Day 7: Merzouga and Camping in the Desert
Finally we made it to Merzouga. I would describe the town as isolated. We saw almost no locals and saw one van parked. Luckily he drove us to our Riad with two other people split the fair for 100MAD/13CAD. We stayed at Riad Madu via www.booking.com. This riad is in the middle of the desert over looking the sand dunes. They organized our camping trip in the desert as well. This was our most expensive accommodation everything from the riad to desert trip and food costed 864MAD/120CAD per person. This experience was once in a lifetime and we don’t regret spending this much for a comfortable experience in the desert.
Day 8: Merzouga to Ait Ben Haddou
When we woke up from our overnight camp we rode the camels on the sand dunes and met with our driver to drive us back to the riad. Our riad booked us a private car to Ait Ben Haddou. The ride costed 1300MAD/180CAD for a six hour ride, the bill split in four. We stayed at Hotel Bagdad Cafe https://hotel-ait-ben-haddou.com/. It costed 439MAD/61CAD breakfast included. It’s located 5 minutes away from the Ksar d’Ait Ben Haddou. Mohammed the owner was very hospitable and gave us tips when going around the country, he prepare us dinner which was amazing for 50MAD/6CAD each person!
Day 9: Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakech
After we woke up, we went to visit the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou. It’s an ancient village protected by UNESCO. There are still four families living there to date. We accidentally got lost and went into one of the family’s homes. Luckily, the man was kind enough to invite us in to take pictures. We finally had to leave and the hotel’s owner Mohammed booked us a private car to go to Marrakech for 500MAD/69CAD split in four bills. The drive is three hours zig zagging around the Atlas mountains. We arrived in the fast and bustling city of Marrakech in the late afternoon, it was very different from all the towns we’ve visited. More modern, busy and the scams are on a whole other level. I will write a Marrakech guide on a separate blog post to fully explain what our experience was.
Day 10-12: Exploring Marrakech
Marrakech was one of my favorite cities in Morocco. Despite being busy and taxi drivers over charging for a 15 minute ride, what made our stay special was our accommodation Albakech House http://www.albakechhouse.com/. Owned by an amazing Irish-Moroccan local Adam. We opted to not stay in the medina because we felt like we needed to relax after so much travelling. Adam and his team are excellent hard working people who go above and beyond to make your stay memorable. I would suggest to stay in the newer area of Marrakech if you want some peace and quiet. Our hotel was a two minute walk from a mall where we bought some necessities for super cheap. We visited Le Jardin Majorelle, Jemaa el fna, Secret Garden, ect.
Day 13: Marrakech to Casablanca
Finally our trip came to an end. We opted to take a private car to Casablanca at 3H00 for 1000MAD/138CAD. A little expensive but we asked around four drivers the cost and they all charged the same amount so we ended up booking through our hotel and we do not regret it! We got to sleep a bit overnight and our hotel prepared us early breakfast at 2H30. We are so happy we opted to use a private car as oppose to a four hour train ride to Casablanca. Two hours later we finally arrived at the airport and flew back home to Montreal.
I hope this helps you plan your trip to Morocco, please feel free to comment below or email me at dannieavellaneda for any questions, I will gladly answer them for you.
To receive 25CAD for your next trip book through https://www.booking.com/s/34_6/35cfa5ad
To look for transportation between cities
*For more photos https://dannieandfranky.wixsite.com/mysite/post/morocco-travel-guide-13-day-itinerary