About this blog: is Morocco safe to travel? Can I travel alone in Morocco? Should I opt for a group trip to Morocco? Is it fun? Are you plagued with such question at the planning stage of your upcoming Morocco trip? Here let me help you with a realistic paining of what is it like traveling in Morocco!
Read all my travel blog on Morocco.
“To visit Morocco is still like turning the pages of some illuminated Persian manuscript all embroidered with bright shapes and subtle lines.”- Edith Wharton
We landed in Marrakesh and called for a vehicle using one of the apps. Careem. A Uber equivalent which seems to work in the larger Arab world including Maghreb. The driver accepts, GPS shows he comes closer, and he calls. And asks us to come out of the airport enclosure!
We walk. With our luggage. Under the blazing December sun of a December Morocco.
We reach a place where the main road has many tributaries joining in the form of alleyways from the neighborhood. The driver is supposed to meet us here, but he is not to be found. Other taxis, from the taxi stand nearby, keep a hawking eye at us. We had rejected them.
We spot a man sipping on mint tea, looking at us. His fingers tapping on the table. I remember Leonardo di Caprio of Body of Lies. The tap. The lift of a finger had spoketh!
My husband is calm. He enters the shop where they are selling a Parotta equivalent bread. He orders some tea.
The sun-bleached yellow register taxi eventually leaves. He was told, a friend of ours is coming to pick us up. He leaves and the “tapping his finger on table guy” jumps and takes our bag in the car. He is our Careem driver!!!
I was crestfallen. Is this even possible? We learn the app taxis are at war with the register taxi stands. So they can’t pick us up where the map shows, neither can they drop us near the Medina gate. So they drop us far away and we walk. Trudging the luggage yet again. Cursing every God of the world!
Why did I not call for the Riad taxi you ask? That was USD 150 compared to a meagre USD 10 for this one! Or even less, I don’t recall. That is where the fun starts!
My husband and I traveled in Morocco for 10 days in winter. We planned the trip by ourselves except for the private tour that took us to the deep of Sahara at Merzouga desert for 3 nights.
I would encourage you to plan and curate a trip to Morocco by yourself. It would not only save you a large sum of money but also brings you closer to many cultural experiences of the land.
Let’s look at the pros of a group tour in Morocco
Someone else plans the trip for you!
Depending on the group size, you may end up having a better deal than going through the hassle of arranging transport and accommodation all by yourself, especially when traversing remote land! I hear you; it is one less work off your list!
It is relatively safer to travel in a group, or so it appears
A group tour in Morocco gives you a perceived notion of safety. Not that Morocco is unsafe. I felt complete at ease at all point of time except for the pushy men selling me stuff at the souks. However, a group tour is less susceptible to random hassling or selective outrage on the road.
That said, remember the Bus bombing of a Vietnamese group trip in Cairo back in 2019? I have been to Cairo before. I have lived in Delhi, Indian capital notorious for aggression against women. I found it was much better to explore Marrakesh or Fes compared to the said destinations.
You do not have to research a lot
Of course, a group tour in Morocco will let you get rid of everything related to booking internal transport, researching for the oldest perfume store and most sought-after street food in the city, and everything in between. However, for me, that research is the highlight of the trip! It brings me a more intimate encounter of the cultural norms of the land. Especially in a country like Morocco where history is alive at the corner of every soul and every Medina.
Meeting new people (even when you do not want to!)
Meeting people in a way that you cannot avoid! This comes with the group trips! You will make friends. More often than not, my experiences have been rewarding. I remember the mother daughter duo from Chefchaouen who have immigrated to France. The mother brought the daughter to show a part of Morocco that is still a very tender spot in her heart. We spoke for hours.
Similarly, you may get confined with a whining old man who complains about every morsel of food served. For an introvert, a long bus ride with a group of tourists might be frightening or fulfilling depending on your passengers’ luck on that day!
Coming to the Cons of signing up for a group trip to Morocco!
Coming to discussing the disadvantages of a group tour in Morocco, I cannot help but highlight the limiting factors of each cultural experience.
