Disclaimer: This itinerary is meant to be cause for inspiration, conversation and brainstorming. I receive no revenue for linking vendors and have no future plans to do so.

For many years, Morocco was an illusive dream and I believe my romance with the country began while I was in college when I first watched Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. Then in later years, when I learned that one could spend a moonless night in the Sahara seeing the stars like nowhere else on the planet - Morocco quickly jumped many spots on my “Places I Must Visit” list. This far off land seemed like such a beautiful experience and I soon resolved that someday - I will be like Ingrid Bergman and visit Morocco.

So it only made sense that when Sean was planning the when, where, and how to propose - I dropped a few “hints” and in 2018 we were embarking on what forever will be one of my favorite adventures of all time. (Spoiler alert: my story departed a bit from Ingrid Bergman’s as Rick’s Cafe and Casablanca did not make the itinerary. Getting engaged under the most beautiful of night skies did and that goes to show that sometimes life is even better than the movies).

While planning our adventure, I was grateful to the host of friends, who provided invaluable suggestions on our schedule, places to stay, things to do, guides to hire, what to eat and where to buy a rug. Our trip was not planned exclusively by us but rather a community of fellow travelers. If Morocco is a place you dream of going - I am always happy to chat and be part of your travel cohort!

However, if you’ve never thought of Morocco as a place you want to experience - I have grandiose visions of being your Humphrey Bogart. Maybe-just maybe-by typing a few too many words (that will never even come close to the brilliance of “of all the gin joints, in all the towns,” “here’s looking at you kid,” and “we’ll always of Paris”) you will begin to dream of visiting Morocco someday!

Maybe?

Or at the least you will find yourself enjoying some of my “Morocco @ Home” ideas at the end of this post?

So let’s get going! Cabin door is closed. Seatbelt On. Seats in Upright Position and Tray Tables Up - We are taking off!

The first stop of our Moroccan adventure was a long layover in Lisbon, Portugal. Sean and I have found TAP airlines to be a rather dependable and enjoyable airline for a number of reasons - at the top of the list, the ability to have a long lay-over in Lisbon. Both Sean and I had been to this fantastic city independently and love it. In addition, Krystal, a roommate during my DC days, was living in Lisbon so it was all the more wonderful to catch up with her. A few things we did:

Tasted the famous custard tart (obviously)
Visited Belem tower
Paid respects to the explorers of yester-year
Reminded ourselves how much we love Portugal and that we should visit again!

After long last, we landed in Fes and I finally got my first passport stamp from an African Country - YAY!

We made our way to our riad which is like a Bed & Breakfast. If you want to see Morocco “Anna-Delvey-style” - you can stay at a fancy all-inclusive resort, this is a judgement free zone! However, we found that we really, really enjoyed staying at a riad in the middle of the medina (the historic part of a city or town often in North Africa).

We spent two days in Fes and on the first day we hired a guide, which I highly recommend. He showed us how to make our way through the maze … oh wait! medina… and helped us spend more time learning about Morocco’s history, culture and artists, rather than getting lost. A few things we did while visiting Fes:

Meandered the medina and were inspired by the mesmerizing tile work, pottery and leather creations of artisans through the years
Visited the famous tannery - not as unpleasant as I expected
Captured panoramic overviews of Fes
Had our first rug shopping experience (left empty handed)
As non-Muslims, we were able to see the courtyard of the Bou Inania Madrasa, but not allowed on the full tour.
Discovered the unique food of Morocco and we were inspired to learn how to cook with a tagine - it’s not hard!

Because of time and logistics we did not visit the Roman ruins of Volubilis which I believe would be a great reason to go back.

So now we are entering the “dream come true” portion of the trip! Going into the Moroccan countryside, seeing countless stars in a clear night sky - and of course, Sean asking me to marry him and saying yes was a journey I will cherish the rest of my life.

Taking some really great advice from friends, we hired drivers - who were absolutely fantastic. They showed us their country with such excitement that we continued to fall in love with all we saw. In addition, the best meal we had the whole trip was at a random gas station in the middle of nowhere with buzzing flies as dinning companions. Sean and I both agreed that if we got food poisoning it would be worth it and why else did we go to the doctors to get medicine before our trip? Thankfully we had no digestive distress (because of the gas station… or any other place) and experiences like this are why I highly recommend hiring guides - especially when traveling into more remote areas.

We eventually came to the border of the Sahara (Merzouga) where we donned head scarfs to inadequately help with the sand. Then we began our camel ride to the camp where we would stay the night.

Insider tip #1 - riding camels is an amazing experience and one you throughly enjoy… for the first 15 min. The remaining time I spent repeating to myself variations of “OH.MY.GOODNESS - I’m riding a camel in the Sahara Desert, but maybe we take a Jeep back.”

Insider tip #2 - if you follow travel bloggers who have visited Morocco you probably have seen iconic photos of women holding beautifully blowing scarfs on top of sand dunes all while having perfectly coiffed windswept hair. What you don’t see is that when there is wind in the desert that also means the wind is blowing the sand. The pictures look fantastic but reality is a bit uncomfortable - we did not successfully take one of these photos. (Stay tuned for future blogs with more examples of #InstagramVsReality).

