So, you’re planning a trip to Morocco! If you’re renting a car and doing a multi-week vacation, you’ll have plenty of time to see plenty of things. But perhaps you have less time (I’m looking at you Spring Break) and don’t want to deal with a car and parking but you still want to get around. And then, like me, you looked at a map of Africa and thought “Morocco seems pretty small, this should be easy to figure out”. Well…. it’s not small. It’s 11% bigger than California. And of course, California is drivable, but we’re talking about the kind of distances that require some planning when you’re trying to maximize your vacation time.
Generally, taxis are plentiful in cities and trains are available between larger cities. While there, we looked for a Moroccan rideshare equivalent but quickly learned there seems to be conflict between the rideshare service and the licensed taxis that we didn’t want to be part of. Also, you can certainly arrange for private drivers for a day or for your whole trip. I would advise making sure they have seatbelts and AC in advance since the taxis in towns usually had neither.
I really like using public transportation but also, we wanted to arrange a tour for glamping in the Sahara. We had 11 days total, didn’t rent a car, and did cover a lot of ground. Here’s how:
-We flew into Casablanca’s CMN airport, took the train from the airport to the bigger train station (Casa Voyageurs) and, using taxis, went to Hassan II Mosque and then back to Casa Voyageurs.
-We then took a two-hour train from Casa Voyageurs to Marrakech where a driver arranged by our riad picked us up in a van and took us to the riad. (Tip: We took the late afternoon train and the sunset across the landscape was stunning.)
-Next we embarked on a 3-day prearranged tour with a company that picked us up from our riad in Marrakech, drove us through the mountains to the Sahara for overnight glamping, then eventually dropped us off in Fes where a man at the car park helped us and our bags (for about $4 USD) find our next riad. Note that each of those 3 days included 5-7 hours of driving but also the scenery was breathtaking, and we made interesting stops along the way like visiting Ait Ben Haddou (UNESCO World Heritage Site and famous film location) and feeding Barbary macaques in a cedar forest.
-From Fes, we knew we wanted to get to Chefchaouen but the drive there would be almost 4 hours and there is no train. We talked about skipping the Blue City altogether but that’s when my husband and I had the inevitable vacation conversation that goes something like: “Should we plan more downtime? It’s a lot of traveling and driving. Sleep is important to prevent breakdowns. But we may never go back, and we certainly don’t want to miss this. I think we can get it done within reason. Carpe diem. We’re doing it!” Be warned, this strategy usually works out for us but not always (picture grown adult me crying at Disneyland a few years ago over a t-shirt purchase…)
If you’re on social media, you probably know Chefchaouen is a very popular spot for pictures. Lots of blue walls and alleys perfect for a curated shot. It’s no surprise that many people make day trips to Chefchaouen. But, for as popular as the destination appears, it isn’t yet easy to get to. My husband found a shared van service that was doing day trips from Fes to Chefchaouen and there was an option to book one-way only. It was advertised to be 4 hours although ended up taking 5 due to a late start and a 30-minute break mid-trip. Personally, I can’t imagine doing the one-day trip driving 5 hours each way to only spend 5 hours in the city, but a 20-year-old me might have felt differently.
I was happy to spend a night in Chefchaouen and not on another 5-hour trip back to Fes. Plus having more time there allowed us to visit the souks, take the good pictures, eat a nice dinner with a nice view and hike up to the Spanish mosque the next morning. If you had more time you could even head to the nearby Akchour waterfalls. My opinion: If you are making the effort to get to Chefchaouen, there is enough to do over the course of 2 days.
The Blue City was the last major stop on our Morocco trip and we needed to get back to CMN in Casablanca to fly home. There is no train station or airport in Chefchaouen although there is an airport 90 minutes away in Tetouan. We could have hired a driver to take us there or even drive us the 5 hours to CMN by car. There is the option of taking a bus from Chefchaouen to any nearby city with a train station that would then take you by rail to Casablanca. But…. Isn’t Tangier sort of close and doesn’t it have the Al Boraq, the only high-speed train in Africa going about 200 mph?!?! And perhaps we could see Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar while we’re there?!?! Let’s do that!
Our riad set up a grand taxi (a driver that takes you between cities or towns) for a total of $70 USD for the 2-hour drive from Chefchaouen to Tangier. Our taxi was a minivan with some seatbelts; I should have asked about that in advance but forgot. We bought first class train tickets to Casablanca (an extra $10 USD per person). This gave us access to the Al Boraq lounge where the very nice attendants watched our bags while we walked the few blocks to dip our toes in the ocean, stop by a McDonald’s and see what we could see. Unless we were hallucinating, it was too hazy to see Spain, but the coastline was lovely and many kids and families were playing at the beach. McDonald’s had a few unique drinks and then the curry ketchup dipping sauce that I will try to recreate at home. Shortly thereafter we boarded the Al Boraq first class cabin which was heavenly. Spacious cushy seats and a smooth, speedy ride. The train goes through Rabat with a view of the futuristic building projects underway. Once back at CMN, our riad picked us up for dinner and a few hours of sleep before taking us back to the airport at 430am for our flight home.
Bottom line on transport in Morocco: Use the trains, especially the Al Boraq if you have a chance. There are many private drivers and shared buses available online or you can ask your riad owner. When taking taxis or private cars, know what your limits are when it comes to seatbelts and AC and then plan accordingly. Once in a city, I preferred walking to jumping in a cab given those were some of the more hectic rides. Chefchaouen is worth the effort in my opinion, but I wouldn’t want to do it as a day trip. Tangier was a nice bonus. Being from the coast myself, it was nice to see the ocean and wave to Europe while standing in Africa. It gave some geographic, political, and economic perspective. And that McD’s curry ketchup was delish.