ITINERARY

 5 Nights 6 Days

Days 1-2: Fes

Fes is the first stop on our recommended 5 day Morocco Itinerary. It is one of four imperial cities of Morocco as at one time it served as the country’s capital.   It was established in the 8th century and quickly became Morocco’s spiritual, intellectual, and cultural capital.  It remains this way today and is home to the world’s oldest university.

 

 

Where to Stay on your 5 Day Morocco Itinerary

Choosing a Riad over a hotel is an absolute must.   We stayed at the Riad Mazar.   The hospitality in Morocco is second to none and Riad Mazar was no exception.  We were welcomed with Moroccan Mint Tea and felt at home ever since. 

The interior décor is spectacular and a peaceful haven from the chaos of the Medina.  There are six rooms on 3 upper floors surrounding the courtyard.  Siham, a concierge of sorts, was outstanding.  She was always willing to help; printed our boarding passes, arranged drivers, booked a tour, provided directions, etc.    I hope we will have the pleasure of meeting her again. Insha’Allah, “God willing.”   Each day we returned to a warm welcome at the door and a spotless room.

Take a Guided Tour through the Medina

In your 5 day Morocco Itinerary, it may be good to plan a tour early in your stay to get the lay of the land.

There are 6,000 narrow streets in the Old Medina alone, winding every which way often with covered walkways.  It’s easy to lose your bearings. 

We were glad that we booked a guide for our introduction to the Medina.  It was sensory overload the first time we walked through the Bab Bou Jeloud (Blue Gate), and if we had been trying to find certain handicrafts, the tannery, historic sites, it would have taken us all day.   

Another benefit of a guide is that they have established relationships with certain locations. We saw some really amazing places like a terrace overlooking the tannery, an old funduq converted to a carpet shop, a silk co-op, embroidery shop, and watched Morrocan Argan oils being produced by hand.   These interesting experiences though come at a price. You will get a hard sell from every single stop. (Your guide gets a cut of the profit.)   

As polite midwesterners, we struggled to wave them off and leave so felt quite uncomfortable when we were not going to buy anything after we witness the incredible talent, patience, and care that goes into their work.

Buyer Beware

Our guide had left us for 30-60 minutes at a time with vendors/a restaurant. We even tried to turn down lunch, but he was insistent we stay.  This turned the half day tour we requested into a full day tour at a full day price.   Make sure to set very clear expectations with your guide of what you do and do not want to do and how much time you want to spend.

Shop The Medina

As a bargain shopper anywhere I go, I always left feeling as if I should’ve gotten a better deal. I think the secret to enjoying the Medina shopping experience though, is to set a price you’ll be happy with and if you get the product you love for that price, don’t look back and wonder.

 

 

The Medina is made up of many small neighborhoods where 40-50 households share 6 public areas:

   1.   Mosque

   2.  Bakery (Families make dough at home and bring it to a central oven to be cooked)

   3.  Hammam (Bathhouse)       

   4.  Fountain / Well – there are dozens of community fountains in the Medina, many are still in use today even though homes now have plumbing.

5. Carpenter

Take note of windows with curved wood coverings. These were from years ago when the women would rarely leave the house much less show their faces to men other than their husband. They’d peer our these covered windows to see and talk to whomever was at the door.

Souks are grouped shops of a similar type.  For example a woodworking souk or a tailoring souk.  I found it interesting that the men were the tailors and watched in awe as they embroidered elaborate women’s dresses.

You’ll see scaffolding everywhere, the government is pouring money into restoring the old city, which takes a lot of time.

Take In The Tannery

Watch (and smell) the leather making process as it was executed 1,000 years ago.  Health and safety precautions are virtually non existent.  Men stand in vats of chemicals all day long wearing short rubber gloves and waders.  Some have lost hands, others arms to the dangerous acid used in the process. You’ll see men skinning cow, camel, goat, and sheep hides, dropping the skin into a potent quicklime mixture, and finally into the dye vats. 

The smell is indescribable.  We were handed mint leaves to hold to our noses as makeshift “gas masks,” but we got used to the odors pretty quickly.  Our guide explained that in attempt to lesson the stench, pigeon poop and cow urine are apparently added to the vats.

Day 3: Meknes

Meknes, another Imperial City, is an easy 40 minute train ride from Fes and is recommended stop number two for a 5 day Morocco Itinerary. The tickets cost 2.20 DH. For just 10 DH more ($1) you can have an assigned first class seat with Air Conditioning so why not splurge for this luxury?

We met an aspiring college student on our train ride to Meknes.   It turned out, Meknes was his hometown and he graciously offered to show us around.   You can’t beat having a local with you as you’ll get around faster and you feel more confident you are not being ripped off in the shops, restaurants, or sites.  Now we will always have a friend in Morocco.  “Thanks Mohamed, if you’re reading this!    Next time we will certainly take you up on your invitation to visit your home.”

