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• Mountain Transport
• Taxis
• Car Renal
• Insurance
• Visas and Formalities
• Money
• Telecommunications
• July Weather and Clothes
• Marrakesh Accommodations
• Riyads in Marrakesh
• Small Medina Hotels
• Other Marrakesh Hotels
• Reservations
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• High Atlas Accommodations
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Practical Info
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| Getting to Marrakesh | ||
| Flying into Menara Airport, which lies just beyond the city's olive groves, is the easiest and most pleasant way to get to Marrakesh. You can fly directly from Paris, London and a couple of other points in Europe. From other cities, take one of the numerous connecting flights through Casablanca. If you're coming from the US, there are direct flights from New York to Casablanca four times a week on a Royal Air Maroc-Delta code share. We advise you not to break your trip in Casablanca even though its Mohamed V Airport is located to the south of the city on the way to Marrakesh. Unfortunately, there is no airport service to Marrakesh. There is a train from the airport north to Casablanca, from where you have to take another train south to Marrakesh. If you're driving from Europe, you can cross the Mediterranean to Tangiers on the two-night ferry from Sète in Southern France or on the short hop from Algeciras in Spain. There's also ferry service to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilia, from where you can cross a land border into Morocco. In any event, you should book months in advance to find a place among the million or so Moroccan expats and guest workers who come home for the summer. If you're on a budget and have a bit of time, you can fly through London to Gibraltar, take a bus to Algeciras, and cross the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier on ferries leaving nearly every hour. Another option is flying into Malaga, crossing into Ceuta, bussing to Tangier and taking the train to Marrakesh. | ||
| Trains and Busses | ||
| Train schedules for Casa airport service and the main lines that serve Marrakesh eight times a day are available on the Moroccan railways website. ONCF There are also comfortable coaches on a number of bus lines, including CTM (Compagnie des Transports du Maroc). There are also train-bus links through Marrakesh to Essaouria, Agadir and Ouarzazate. | ||
| Mountain Transport | ||
| As for getting into the High Atlas Mountains, we'll help arrange local transport, which is chaotic, fun, frequent and cheap. Once the road ends, you engage a man with a mule for 80 Dh a day. | ||
| Taxis | ||
| Taxis in Marrakesh and Essaouira are metered and cheap. Most drivers now have mobile phones so when you meet one you especially like, get his number. An alernative to taxis, horse drawn carriages, have never been more numerous. | ||
| Car Rental | ||
| Rent a car to get to Marrakesh only if you must. The accident rate on Moroccan roads is a national embarrassment and health crisis. Good four lane toll roads link Fez and Tangier with Casablanca, but peter out just south of the city, four hours from Marrakesh. The old, shoulderless Marrakesh-Casa road is often bumper-to-bumper as it handles all the truck traffic serving the southern boom towns of Agadir and Ouarzazate. | ||
| Insurance | ||
| Please get emergency medical and evacuation insurance before coming to visit. One little accident could really spoil our party. Embassies aren't able to help much: unless you're covered for air ambulance you simply get shuttled into the local system. This is okay for basic care but not so hot for emergency care. Full coverage insurance for a couple of weeks is surprisingly cheap, particularly if you upgrade a policy you already have. Please have a look at the excellent US Consumer Affairs website for medical information for Americans travelling overseas and links to dozens of travel insurance providers and air ambulance companies. Access America is the world's largest travel insurance and assistance company and its products are available both on line and through 22,000 travel agents in the U.S. | ||
| Visas and Formalities | ||
| Upon arrival three-month tourist visas are stamped into the passports of US and most European visitors. However, Dutch, Belgian and Luxmbourg passport holders may still need visas. No vaccinations are currently required in Morocco. | ||
| Money | ||
| There are about 11 Moroccan Dirhams to the US dollar. Current rates are available on the Universal Currency Converter. Credit cards generally work, as do ATMs. You can use travellers' checks but you'll probably have to change them yourself at the bank. Since dirhams cannot be taken out of the country you must change them back before leaving. | ||
| Telecommunications | ||
| Telephone numbers throughout Morocco have just added a digit so what you find in guide books and web sites is likely to be wrong. The old six digit local numbers have been replaced with nine digits ones that start with a "0"! Take a typical old Marrakesh number like (04) 42 91 33. Today you add a new 04 prefix plus the "4" but NOT the "0" from the old prefix. The new nine digit number is 044 429 133. This is a local number you call from anywhere in Morocco. But if you are outside Morocco, you prefix the country code (212) and suppress the "0" so you call 21244 429 133. All cell phones now begin with (06) so my old number (01) 39 45 90 has become 061 394 590. To find out all the mysterious rules guiding the addition of digits, consult Maroc Telecom. The fact that Moroccans love to be connected is reflected in great street level telecom services. Non-subscription mobile phones with a calling card with enough minutes for your stay sell for about $50 and are available on most any street corner from either of two competing companies. Morocco's cybercafés are literally cafés where you can work in comfort and style. At Marrakesh's trendy Le Cybercafé you can stay in touch with home or office without dragging your laptop along. | ||
| July Weather and Clothes | ||
