Morocco Trip Review: Fez, Chefchaouen, and Tangier

After many visits to Europe and a trip to Asia, (and living in North America most of my life), I set foot on the continent of Africa for the first time when I was 26. Matt came to visit me in Madrid, and together we flew to Fez to spend 5 days in Morocco! It’s so close to Spain and I’d really wanted to go for a long time. Since Matt was here, and I felt a bit more secure traveling with him, it was the perfect opportunity. I booked our plane tickets and Airbnbs a couple months before the trip, but other than that, I didn’t make any other plans.

I wasn’t sure what awaited us in Morocco, my first African country — I had some ideas, but I’ll talk about the differences between expectations and reality in a future post. But we ended up having a really amazing time.

Transportation

We took basically every form of transportation available during our stay — planes, two types of buses, taxis, and even a personal car. We flew direct with Ryanair from Madrid to Fès–Saïss Airport (FEZ), in the country’s second-largest city of Fez. After taking out about $200 USD worth of Moroccan Dirham (MAD), we asked an information desk worker about how to get to the city. We found the somewhat-unreliable bus, which was really hot and dirty, but it cost about $0.40 USD per person so we couldn’t complain.

During most of our time in Fez, we took taxis. They were an easy, fast, and inexpensive way to get around the city. If you need one, all you have to do is start walking in the direction you’re going, and within a minute or two one will appear and pull over for you. None of our rides cost more than $2.50, and most were about $1.

To get from Fez to Chefchaouen, we paid $7.50 each for a four-hour bus ride. The bus had no bathroom on board, but we did stop at a rest-stop sort of area that featured an outdoor barbecue, roaming chickens and peacocks, and squat toilets. From Chefchaouen to Tangier, we used a travel company/service called MyDayTrip which matches you up with a local, English-speaking driver after you choose your travel origin and destination. The winding mountain roads were much more comfortable in Mohamed’s air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz than they would have been on the bus!

From Tangier, we were flying direct from Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG) to Madrid with Air Arabia. And despite so-so reviews online, we really liked our Air Arabia experience! (I’m gonna say it — I think it’s better than Ryanair.)

If you want to take a day trip from Fez to Chefchaouen, you could use GetYourGuide to plan and manage the whole day.

Culture in Morocco

There are SO MANY things to talk about here, so I think I need to break it down further.

Religion: Obviously, Morocco is a Muslim-majority country, with 99% of the population adhering to it. This was my first time visiting a Muslim country, so I was excited to experience something new. One thing I knew in advance of the trip was that I should dress very modestly. I didn’t need to cover my head, but I did need to cover my shoulders and knees. It wouldn’t have been illegal for me not to or anything, but I did anyway for two reasons: one, to show respect; and two, to not attract unwanted attention.

Instead of cathedrals or temples dotting the skyline, as I was accustomed to from other places I’ve visited, here were mosques. (As someone living in Spain, a country whose relationship with Islam is complicated and problematic, it was nice to see more than just former-mosques-that-were-converted-into-cathedrals-when-the-Muslims-were-expelled, like I usually do.) Unfortunately, non-Muslims aren’t allowed to enter the mosques, so we could only admire them from the outside.

(However, there is one exception. The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca does allow non-Muslims to enter, but only with a tour group. So if you’re going to be in Casablanca, lucky you!)

One thing that drew our attention to the mosques — if they didn’t have it already — was the Islamic call to prayer. The adhan is broadcast from the minarets five times a day: dawn, midday, late afternoon, after sunset, and between sunset and midnight. For a few minutes, you’ll hear a long string of Arabic words spoken through a megaphone in a monotone but impassioned chant.

 
French Influence: The first language of Morocco is Arabic. The second language is… French?! I didn’t really know that; if anything, I would have expected Spanish to be more helpful due to history and geographical proximity. But nope — French is the language of choice for communicating with foreigners. My knowledge of French is limited to the numbers 1-20 and any words that are cognates of Spanish ones. Luckily, the numbers were at least helpful for talking with the taxi drivers as the rides were never more than 20 dirham. And we came across an unexpectedly high number of French restaurants, bistros, and bakeries.

This influence in Morocco comes from French imperialism. France began military occupation in Morocco in 1907; from 1912-1956, Morocco was a Spanish and French “protectorate.” That means it was a dependent, but somewhat autonomous, territory. Spain claimed rather small areas of the country but France had almost all the rest. Though Morocco declared its independence in 1956, the influence is still there, and Moroccan-French international relations are very strong today.

Cities: Each of the three cities we visited — Fez, Chefchaouen, and Tangier — were very different from the others. And they were all probably different from what you might think Morocco would be. Fez was maybe the closest to what you’d think of for “typical” Morocco. It had a very conservative culture that seemed to be the most untouched by tourism. We found few other foreigners navigating the markets in the narrow and winding medina — old town.

But Chefchaouen and Tangier weren’t like that at all.  Chefchaouen is a mountain town, nestled in the Rif Mountains and only accessible via winding two-lane road. Even though I haven’t been to Peru, it was more like what I would think Peru looks like. Matt’s been to Peru, and he agreed that he got some similar vibes. Tourists from around the world flock to see Chefchaouen’s famous blue walls, and it’s popular with hippies or backpackers who want cheap “hashish.” And Tangier, in northern Morocco right on the coast at the Straight of Gibraltar, had very tropical, southern-Spain vibes.

Food in Morocco

I think food is best experienced by taste, but if that’s not possible, then probably photos.

A few more things to add:

• Morocco’s legal system follows Islamic law. For that reason, it’s illegal for a non-married couple to live together or even stay together in a hotel room/Airbnb. However, this really just applies to Muslims, so if you’re on a trip with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you’ll be okay as long as you have your passports proving that neither of you are Moroccan.
• Sort of related — PDA is frowned upon, though what you might feel comfortable getting away with depends on the city. Tangier was more liberal than Fez, for example.
• Ramadan began in Morocco on the day we left. I’d read online that since we were there in the preceding 10 days, alcohol would basically not be available for purchase anywhere. Beer and wine was only offered at one place we ate, a restaurant that was mainly for tourists.
• Clocks fall back an hour for Ramadan, which happened our last night there. I didn’t know that, so luckily we took that into account when heading to the airport early in the morning!
• Everyone was really, really nice. I only felt somewhat unsafe one time, and that was because someone was being so nice to us that I became suspicious.
• The equivalent of $200-ish USD that we took out on the first day was pretty much enough to last us, two people, during our 4-5 days there. A huge meal for two could be anywhere between $5 and $35.

Morocco had so many new sights, sounds, and experiences. It was a lot of fun trying to take it all in. But it’s got me looking forward to the next time I can visit — there are still so many other places to go!

 

Have you ever thought about visiting Morocco? Did any of this surprise you? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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Originally Published on May 13, 2019.