No Morocco holidays now

[folkie]

Interesting views on Morocco in this thread.

We went a few years ago, staying in Marrakesh and the mountains. We found it an absolutely fascinating and often beautiful country, not nearly as black as it's been painted in some of the posts here, but definitely not without issues. But it's hard to judge it against our standards and with the best will in the world, it isn't a first world country.

There's no denying the anti gay aspect - if I was gay I wouldn't set foot there for fear of my own safety. However features described in this thread are also true of many other countries. For example I've seen awful animal cruelty in Spain and Turkey, dreadful poverty and areas I wouldn't want to walk through in the US (including Florida) and even in the UK, and encountered aggressive locals in Tunisia and Egypt. And of course some parts of the US are also very anti-gay indeed.

We stayed in small, locally run riads in Morocco, including in the heart of old Marrakesh - never a big chain hotel - and encountered some really kind and hospitable people.
We'd done our research and were very aware of what we'd encounter out on the streets. We dressed in a respectful way and were as prepared as we could be for what we might encounter, and found that a smile and firm No was usually enough. And if not, we just walked away. Sometimes you definitely need a thick skin and a strong will!

We knew that asking for directions can lead to misdirections, so when we needed to, we went into a modern pharmacy and asked the shop assistant, and found that worked well.

It's definitely not for the faint hearted, but I'd recommend it for a visit as long as you do your research first, be careful, and accept it for what it is - a flawed but fascinating country. Not that you can go there now of course!

[cornishfrogboy]

A fatally flawed area for me. Whilst sensibly researching ahead of arrival, I am very much into DIY and making my own plans. Morocco strikes me as a place where you would be extremely unwise to stray outside of what are clearly the Tourist areas and even then, there could be snags. In short, the ‘no go’ areas seem to outnumber the ‘go’ areas. Pretty much all of Africa seems the same.. dangerous if you stray very far at all. That is simply not the way that I choose to vacation.

To suggest that the locals are both Mysoginists and Homophobes, yet it is still an area to visit, does not sell it to me in any way at all. I am neither and proud of it.

Good to see that their local bobbies are relatively cheap to bribe though. I guess that this is a positive?

I simply don’t do vacations with tight parameters and restrictions, hence why I could never do an all inclusive and simply stay largely in a resort for 10 or 14 days. I want to get out and about with few, if any restrictions.

[Olympiad]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

A fatally flawed area for me. Whilst researching ahead of arrival, I am very much into DIY and making my own plans. Morocco strikes me as a place where you would be extremely unwise to stray outside of what are clearly the Tourist areas and even then, there could be snags. Pretty much all of Africa seems the same.. dangerous if you stray very far at all.

I simply don’t do vacations with tight parameters and restrictions, hence why I could never do an all inclusive and simply stay largely in a resort for 10 or 14 days.

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No harder to do a DIY holiday in Morocco than many other countries but yes a little more planning needed than for the US or Western Europe.

We went DIY about 8 years ago. Easyjet flights to Marrakech, a few nights on the coast and then a week in a house on the outskirts of Marrakech. Plenty of day trips into the mountains and local villages Almost universally we found people welcoming and friendly - even the policeman who stopped us for speeding and waived a hefty fine for a 10 euro bribe!

[mickey house]

Originally Posted by Olympiad

No harder to do a DIY holiday in Morocco than many other countries but yes a little more planning needed than for the US or Western Europe.

We went DIY about 8 years ago. Easyjet flights to Marrakech, a few nights on the coast and then a week in a house on the outskirts of Marrakech. Plenty of day trips into the mountains and local villages Almost universally we found people welcoming and friendly - even the policeman who stopped us for speeding and waived a hefty fine for a 10 euro bribe!

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What a welcoming and friendly cop you met who only took a €10 bribe, and I’m slowly changing my mind about going there now

[inky1]

I totally get that the Riads of Marrakesh are a trendy destination now and a work colleague of mine has been and loved it - we stayed in a hut with a thatched roof in Asilah - ( about 20 miles outside Tangier)
it was more or less on the beach .The cook would smoke whilst cooking and massive winged beetles would fly the restaurant.
Neighbours had to change accommodation as they had gerbils in the roof - all very exciting for a teenage girl from the valleys lol

[Trusty ian]

I went there in 1996 and back then I was amazed at the poverty there. Lots of kids begging. We had to Be escorted around the souks in Marrakesh. But other than that , we had a self drive treasure hunt in the atlas mountains fine , stopped at restaurants in the mountains. Went into the desert for an evenings entertainmet tourist style. The whole cooked in a pit lamb plonked on the floor in front of us made a few of us question being a meat eater! Head and legs still attached.
Did enjoy the 5 star hotel we stayed in and did help there was 90 of us who were there together. ( A business perk I managed to get in on and didn't cost me anything)

[Mr Andy]

Oh well, Moroccos loss. Their tourism will collapse very soon if they start banning countries on and off because of 'cases'. Learn to live with it, let vaccinated travel and have them test if you want but blanket bans don't solve anything.

[Johnnyp]

Originally Posted by mickey house

Many parts are a dump
They are cruel to animals
They are Anti gay
They openly selling drugs in the streets
Many aggressive and dishonest locals harassing and ripping off tourists

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There are many parts of the world like that MH including Florida

[Yodascousin]

It’s a weird move made even more baffling that it’s only direct flights…if you wanted to go just pop on the Eurostar to France and fly from there

[Lostbrain]

I’ve been to Morocco 3 times, my experience is similar to Folkie, had no issues, felt safer in the old town of Marrakesh than in LA or NYC, found people to be hospitable and friendly, but it is a different culture and you do need your wits about you as in any city, it isn’t as relaxing at first as being in a western country.

I did find I enjoyed it more when not with my husband as I was largely ignored when with him!

Has changed massively since the late 90s with more cars and tourists in the Atlas Mountains.

I’ve done a diy trip and preferred that to a package.

I wouldn’t ever return to Agadir, you’d be better off in Spain, uber touristy. Nor would I stay outside of the medina in Marrakesh.