Note: Coincidentally, it is a common tout for tourists on trains to be approached by men claiming to be students only to be coaxed all day into visiting their cousins carpet shops/other businesses.  Lucky for us, Mohamed was a genuinely welcoming Moroccan with no ulterior motive.

Meknes does not have as many tourists as Fes so we found the prices in the Medina to be lower, with less hassle in negotiating.   Everyone in the Medina seemed to “know a guy.”  Where I bought a scarf, we asked where we could find earrings.  He abandoned his post to take us through many winding streets and souks of different specialties (spices, wood work, iron work, textiles) to arrive at a silver shop where we watched an artist add silver accents to metal works.  I bought earrings and a ring from his shop.

Top Sites in Meknes      

 Bab el-Mansour – Famous Gate to enter the Medina, an UNESCO Heritage Site

 Prison de Kara – Underground prison – Only 10 DH to tour, but just OK.  Someone near the entrance will quickly ask to guide you through and expect a tip at the end.  If you’re interested, make sure to set a price at the beginning

Heri es-Souani – King Moulay Ismail’s mausoleum, immense granaries and horse stables.  We took a 150 DH horse carriage ride around these sites. This was probably unnecessary, but we were filling time on a rainy day.

Days 4-5: Chefchaouen “The Blue City”

A 3.5 hour car ride from Fes, Chefchaouen is well worth the journey.   It is a sight to be seen, blue homes built into the cliffs of the Rif mountains, in front of two peaks.  The city’s name translates to “Look at the Peaks.”  Arriving from Fes, you will find much more Spanish influence here as it is where many Jews and Muslims fled when they were exiled from Spain in the 15th century.   When first addressed in Fes, the locals used French to greet us, but here it was Spanish.

Until the 1920’s, Christians were not allowed to enter this city, by penalty of death.   The tradition of painting homes blue first began in the 1930’s as the color was thought to be like the heavens, bringing people closer to God.

The center point of the old medina is the kasbah (Fort).  For 20 DH ($2 per person) you can get a great view of the city from its tower.

We enjoyed wandering the quiet streets of the medina and relaxing on the terrace of Café Aladin for a drink while we enjoyed the view.

This is the perfect city to round out your 5 day Morocco Itinerary.

Food in Morocco  

Tagine (Chicken, Lamb, or Vegetable casserole-like dish)

Pastilla (Chicken in a flaky crust topped with cinnamon and powered sugar. Sweet and savory, this was my favorite)

Moroccan salads which are more like hot vegetable sides

Harsha,  Rghaif, Khobz, and Mllawee breads

Brochettes (Kababs of all sorts)

Mint tea – as much as you can drink! It’s amazing.

Tips for traveling in Morocco

Most of of the following tips were wise advice from locals and some our own lessons learned. With a short, 5 day Morocco Itinerary, it is good to know these things up front.

1. Make sure your taxi driver starts the meter or, better yet, agree on a price before getting in the car.  (Carry small bills/coins, they will not have change) Use the small red petit taxis as all the locals do and it is cheap.
2. If you’re traveling in the medinas without a guide, only take 2-3 turns before retracing your steps back.  Take pictures to act as “breadcrumbs” and follow your route back.
3. Feel comfortable walking away from a negotiation. There will be 10+ more stalls with the same product, now that you have a price in mind, you can try again.
4. Be wary of young adults who offer to help you with directions. They will casually lead you to certain stalls they want you to shop or end up asking for a hefty tip when you reach your destination.
5. Alcohol is difficult to find in the Old Medina (Fes), but a 70 DH ($0.70) taxi ride will get you to a large Carrefour grocery store in the new and more progressive part of town.
   1. Wine: I liked the Domaine de Sahara wines we tried.
   2. Beer: Casablanca, of course, or Flag Special which is brewed in Fes.
6. Clothing for women: In the old medina, you’ll want to wear minimally revealing clothing.  Otherwise you should expect a lot of glares from older men and women and probably some unwanted catcalling from young men.   The narrow streets of the medina provide a lot of shade so it stayed surprisingly cool. That was a relief!
   1. You do not need to cover your head even though you will see most women with some sort of scarf.
   2. Light linen pants will be the most comfortable for the hot day.
   3. In the new town, we saw fashion of all sorts, so you can really wear what you want. Just be prepared to walk down sidewalks where men line the street at cafés sipping their coffees and teas and you can just feel them staring. This
7. Drink bottled water. While the locals drink from the tap, this would take awhile for your body to get used to without getting sick, so don’t waste your trip in the bathroom.
8. Similarly, you may want to avoid street food. Often they do not have facilities for hot water to properly clean dishes. It was the swam of flies that dissuaded me.
9. In the moment, I was a bit irked that men would only address my husband. After my visit I learned this was actually out of respect for me and a norm in the Islamic culture.