First time Morocco Help please Forums

barrytward

We are about to cross over to Morocco for the first time ( in two weeks) and would appreciate some reassurance and advice.

When is the best time to buy Dirham. Am I OK waiting to find a 'hole in the wall' across there, or should I get some in advance ? Where from ? What is the best reserve currency... Euro or Dollar ?

Are there plenty of camp sites .... or is finding a pitch going to be difficult ? Do people still occasionally camp wild (despite ban).

Any favourite sites ? Any to avoid ?

Any supplies that we should take across (inc Beer) or can you get everything over there ?

Thanks

Barry

pete4x4

I haven't been for 3 years but then it was an offence to take dirhams out of Morocco, bureau de change at the border.
We used UK currency, dollars are good but then sterling was preferred, euros are also taken. Cash point in most towns.

Alcohol is available the local wine is ok but it is hard to find. Better to take it with you, we had to hide it along with cb etc!

Sites not sure we were in our jeep so wild camped anywhere with a tent!

You may also want to make use of the numerous facilitators who are around the border, they are useful as it is quite easy to get it very wrong and be there for a while, I found it £10 well spent and got through the border in no time.

Hope that helps a bit, you'll love it.

pudding

Hi Barry,
My husband and I toured Morocco last year for 20 days. No problem getting Dirham at the border. Regarding beer..I would stock up as only the large Marjane sells it at a reasonable price. Some Moroccan wines are worth a try...we were surprised.
We loved Morocco and would go back again. We stayed at various campsites...2 in Marrakech, Essauira, Meski etc. We camped in the Cedar forest and friends of ours did it and purchased their own permit very cheaply.
It is safe in Morocco...we had no problems whatsoever.
We went with a tour but after day 11 we really just did our own thing but had the assistance of a local guy who kept us on the right track.
Food excellent although we were all tagined out by the time we returned. No problems on the border on the return either. We did give a few dirhams to a guy who made it so much quicker....£3.
Loved Volubulis, Marrakech, Cedar Forest, Ait Ben Haddou....and my favourite Erg Chebbi....stunning!!!! Book your camel ride independently! Our friends were charged an exorbitant amount for 30 mins...and that was through our tour leader!! We could have got one for a third of the price and it would have been much longer.
Enjoy beautiful Morocco!!!

Sonesta

Hi Barry,

We toured Morocco in the winter of 2005 and had the most fantastic experience of our whole lives.

We did a fair bit of wild camping when we were there but I understand this has been clamped down on a lot due to the local campsite owners losing out on a lot of much needed revenue - which to be fair you can see their point. We did find ample campsites during our trip and never once did we find they were too full to accomodate us. The campsites can be quite basic but they are well guarded, offer ehu's and waste and water and shower facilites and they might not be 5 star luxury sites but most are clean and adequate.

A lot of towns and villages that are not in the typical tourist hot spots were in my opinion the best places to visit and really do reflect what we found to be the true beauty of the "real" Morocco and it's wonderful, friendly people. You will find the townsfolk and the villagers will welcome you with open arms wherever you go and are happy to allow you to park in their car parks etc. Many of the car park attendents will guard your vehicle like a hawk for a few extra dirhams and we found if anyone went anywhere near our motorhome the car park attendent took his role very seriously and made sure they did not get too close lol!

We toured Morocco independently but Ray (Detourer) who takes guided motorhome tours out there regularly and who, he himself also posts on the MHF forum, very kindly offered to help us out with arranging ferry tickets, crossing the border and the paperwork for towing our Smart car etc and because he was taking a group across at the same time as we were travelling he sugggested we meet up at Algeciras. Ray was absolutely fantastic and sorted out everything for us and even arranged some currency for us before we boarded the ferry with one of the guys who exchanges currency for his group and all this he did for nothing. We were very appreciative and both me and my husband will never forget his kindness and help.

I could go on and on about Morocco Barry as it was an experience of a lifetime and travelling though this fascinating country is like taking a trip back in time to a world that that time has long since forgotten. You will be both intrigued and captivated by the sights, sounds, smells and the people and I can assure you you will return home full of wonderful memories and fabulous tales!

Have fun and please don't be afraid to head away from the typical tourist traps as you will be perfectly safe I can assure you of that and that way you will see Morocco in it's true and vivid colours!

Sue