The colourful spices, the delicious food and the sounds of the souks have been tempting us to travel to Morocco for many years.  We finally got the opportunity to visit in April 2025. When a local travel agency advertised a 10-day trip around Morocco we jumped at the opportunity. The promise of a night in the desert clenched the deal and we happily parted with our money. This would be our first time traveling with a group of Icelanders and the idea of sitting back and just enjoying the experience without any stress sounded good. We landed in Marrakesh Manara airport and the adventure began. Waiting in line at immigration for the next couple of hours!!! Why does it always seem that the line you are in moves the slowest? Anyway, we collected our bags and met our tour guides, and the rest of the group we would be traveling with.

Marrakesh 

We arrived at our hotel, which turned out to be the best hotel of the trip, Kenzi Rose Garden. Then straight out to explore Marrakesh for the next two days. Our local guide steered us through the throngs of people in the souk. The narrow alleyways filled with incense, wool dyers, pottery, lamps, spices, honey pastries covered in wasps, and various other delights that filled our senses. We visited an Islamic school from the 14th century and marvelled at the mosaic tiling. We passed donkeys pulling carts filled with wares and ruins left after the 2023 earthquake. A visited to a shop making lotions and oils quickly emptied our pockets. Then it was time for lunch. We left the group and walked through the main square Jemaa el-Fnaa. After getting shouted at by the snake charmers we found a place overlooking the square and had our first lamb tagine. Back with the group we visited Bahai Palace and admired the gardens and decorations. Back at the hotel it was time for dinner and a beer that rivalled Icelandic prices.  

On the bus to Casablanca the landscape changed from dry and sandy to green fertile fields. We passed shepherds resting while their sheep grazed, donkey carts, orange and date trees and vineyards. After a short visit to the old town of Casablanca and Jewish quarter we had lunch. Rachel, always ready to try the local dishes, had chicken pastilla, shredded chicken and almonds wrapped in filo pastry and dusted with cinnamon. In the afternoon we went to the Hassan 2 mosque, the 2nd largest in Africa and the 14th largest in the world. The evening was spent enjoying a delicious dinner at our hotel, Hotel Kaan, and a Casablanca beer on the rooftop.  

Next stop Rabat, where we had our first rain showers before the sun came out again. We noticed how clean the town was as well as some Spanish influences. We stopped at a mausoleum and visited the palace gardens at the Royal Palace. The afternoon was free, so we walked around the market area, where we saw children selling insects from a cardboard box. Then we people watched over a mint tea and milkshake.  

The next day was overcast but that did not ruin the marvel that awaited us at the 2nd century Roman ruins at Volubilis. After our guided tour around the ruins, we continued to Meknes. Here we went to a metal workshop and the medina.  

On to Fez and a pottery workshop. Once we had been though the workshop, where once again we emptied our pockets. Our local guide took us around the maze that is the Fez souk. Here we saw chickens been feathered, camel meat been prepared as well as the usual spices. Another local guide, a cute little wrinkled man wearing a variety of headwear showed us around an Islamic school. Then the heavens opened and we rushed off to the highlight of the day, the Fez tannery. We were given a sprig of mint to keep the smell away as we watched the men working in tubs filled with skins and a variety of colourful liquids. The work involved looked back breaking and explained the high prices of leather goods available to buy. We were very glad to have a guide with us as we navigated the various souks, as earlier on we decided to take a walk by ourselves, and we felt very intimidated when two men insisted on taking us to where we wanted to go. Even when we told then we were fine and just wanted a walk, they followed us for some time. We decided in head back to the hotel.  

A long day driving was ahead of us, 10 hours to be exact from Fez to the Sahara. We began by driving through the Atlas Mountains, we left the warm weather behind to see snow and alpine-like hotel resorts. We stopped to see the monkeys that were not afraid to come close. Once down from the mountains the sun and heat were back as we passed breathtaking landscapes, of rivers, valleys, mud houses, and date palm plantations. Every view looked like a Bible scene, and we felt as though we had been transported thousands of years back in time. After a long drive in the bus, we moved to jeeps for a fun bumpy ride into the desert. Then it was time for a camel ride into the sunset. We had a fabulous time, and our camel guide took some great photos for us. A highlight of the trip and with more to come that evening. Accommodation from the night was a luxury tent camp in the desert. We were greeted with traditional music and taken to our tent. The campfire, lamps, starlight and rugs on the sand made the camp look amazing. We had a very good dinner and entertainment of traditional music and dancing. After a long day we headed to our tent.  

The next morning, we woke up and took a short walk up a sand dune to see the sun rise over camp and then joined the group for breakfast. Today was another long day of driving. We passed local women washing clothes in a river and small villages. We stopped at a gorge and then visited Altas film studios in Ouarzazate, where Gladiator, Game of Thrones, The Mummy and other movies have been filmed. Next stop was Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, an ancient village of clay homes. We really enjoyed seeing the houses, meeting a 93-year-old woman that let you into one of the homes if you crossed her palm with silver.  

We headed over the Altas mountains, to a height of 2260 meters back to Marrakech. The last two nights would be spent back at the Kenzi Rose Hotel. After a long drive it was nice to freshen up in the hotel pool. For our last day we booked a cooking class with Fatima and her family * https://www.getyourguide.com/marrakesh-l208/marrakech-moroccan-cooking-class-with-a-local-family-t458766/?ranking_uuid=0b76252d-a74a-47e0-be29-a05494b25577)  We were warmly welcomed into their home or Riad and along with a small group we made a delicious meal of chicken tagine, Moroccan salad, and a few small side dishes. Then everyone ate the meal together on the roof top. For the last evening the group were taken to a dinner and dance show. The food and wine flowed, the music and dance shows were fantastic. It was a lovely end to a wonderful tour of Morocco.