| The heat of July days in Marrakesh can reach over 100¼ F ( 40¼ C ). This makes the nights all the more delicious. In Essaouira and in the mountains it gets sweater-cool. Check the weather before you go. Wear what you like and be comfortable but be prepared to be modest when the situation calls for it. Hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen are easily available. | ||
| Marrakesh Accommodations | ||
| Riyads in Marrakesh | ||
| Have a look at the website of Marakesh Medina. Many of these houses are owned by expat Moroccans and Europeans with extraordinary taste. In the summer, you can rent these fully-equipped houses for as little as three nights. Houses accommodate 6 to 20 people. Each has a Marrakachi maid who works during the day and can help orient you to the house and neghborhood. Some houses have hammams and fine art collections while others are quite modest. For more information contact us or Mounia of Marrakesh-Medina at 00 21244 429 133 or 21244 444 532. Fax is 21244 391 071. Email: marrakesh.medina@iam.net.ma | ||
| Small Medina Hotels in Marrakesh | ||
| Selena and Craig say that the Hotel La Gazelle is great for budget travelers who want to stay in the medina. It's extremely clean with a friendly staff who speak English. Sinks are in rooms but showers in the hall. There's no air conditioning and rooms with windows onto the courtyard are basic. But it's only 120 DH a night and 100 DH for repeat visitors. Tel 212 44 44 11 12, fax 212 44 44 55 37. Also in the medina are very modest-family run hotels where you can rent a single room for as little as 40Dh, or less than $4. There is a cluster of these on the long winding streets of Riad Zitoun El Kedim, from where you can hear the drums of the Jama'a El F'na. Most are spotlessly clean and have shared toilets, showers, lounges and rooftops. In the case of the eight-room Hotel Sindi Sud, the family is in residence! Try Hotel Sindi Sud 109, Derb Sidi Bouloukat, Riad Zitoun El Kidim, Marrakesh. Tel: 044 44 33 37, Hotel El Amal 93, Derb Sidi Bouloukat, Riad Zitoune El Kadim, Marrakesh. Tel: 044 44 50 43, Hotel de France 197, Riad Zitoun El Kedim, Marrakesh Medina. Tel: 044 44 30 67, or Hotel Essaouira 3, Derb Sidi Bouloukat, Riad Zitoune El Kadim, Marrakesh Tel: 044 44 30 05 | ||
| Other Marrakesh Hotels | ||
| Lists of standard, air-conditioned 3, 4, and 5 star hotels are in the guidebooks. Most are outside the medina, in other parts of th city. The Hotel Islane, however, is located just off the Jama'a El Fna opposite the newly-restored 12h century Koutoubia Mosque. 279, avenue Mohamed V. Tel: 011 44 00 81 or fax 044 44 00 85. | ||
| Reservations | ||
| The best way to book rooms is by fax and credit card. The exceptions are the tiny family run hotels which may not have faxes. Consequently, we can help book these. Don't take meals in your hotel (except perhaps breakfast) as Morocco is becoming more and more a foodie's paradise everywhere you turn. | ||
| Essaouira Accommodations | ||
| Essaouria has a charming range of accommodations within the walls of its medina and near the endless expanse of beach that stretches from the city's gates. But because it's on the Atlantic, you need to make summer hotel reservations long in advance. Essaouria is packed with people escaping the torrid heat of Morocco's interior plains. There is enough room for everyone on Essaouria's expansive crescent beach during the day while late into the night families are out strolling the streets of the old city. Cars are strictly forbidden and the medina is literally wall-to-wall with people. The practice of accommodating travellers in traditional medina houses rather than in hotels got its start in Essaouria before it spread to Marrakesh. Consequently, it has reached a high art. The fact that this practice is barely known in the rest of Morocco, North Africa or the Middle East makes time spent in Esssaouria and Marrakesh so special. But it's necessary to plan ahead. The city of Essaouria maintains a great website with links to most guest houses. Villa Maroc is one of the finest riyad hotels in Morocco and Riad Al Madina one of the most popular. You can also have an online look at Al Jasira Hotel"There is also Palazzo Desdemona (so named because Orson Welles filmed Othello in Essaouria) run by an Italian with a fine sense of interior decoration. Tel 212 44 47 22 27 and fax 212 44 78 57 35. Real estate Abdelfettah Maazouz advertises "Charming houses and apartments for rent in the Medina with sea views". Selena reports that he'll rent by night or week. A place with 2 bedrooms, sitting room, kitchen and bath runs 200 to 400 DH per night. Tel and fax 212 44 47 23 96. Email: mogimo_sarl@yahoo.fr In the depths of the medina is Résidence Dar El Pacha, diminutive but charming courtyard house whose four floors and rooftop have 14 small rooms. Since this hotel is extremely reasonable, a group of friends may want to rent it all of it. Dar El Pasha is located at 21, rue Abderrahmane Eddakhal, Essaouria. Tel and fax are 044 47 37 24. There are other attractive, well located hotels with doubles in the $25 to $30 range. The Hotel Le Mechouar, a relative luxury in our Peace Corps days, can be contacted by phone at 044 47 58 28 or by fax at 044 78 48 27. There also the 60 room Sahara Hotel; telephone 044 47 52 92 or fax 044 47 61 98. | ||
| High Atlas Accommodations | ||
| The family inns at trail heads and along trekking routes are known as Gites de Montagne. A night's lodging costs 30 to 40 DH per person and most families provide dinner for 35 to 50 DH , depending on the menu. Further up the valleys, you can bring along meat or a live chicken or two and vegetables and your hosts will cook them for you. The alpine huts maintained of the Club Alpin Franais offer comfortable dormitory accommodations, bathrooms, and communal kitchens equipped with gas stoves, basic cooking utensils. It is from the 3, 200 m (10,500 ft) Refuge Neltner that most people approach North Africa's highest mountain, the 4,167 m (14,000+ ft ) Jebel Toubkal. CAF huts range in price from 40 to 96 DH per night. | ||
| Guide Books and Maps | ||
| Our anthropologist friend, Susan Davis, has posted a list of books in response to questions from people interested in contemporary Morocco. For a list with a more literary and historical bent, have a look at Morocco Bound. | ||
| Information about Morocco | ||
Online Guide to Morocco
Culture
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