Morocco

Has anyone been? Any recommendations of specific places to go/stay/see? Have heard great reviews, but don't know where to start in booking!

Marrachech is wonderful. Many exquisite riads where to stay. We stayed at "La villa des orangers", it was amazing :-)

You can go for a day trip to Essaouira (on the sea).

Ladyfrog - how long did you spend in Marrakesh? Was it long enough? Did you do an overnight trip to the desert?

We stayed 1 week in total, it's really the minimum. If you want to really enjoy the place and have some time to relax, I would recommend 2 weeks.

We stayed 4 days in Marrachech, then 3 days near Ouarzazate and yes we went to the desert near Taroundant. We stayed in a fantastic kasbah near Ouarzazate, it's called "Ben Moro".

I've heard that Fes is also a very nice place but it's quite far away from Marrachech.

Suggest you stay in the old city in Marrakech when arriving - we stay in Riad Zolah, superb location http://www.riadzolah.com/


2 full days are enough to explore the souks (just wander through the maze - no need for a guide) and see the various sites (suggest a guide for this - 200 Dirham for a full afternoon).


El F'ned square is very cool. But before you take any photos of the musicians, snake charmers or acrobats make sure you agree a price beforehand... I made the mistake of offering the snake guys cash in advance and they said no need, just pay after... then after taking a few pics, they hit me for HKD500... when I disagreed politely they moved one of the cobras threateningly close... I gave them 200 (outrageous amount) and learned my lesson the hard way.


If you are buying stuff in the souks keep in mind the starting price is probably at least double what the real price is... so dont be shy to offer a very low price to start...


Loads of food stalls in the square and the old city - want overly excited by anything we tried - a lot of the bbq meats were rather dry, the tangine dishes are ok... we went to a very high end restaurant one night (1200 for two with a bottle of wine) - again not overly impressed - but the ambiance was awesome - 300+ year old Riad.


The old city is a fascinating step back in time - pics here http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/dining/photos/adventures/


Have moved to Le Meridien for a night in the new city heading for a trip into the Atlas Mountains and some berber villages tomorrow - spending a day in Essouirea/El Jadida - then back to Marrakech for a night then a long haul drive to Fez for a couple of nights - will update with photos

Word of warning re: shopping... Since returning from this trip we've found that supposedly 100 bronze and very expensive platters are actually bronze plated and are showing rust in spots...


Also bought some camel leather stools which smell so bad we've had to bin them...


Suggestion - stick to carpets only and haggle like your life depended on the price because after further checking most of the vendors start at roughly 4x what a reasonable price might be

There are so many magical experiences to be had in Marrakech, and they're not all in the medina. Don't miss the superb Majorelle Gardens, a day in the Atlas Mountains at the Kasbah du Toubkal, a day at the fabulous Beldi Country Club, and of course the souks and spice markets. Have dinner at Le Foundouk, Bab Hotel and Le Tobsil. Definitely stay in the medina in a riad, we stayed at riad Dar Zaman, great service, friendly helpful staff: http://www.darzaman.com