Morocco and Sevilla Itinerary (May 2019)

We had a fantastic 2-week trip to Morocco and Sevilla. While we usually travel completely independently, on this trip we used a company called Morocco Explored to arrange a private driver for most of the trip, as well as some local guides, some of the local experiences, and lodging outside the bigger cities. We're so glad we did. We wouldn't have had access to some of the best experiences without them.

Day 1 - Marrakech

Arrive Marrakech early afternoon. Get settled in our beautiful home for the next three nights, the Riad Le Clos des Arts, inside the old medina (historic walled core of the city). Take the rest of the day to just wander the medina, getting the feel of its bustling lanes and alleys, and getting our first look at the Jemaa el-Fna, a vast open square filled day and night with carts, street vendors, musicians, fortune-tellers, snake-charmers, and more.

Day 2 - Marrakech

City tour with a local guide, showing us the Mellah (Jewish quarter) market, the Saadian tombs (our first encounter with grand classical Islamic architecture with its colorful tile work, intricate carved cedar wood, and ornate carved plaster), the Koutoubia mosque, and foray deep into the "souks" (shop-filled alleys) to encounter classic crafts (weavers at looms, cloth dyers, wood carvers, herbal apothecaries) being practiced much as they were centuries ago, and still-used remnants of 15th century urban life such as neighborhood fountains (water sources) and community ovens.

Day 3 - Marrakech

On our own to explore the new Yves-St-Laurent museum, the vibrantly colorful Majorelle Gardens (French painter Jacques Majorelle has a distinctively intense shade of blue officially named after him), the dazzling Bahia Palace (even more extravagant array of tile, wood, and plaster design work), and the Jewish cemetery (an impressive remnant of the sizable Jewish community that thrived here).

Day 4 - Crossing the High Atlas to Ait Benhaddou

We begin the car part of our journey with a nice 4-wheel drive vehicle and a private driver arranged by Morocco Explored. We drove up and over the 7400' Tizi n'Tichka pass (some visible peaks still had snow in May), going from the rainy green side to the dry side, where we saw dramatic desertscapes that reminded of Arizona and Utah. In a remote spot, we encounter our first "kasbah", Telouet, an impressive semi-ruin of a reddish-brown mud-brick desert fortress with remnants of opulence hidden inside. We stop to visit a bootleg salt mine. And the highlight at the end of the day, the ancient "ksar" (earthen clay village) of Ait Ben Haddou, a picturesque and evocative UNESCO World Heritage site. (Hotel 1 night arranged by Morocco Explored at Ksar Ighnda.)

Day 5 - "Ourza-wood", Berbers, and Nomads

In the morning we visited Egypt, Israel, China, and Tibet, which is to say that we visited Atlas Studios in Ourzazate, the "Hollywood of Africa", where we saw huge film sets for all sorts of big productions from Gladiator to James Bond films. For lunch, our driver arranged the special experience of having lunch in the home of a Berber family in the Dades Valley. In the afternoon, we visited Mars, which is to say that we went off road into some amazing red rock terrain, where we encountered some totally off-the-grid nomads who live in caves, raise sheep and chickens, and welcomed  us into their cave for a cup of mint tea! (Hotel 1 night arranged by Morocco Explored at La Perle du Dades.)

Day 6 - Tinghir, Todra Gorge, and a Camel Trek to a Desert Camp in the Erg Chebbi

Tour the town of Tinghir with a local guide, meeting local farmers in community gardens, and visiting a carpet collective where we end up buying a carpet. Explore the dramatic rock formations of Todra Gorge. While crossing the desert, inspect ancient underground waterways called "khettaras". Arrive at the edge of the Erg Chebbi late in the day for a sunset journey by camel through the mesmerizingly beautiful golden sand dunes to a luxury desert camp. Enjoy Berber music around the campfire after dinner. (Lodging 1 night arranged by Morocco Explored at Bivouac Azawad.)

Day 7 - On the Road to Fes: Fossils, Palmeries, Macaques

Watch the sunrise over the dunes, then ride the camels back out. Today is a long driving day to Fes, but lots of interesting stops, and stunning geography as we cross the stark High Atlas then the lush green Middle Atlas. We shopped for fossils and bought dates in Rissani, admired the oasis palmeries of the Ziz Valley, had an awesome lunch at a "boucherie" (meat market), and went through a forested mountain area where we saw a bunch of macaque monkeys and fed a few of them. (Hotel for 2 nights in Fes at Riad El Yacout.)