It feels limiting on a group trip
The group tours, also referred to as a box of Sardine by the local tour operators, follow a strict itinerary with little or very limited space of deviation. I guess that works when you have to run a business of that scale, commuting with 20 or 30 people in a bus and journeying for 8 to 12 hours a day.
Morocco is a huge country, and the cities are located at wee end of the land. Let alone be the distance is accelerated with the presence of a whole wide desert and the mighty Atlas in between!
Group tours also felt very tailored experience for all. The operator wants to show you a destination in a certain light. You see it and then you are left with very little time for yourself.
Neither you can go for self-exploration that will gift an intimate experience, nor you feel free at your heart. I wonder how a cultural experience could be enhanced without the sense of freedom. Imagine following a guide for a meagre 10-minute viewing of Chouara tannery, that does not let you explore Fes streets any further. That would be frustrating!
The key is to strike a balance.
I would highly encourage taking smaller trips, day trips, or even sighting up for hour long cultural experiences that is centered around specific activities.
Sign up for a Walking Tour of an old city when in Morocco
For example, sighing up for a Medina tour in Fes is an amazing experience. We spent three days in Fes and could not get enough of the city. The only regret I have is I did not sign up for a walking tour, thinking I could do it myself! Marrakesh is okay, but Fes is ancient and demands reverence!
We walked into the maze that Fes Medina is without knowing what awaits in the deep of the labyrinth. The old walls the arches the souks the cacophony. I wish I would have signed up for a walking tour. I wish someone more knowledgeable about the local nuances would have enriched me with the information I needed.
Sure it gave me the time to go back to the woodcraft workshop where I sourced my window panel from. Sure it gave me a space to choose which Tannery I would go for!
But I would go back to Fes and I would definitely sign up for a walking tour and I would walk with a group for a more whole some experience.
Cooking Classes are a great introduction to the culture of the land!
As I am growing older, I have found a new passion of learning cuisine of the land when I am traveling. The cooking classes are a great way to explore women centric local small business. And it adds a life skill! Imagine being able to serve a Chicken Tagine for your next house party! That’s a pretty intimate setting! The spices the herbs the new aroma you explore at every step in the interior of an old Riad, the oranges freshly plucked from a Maroc home kitchen. It is a world devoid of the mad rush that defines New York City. It settles your heart into something meaningful and slow. Slow is good.
Morocco is a safe place. I have written a whole blog describing my experiences, the good bad and ugly of it of exploring the Medina by myself. My husband would rather spend his balmy afternoon at the local gym! But I liked it so much.
Walking and exploring a city are my thing! So, I ventured alone, and I found many men to be nasty in Morocco. I wrote this as a brown woman who dressed up modestly.
But was it unsafe? No. Sadly I am conditioned to brush past catcalling or touchy feelies if I am to exist in the world. And the world of 2025 in the US has not been particularly kind to a woman of colour. So I deal. From that part of dealing I found Morocco to be rather safe. In fact, I felt a little sad thinking how western media has painted the people of the country, many of whom are Arab, in a certain light.
I discovered I did not have to be extra cautious at many places where I was hesitant to go. I found many women centric business where women were curious about my sarees, bindi and we shared stories over a cup of hot mint tea. Extra sweet. I would not have them otherwise but for when in Morocco…
People speak in English. French is widely understood too.
Public Transport is Morocco
Being a low cost country it is easy to rent a taxi in Morocco. It helps with navigating the city. The city centers are well connected.
The overnight trains and bus that runs through the express highway can bring you closer to any big city within a short distance. At least Marakesh, Fes and Casablanca are very well connected. Event Merzouga desert has a small airport if you are looking for a quick desert gateway.
My suggestion for you while traveling in Morocco is to navigate the roads by your own. If you are a seasoned traveler, Morocco will surprise you at times, but will mostly follow through in routine system. If you are new in the world of travel, may be a group tour is more suitable! But remember, groups would be limiting in experiences.
I would rather go for a few curated walks, join in workshops and take up kitchen classes to meet the people of the country and sign up for a self paced itinerary that would take me from the coastal towns to the ancient cities, even plan for a road trip to the deep of the desert. That’s how I liked it!
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