After glamping for a night in the desert we continued our journey with our trusted guides en route to Marrakesh. We will forever be grateful that we were able to:

Feed peanuts to roadside monkeys
Enjoy a traditional drumming concert
Walk through the Todra Gorge
Tour Atlas Film studios as well as Ait Ben Haddou (filming location for Game of Thrones)
Shop at what became our favorite spice market
Drove the Dadres Valley Switchbacks - Egack! (clarification: we didn’t drive. Thankfully our guides drove).

Because of time and ability, we did not go sand surfing in the Sahara or rock climbing in the Todra Gorge - both are reasons to go back!

**Third Stop: Marrakesh**

(With a day trip to Essaouria)

So after our time in the countryside we finally arrived in Marrakesh - a must visit for any trip to Morocco.

A quick note regarding safety:

As I mentioned, in planning the trip we spoke to many travel-loving friends who also visited Morocco. It was clear that women who visited without men had a different experience than women who visited with a mixed gender group or couple. It was not until I made a quick trip in Marrakesh to a shop without Sean that I experienced any type of discomfort in being a western female. By no means is this ever a reason not to travel someplace. Every woman who helped us plan our trip loved Morocco regardless of their travel companions. This is just something to keep in mind.

Marrakesh is everything you would want a North African city to be. You can easily imagine Aladdin jumping from roof to roof knocking over fruit stands while feeding Abu the monkey peanuts - thankfully earlier in the trip we learned first hand how much monkeys like peanuts! (Fully aware of the geography being a bit off with that Aladdin reference, but it is what I imagined!).

The energy of the people, shops, eateries and museums is electric and inspiring. There is so much to observe via the sights and smells - it is all just beautiful! From the stunning pottery to the Yves St. Laurent fashion to the spice stalls to the night market - there is much to experience and remember for years to come.

We also took a day trip to Essaouria, a coastal town which has an edgy feel because of the artists it has attracted through the years. For example, Jimi Hendrix spent 11 days in Essouria in 1969 and his portrait and various tributes are seen around the village. One of the most unique aspects of a trip to Essaouria from Marrakesh is stopping along the road to witness the famous goats in trees.

A few highlights from Marrakesh

We bought a rug and lots of pottery! Thank you New York Times for this piece that was a great resource.
Visited the Yves Saint Laurent museum and had the most expensive mimosa of my life (alcohol was hard to come by).
Experienced all a night market has to offer - including sheep’s brain (not recommended).
Feasted our eyes on exquisite tile work around the city.
Got lost a LOT - because we didn’t pay for a guide.

One final thought:

Throughout Morocco our guides and various museum exhibits proudly shared how their country is a place where all three religions of “the book” live peacefully (Christians, Jews, Muslims). Interestingly, in Essaouria we meandered through the Jewish section and entered a Jewish temple. In Marrakesh we walked around a Jewish cemetery. My cynical and jaded self was skeptical - was this something the Moroccan tourist industry was selling Western tourists? Is this actually the case? What do Jewish people actually think about this?

Upon my return to the States I was sharing this idea with a friend who is very involved in her Jewish community. She gently called me out for my skepticism and shared with me stories of Muslims who worked to rescue Jews via North Africa during WWII.

This is why I value traveling, whether through book or lands, so very much - I never would have known these incredible stories and had my cynicism checked.

A few ways you can learn a bit about this time in history is by reading this article via Yad Vashem as well as the book “Among the Righteous” by Robert Satloff.

Okay! I get it. Not everyone is going to make a trip to Morocco. But if this post somehow kept your attention this long, you may have some interest in at least experiencing some of Morocco @ Home. So here are a few suggestions:

Watch Casablanca - obviously!
Cook with a tagine. You can google some recipes (that don’t include sheep’s brain) and click here for a reasonably priced tagine on Amazon. I suggest not buying a clay tagine - stick with metal.
Learn about Moroccan design and purchase something fun - pottery, tiles, rugs, pillows, etc. to incorporate into your home. You can even watch Joanna Gaines combine a Moroccan and Scandinavian aesthetic in a home - Fixer Upper Season 1 Episode 11. Or you can just reach out to my favorite designer Kit Golden Interiors for a few more pragmatic suggestions!
Buy some Yves Saint Laurent lipstick or a fantastic coffee table book capturing his work. If you have the money for a handbag, I would spend it going to Morocco first, then buy the handbag.
If you find yourself at Epcot, make sure to stop by the Moroccan section - it’s great and also where you can have your picture taken with Aladdin and Jasmine. Although I don’t think you can feed Abu peanuts (seems like Disney doesn’t have a problem with the geographic disparity as well).
Enjoy some mint tea. Of course you can get fancy Moroccan tea wherever you like to buy your fancy tea, but the Sleepy Time tea with the jolly bear in the stuffed red chair on the box that you can buy at your grocery store is certainly sufficient too!
Follow along the #Moroccan hashtag on various social media channels

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