Day 8 - Fes

A full day in Fes, with a local guide to lead us through the labyrinthine medina. Fes is the ancient capital of crafts, many of which are still practiced as they have for centuries. We visited a tile and ceramics factory where we saw how they make those intricately shaped tile pieces for mosaics, and we visited a tannery where men trample hides with their feet in giant vats of colorful dyes. We went through the food market, saw medersas and mosques, and dodged donkeys and carts in the bustling lanes as if it were still the 14th century.

Day 9 - Meknes and Volubilis on the road to Chefchaouen

We drive across the verdant valley from the Middle Atlas to the Rif Mountains, and into the Rif. In the morning, we visit Meknes where we visit the Bou Inania Medersa, a gem of Marinid Islamic architecture (tile, carved wood, ornate plaster) dating from 1341, and the vast royal stables of Moulay Ismail. In the afternoon, we explore Volubilis, the remains of an ancient roman city, where we wander among evocative columns and arches, discover beautiful mosaic floors, and discern the plan of a whole city from the foundations and outlines of homes, public buildings, and streets and squares. Arrive in Chefchaouen shortly before sunset denotes the beginning of Ramadan. (Hotel for 2 nights in Chefchaouen at Casa Sabila.)

Day 10 - Chefchaouen - the Blue City

A full day on our own to explore this uniquely charming and beautiful "blue city", where nearly all of the plaster walls in the old medina have been painted or washed in shades of blue. It is a feast for the eyes, and you'll take a thousand pictures. The town spills down the side of a mountain, alongside a clear stream coming from a mountain spring. It's a delight just to wander the lanes. The town is just big enough to be interesting, but small enough that you can't get too lost for long. Late in the day, we hike up to the old Spanish Mosque to watch the sunset over the blue city. As we descend, we hear the evening call to prayer marking the end of the first day of Ramadan fasting.

Day 11 - Quick look at Tetouan, Ferry to Spain

Today is a travel day with a mix of cars and boats. We drive out of the Rif toward the coast for a quick visit to Tetouan, the "white city", with a small historic core that felt like a Moroccan version of Nice. Then on to Tangier, where we said farewell to our wonderful driver, and hopped on a ferry for a 1-hour ride from Africa to Europe. We grab lunch in the Spanish coastal town of Tarifa, then a private car picks us up and drives us to Seville, passing by the impressive Rock of Gibraltar and through a scenic national park. (Hotel for 4 nights in Sevilla at Legado Alcazar.)

Day 12 - Sevilla

Full day to explore this magnificent city. Explore the Alcázar, a complex of royal palaces and gardens, a stunning example of Mudéjar architecture, similar to the palaces of Morocco with exquisite tile, carved cedar, and ornate plaster. Visit Seville's cathedral, dating from the 15th century, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Climb its famous Giralda tower, originally a minaret fashioned after the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech. Take a horse-drawn carriage tour of the city, a mode of transport that seems perfectly fitting for these historic surroundings. The timeless feeling is further enhanced as we were here during the Feria de Abril, a week-long traditional civic festival held two weeks after Easter. All over town, we were seeing women in flamenco-style dresses and men in traditional attire. They looked completely in place in a horse-drawn carriage.

Day 13 - Córdoba Day Trip

A morning visit to the Plaza de España, a Beaux Arts wedding cake of a building, a remnant of the 1929 World's Fair, with a canal with boats along its front. Then take the high-speed train to spend the rest of the day exploring Córdoba — its Jewish quarter with a synagogue dating from 1315; the awesome Mezquita, a sprawling cathedral built into the remains of a large mosque; a Roman bridge and arch; a picturesque river with old mills along it; and the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos, a medieval fortress with beautiful Moorish-style gardens.

Day 14 - Sevilla

A day to explore the noble houses of Seville. The Palacio de las Dueñas, the stately home of the Dukes of Alba is filled with exquisite furnishings, art, and family touches that gives you a sense of how the top 1% of Seville of centuries past and present lived and lives. The Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija is an equally marvelous home with the distinction of being filled with the late countess's fantastic collection of Roman mosaics, Asian art, and European masters, a museum-worthy personal collection. The Casa de Pilatos is an Italian renaissance ducal palace adorned with Roman statues and busts, and decorated with a wealth of azulejo (Spanish glazed tile).

Day 15 - Travel Home

Fly home from Seville. No direct flights from here to the US, but it's served by many airlines and a short hop will get you to a larger connecting airport.

