experience. We rode the camels for an hour from the albergue (hotels) to the campsite. Although, it was a unique experience you could tell that some of the camels were not well and you could see the stress that the ropes had on their mouths.
We don’t recommend using the camels, as an alternative, try the atvs!
They didn’t have food at the campsite except for dinner so I suggest you take snacks and water. We ran up the dunes for sunset and it was breathtaking! After our dinner, we were provided with beautiful traditional music and a clear sky (I thought I was going to see more stars but that wasn’t the case).
The ride back to the albergue at sunrise lived up to my expectations. It was a peaceful ride after an amazing day in the Sahara.
I know this was quick and I didn’t give too much details but I hope it helps somebody. Enjoy the pictures!
