Morocco had been sitting on our travel wish list for several years (6 to be precise!) The flights from Los Angeles were always either too expensive or too inconvenient, and hence this trip never seemed to materialize. That finally changed in August 2018. While trying to make up our minds for our 2019 spring break trip (April second week), we chanced upon very reasonably priced tickets to Casablanca on Air Canada, with a very convenient connection in Montreal. We were planning to spend spring break with some good friends (Kapil & Vipula @theshadesofwords), so after successfully making the pitch to them, we immediately booked the tickets. We paid absolutely no attention (and had no reason to as well in August 2018) to the aircraft type – which happened to be a Boeing 737 MAX 8.

Oblivious to the Boeing fiasco that lay ahead in about 6 months, we began to enthusiastically plan the details of this trip. We had done enough research on Morocco over the last few years, to know that it would not be possible to see and do everything the country offers in only 8 days. So, we decided to experience the beauty and charm of the old cities along with its souks and squares, and leave out the Sahara Desert and the high Atlas mountains for another trip. Our main reason for doing this was, on our first trip to Morocco we really wanted to experience all the major cities by seeing the spectacular architecture in the monuments, madrasas, mosques and palaces. In order to include the desert and mountains into your trip, you will need an additional 4-5 days. The desert is accessible from both Fes and Marrakesh, so based on your convenience, you can incorporate that into your itinerary.

Our high-level itinerary was as follows:

• Day 1: Fly from Los Angeles to Casablanca (with a 2-hour layover in Montreal)
• Day 2: Reach Casablanca early morning and head to Marrakesh – 2.5 hours by road
• Day 2-4: Spend in Marrakesh
• Day 5: Spend most of the day to travel from Marrakesh to Fes by road (with a quick stop over at Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca and a couple of hours in Meknes)
• Day 6-7: Spend in Fes
• Day 8: Travel from Fes to Chefchaouhen – 4 hours by road (with a quick stop over in Volubilis)
• Day 9: Spend morning in Chefchaouhen and travel to Casablanca airport (with a quick stop over in Rabat)

Upon finalizing the itinerary, the two most important things for consideration were where to stay and how to commute from one city to another.

There are two primary options to stay in most Moroccan cities. The first is to stay in a hotel – which based on the star rating, will look and feel pretty much the same as a comparable hotel in any other city in the world. The other option is to stay in a more traditional Moroccan house – more commonly known as a Riad. These are older Moroccan residences with a courtyard in its center and have beautiful tile and mosaic work all through the structure. The courtyards are also often decorated with water fountains, flowers and plants producing an ambiance of great beauty and splendor.  The choice was obvious – it was going to be a Riad. There are literally hundreds of Riads that will show up on most major travel sites, and based on your budget and location preference you can find something that works. We opted to stay in Riads within the old cities in both Marrakesh and Fes.

To get from one city to another, we initially considered renting a car. Thought there are several rental car companies at Casablanca airport, based on our research, we were very discouraged reading several other traveler’s frustrating experiences with rental cars. A few months before the actual trip, a friend suggested that we look into the option of a chauffeur driven car. It was sound advice, as it not only worked out slightly cheaper (considering we had to rent a big van for the 6 of us), but also very, very convenient. We had an amazing driver who was always prompt, spoke impeccable English, guided us all through our stay and made the whole trip even more memorable. I would strongly recommend doing the same to all of you considering a trip to Morocco.

With almost everything planned well in advance, we waited patiently. About 3 weeks prior to the trip, we learnt that Air Canada was grounding all its Max 8 jets, which meant our flight was being cancelled. After a week of ordeal, which included numerous frustratingly long calls and follow ups with the airline representatives and the booking agents, we were finally able to get things sorted out. However, our 2-hour long layover in Montreal changed to 12 hours. Honestly, we did not mind that and decided to make the most of it by visiting the spectacular Notre Dame cathedral and trying out some Poutine!