Notes In Retrospect

Overall, I think we were very happy with this itinerary. Really good sampling of Morocco, and very interesting to pair it with Sevilla which has so much shared history and cultural heritage in common (Andalusia in southern Spain was essentially part of Morocco for five centuries). Very happy with our decision to use Morocco Explored to provide a driver and arrange parts of the trip. Their suggestion to take a full three days to get from Marrakech to the camel trek was a good one — there were many unexpected highlights in that stretch that we'd have totally missed just planning our own trip independently. I wouldn't have changed any of it. If we'd have spent more time in Morocco, we might have added Essaouira, which looks to be a lovely coastal town, and easily could have filled an extra day in Marrakech and/or Fes. Some ask why we skipped Casablanca and essentially skipped Tangier. My impression from what I'd heard and read is that those are more modern cities without the same concentrated historic and cultural richness of Marrakech or Fes. On the Spanish side, with another day or two, we might have made forays to Jerez (sherry!) and Gibraltar or a beach day on the Malaga coast. And of course if you haven't seen the rest of Andalusia (Granada, Ronda, the white hill towns) as we had, that would also fit in very nicely. For timing, May was quite good. We had a few hot days getting to 90-ish, but most of the trip was nice 80s temperatures, even in the desert. It was neat to have just a little overlap with Ramadan to experience that, and being in Seville during the Feria (two weeks after Easter) was very fun.

Experiencing Ramadan

At the end of the first day of fasting, we had hiked up to the Spanish mosque for beautiful sunset views over Chefchaouen (the "blue city") and were making our way down when we heard the adhan al-maghrib (evening call to prayer).

One particularly cool part of our amazing Morocco trip is that we got to experience the beginning of Ramadan. While we heard the five times daily call to prayer all during our trip, this one here was special, as it marked the sunset after the first full day of fasting. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. They eat a crazy early morning meal at around 3:30am, and then don’t eat or drink again until after sundown. The fast is typically broken first with dates, then harira, a spicy tomato noodle soup. During the afternoon of the first day of fasting, we kept smelling this great cooking smell but couldn’t pin it to a restaurant. We later learned it was coming from all the homes cooking harira. As with the call to prayer, the timing of Ramadan is based on astronomical definitions. It begins when the moon is first sighted after the new moon. Because this is done old-school, by actual sighting, it creates some uncertainty about when exactly it will start and end. It really just depends. Last Sunday, there was anticipation — Ramadan might start tonight, but it depends if we see the moon. As it turns out, many Muslim countries saw the moon on Sunday night and began their fast, but the Moroccans did not see the moon, so their month of fasting didn’t begin until Monday night. And Monday night, when they did see the moon, what a commotion! Around 2am, folks parade around town beating drums and blowing horns, rousing everyone for the pre-dawn meal. At about 3:30am, there’s a special Ramadan edition call to prayer. And as we learned, the commotion isn’t restricted to the first night, it goes on all month. The second night, it seemed like even more drumming and horns. The kids stay up late, and the whole town shifts into a nightlife cadence. Felt a bit like our New Years Eve or Fourth of July. So cool to get to experience this!

Lunch at a boucherie cafe on the road to Fes (Morocco)

At this small town diner in central Morocco, you pick out your cuts of meat from the butcher, bring them to the guy running the grill on the sidewalk, pick out some tagine veggies from where those are simmering, get some grilled tomatoes and onions, some bread, and you have a great meal! Lunch at Cafe Melouya in Zaida, Morocco

Camel trek across the Erg Chebbi dunes

We'd heard from so many people that a desert camel trek was a highlight of their Morocco visit, and thus we set out for the town of Merzouga near the eastern frontier of Morocco to experience it ourselves. East from there lies the Erg Chebbi, a large "sea" of wind-swept sand dunes. We arrived late in the day, the best time to set out for our camp, several miles across the dunes. There had been a rainstorm, and there was a bit of a back-up at the "camel port", so when we set out, we were part of a large caravan, many long trains of camels marching out into the dunes. It turns out that camels are easier to mount than horses, because you mount the camel while it is lying down with its legs folded under it. There is a brief moment of terror as the camel rises and you lurch forward then backward as it gathers its legs to stand up. The camel's rear legs have two knees, a normal forward-facing set and also a backward-facing set. So you pitch back and forth as it straightens one set of rear knees, then gets onto its front knees, then straightens the other set of rear knees, and then straightens its front legs. It's not quite as broad as a horse, and its hips and haunches are much narrower, but it feels quite steady and it walks smoothly, so once we were up, I felt quite comfortable.

There was a bit of lingering intermittent rain, but not enough to dampen our sense of adventure. The sky was dramatic, with low dark clouds slowly breaking up, and golden late afternoon light breaking through, providing extraordinary illumination for the starkly beautiful dunes. The sand is a striking color, a deep golden hue. It stands out even in satellite photos. The dunes are like great ocean waves, shaped by the winds in ways both large and small. The peaks of the waves trace undulating curves, while the surfaces are etched in wavy parallel lines like the fingerprints of the wind. The stark sandscape is occasionally studded with clumps of grass or low shrubs, mostly of a pale green celadon color that catches the light and stands out against the sand. Before long, we are surrounded by dunes. With golden sand in all directions, nothing else in sight, it feels vast. The light and the lines are truly amazing, and I couldn't stop taking photos that would inevitably fail to fully capture it.

The camps are a few miles into the dunes, and it takes a good hour and a half to get there by camel, plenty long enough to get a serious experience of traveling by camel, but not too long. And fortunately for my non-camping husband, the camp was richly appointed for a bunch of tents in the middle of the desert. Our private tent was larger than most hotel rooms, and not only had a queen size bed, a furnished sitting area, and a couple of lamps, but also an en-suite tent bathroom with toilet, sink, shower, and hot and cold running water. The floors and even the outdoor walkways were covered with Moroccan woven carpets. There was even wifi. A circus-sized tent in the center served as the dining hall, where we were served a thoroughly decent multi-course dinner. Later, the staff made a small campfire, and then performed some traditional Berber music and singing for us, and a bit of dancing around the fire. On some nights in these desert camps, the stars are said to be spectacular, but that aspect was denied us by lingering clouds.

The next morning, we got up before the sun so that we could watch it rise over the dunes, and then enjoy the magical light of dawn on that mesmerizing sandscape. We visited the camels, and I tried a few runs of "sandboarding" (riding a snowboard down the dunes). After breakfast, a guide gave me a quick lesson on how to wrap a turban, and then we mounted camels for our return trek. Most people at camp chose to stay a bit longer, or chose to ride a truck back out. Unlike the mass caravan riding in to camp, it was just us two and the guide going back out with the camels. We had a clear blue sky with golden morning light illuminating the dunes, and quickly became entranced in the seeming infinity of the dunes and the profound quiet of footsteps in the sand with no one else in sight. We took a hundred more photos that we knew would inadequately capture the beauty before being delivered back to the edge of civilization.

Tea with Nomads in the High Atlas

After lunch, we headed up the valley along the M'Goun River into the Atlas Mountains, with the growth along the river making a green gash through otherwise deserty pastel reds, yellows, and whites in rock, sand, and dirt. At one point, we turned off the road and headed into a canyon, into an area that was mostly red dirt and red rocks, like one imagines the surface of Mars might look, but for the low sparse scrub brush. The track undulates along rolling knolls between tall ridges in the distance. We come to a stop on a hill with a view of a Berber nomad encampment, where there are some caves carved out of the hillside, a couple of large tents, and a low stone wall enclosing some chickens. This is the home of an old man and his wife. They live entirely off the grid in these caves and tents, raising livestock, weaving carpets, and occasionally walking to the nearest market town to barter for some supplies. Our guide approaches them, and then gestures for us to join him. We are welcomed. As is the ancient Moroccan imperative, even among people who live in caves, strangers are to be welcomed with mint tea. The woman prepares the tea on a small propane stove, using bottled water that our guide told us to bring. (This is not only for us, so we know we're starting with bottled water, but for them, since they don't exactly have tap water running in their cave, and all of their water has to be carried in.) We are invited to sit on one of their woven blankets on the cave floor, carefully keeping our shoes off of the carpet, which is worn but clean and a beautiful multicolored traditional design. A primitive loom made of a few carved poles is nearby where they are making a large carpet, mostly black wool with white stripes and knots. The ceiling of the cave is black from the fires they burn to keep warm at night. Our guide tells us that once a year they'll do a "spring cleaning" to scrape out the soot and expand their cave a bit. Their dress was traditional. The man wore an orange robe that came down to his ankles over a white peasant shirt and white headdress, and orange cloak. The woman, who did not want to be photographed, wore a brown full-length dress with some embroidery, with a black cloak and black scarf, so that her hair was covered but not her face. He had slippers, she was barefoot. Our guide spoke mostly with the man, translating from Berber for us, and we learned a little. They have a herd of sheep. Their grown daughter, now married, lives in another nomad cave elsewhere in the canyon, and she is a good carpet weaver. The man has no idea how old he is. They are faithful Muslims. As we were leaving, he asked our guide, looking at the sun, if he reckoned it was time for the al-asr late afternoon prayer. A few minutes later we watched him walk across his enclosed yard to make his prayers.

Lunch at Fatima's house

When Adnan, our driver, asked if we might like to have lunch in a Berber family home instead of a restaurant, we jumped at the chance. In a small southern Moroccan town, he pulled off the road and drove down some dirt lanes between mud-brick homes to find the home of Fatima, a warm outgoing Berber woman who had invited us to lunch. Knowing of George’s gluten allergy, she was preparing corn couscous instead of the more common bulgur. She had a big pot on her propane stove that had been simmering beef and vegetables in Moroccan spices for hours, with a separate pot that set on top of the first, and caught the flavorful steam to cook the couscous. Every half-hour or so, she would stir and break up the couscous with her hands. After we arrived, everything was spread out on the kitchen floor for final assembly. Of course we were welcomed with traditional Moroccan mint tea (and Fatima's careful instructions on the proper way to prepare it). Then we feasted on the couscous and beef with turnips, carrots, two kinds of squash, fava beans, and a few hot peppers, as we got to know this charming woman a bit and learn about her life. (Fortunately our driver speaks Amazigh.) We also got to meet her parents and one of her brothers, and after lunch, also met the family cow, goats, and sheep that live in their compound.

Ourzazate - Morocco's film capital

On Thursday morning, we visited Egypt, Tibet, Afghanistan, Israel, ancient Rome, and the Dothraki desert. Or rather, we visited Atlas Studios in “Ourza-wood”. If you’ve seen Game of Thrones or Gladiator or The Living Daylights or tons of other films, you’ve seen their work. (We met one guy who was an extra on all of those and more.) A film maker can create all sorts of “exotic” locales here relatively inexpensively, along with a ready supply of extras to look African/Middle-Eastern/Central Asian. Even being from LA and having the industry all around us, it was still very fun to see this, and I got a kick out of recognizing props and sets from films I’d seen. Like LA, Ourzazate is very much a film industry town.

Aït Benhaddou (Morocco)

Aït Benhaddou is a UNESCO World Heritage site recognizing this amazing example of southern Moroccan earthen architecture. Since the ancient times of the caravans between Sudan and Marrakech, there has been a “ksar” here, a close group of dwellings surrounded by walls and towers for protection. The structures are made of stone and baked mud/straw walls, with wood-reinforced earthen roofs. Some structures here date in some form to the 17th century, but with this kind of structure, it is constantly being patched and rebuilt. A few families still live inside the ksar, while most have moved across the river to a newer town where they can get electricity and modern conveniences. If this place looks familiar to you, it’s because you’ve seen it in Gladiator, The Mummy, Game of Thrones, or dozens of other films. Inside the town, we met a musician playing a traditional Moroccan instrument, and a watercolor artist who practiced the Berber technique of fire painting or "pyro aquarelle". He paints in what looks like water, totally invisible, but then holds his canvas over a flame and what he has painted becomes visible, sort of like a spy's invisible ink. (Of course we bought one.)

Telouet Kasbah in the High Atlas (Morocco)

In the midst of the Atlas Mountains, we came to the dilapidated Kasbah Telouet, the fortress of the notorious El Glaoui, a regional leader. (It's hard to say actually how notorious he really is, or whether it's just bad PR. El Glaoui took the side of the French, for which he was handsomely rewarded while the French were in control, but made his name mud after the French left and the Alaouite dynasty came back in power.) From the outside, you see the mud-brick fortress style that becomes familiar around this area. You can see that it once was an imposing fortress but now is mostly just a haunting ruin. But walking around the inside you unexpectedly come upon lavish carved cedar, intricate plaster, and zellij (tile mosaics) like we saw in Marrakech, a remnant of its former greatness. Time-worn and now just a home for pigeons. (Calls to mind Ozymandias from high school English class.)

Crossing the High Atlas (Tizi n'Tichka Pass, Morocco)

Today we drove across the High Atlas Mountains, crossing through many climates. The mountains are high enough to still have snow on the peaks, and at the top of Tichka Pass, the road is 7,345 feet in elevation. On the coastal side, the mountains are verdant with pines and poplars, as well as poppies and other wildflowers, with some cactus mixed in. On the other side, they are mostly bare with low scrub brush. The earth is a rich red color, until at some point you start getting more and more yellow or white earth. A valley on the far side has a salty river running through it with a band of green along it, where small villages are home to lots of sheep and goats and people who wash their linens in the river. In between a couple of awesome historic sights, we also visited a bootleg salt mine and got a small block of salt from the miners.