A Month in Morocco: the Itinerary

From the 50 trips I want to take.

I’m trying something different today. Usually, I have to truncate an itinerary in some way to fit the post. I’m forced to either shorten it to a digestible length, leave out context, or have only a few photos. But, with the 50 trips I want to take – they’re Big Trips. Journeys worth detail. Of course, some more so than others, and this is one of them.

A month in Morocco. Really, the bare minimum to scratch the surface of the country.

And that we do. Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains and the Draa Valley and the Sahara Desert and Tangier and Chefchaouen and Larache and Essaouira. Today’s post is entirely this itinerary. I ran out of space in doing this itinerary really and truly properly.

One month. 29 hotels mentioned (I try to give options, where possible). 11 destinations. 1700 words. 76 photos (mostly, in grid formation). A seriously epic itinerary.

It was a very in-depth research project. Many maps made. A lot of mind changing in a lot of ways. I learned so much.

Even with a month, I had to omit a lot and we’re not going nearly as slowly as we would in a dream world. The pacing is highly intentional and I think it works.

This is one of the 50 trips I want to take. A Moroccan dream with Monopoly money, for the sake of our collective imagination – even though the majority are affordable at well under $200/night.

It’s an exodus and a trip of and for inspiration. It’s designed to balance comfort and getting well outside it. It’s both a vacation and an education. It’s intended to be taken without expectation, as I’ve found that is the only key to unlocking the magic we all seek.

Morocco fascinates me, like it does countless others, for the diversity in land, culture, religion, ethnic groups, and architecture. Of course, I’m drawn to its famed medinas and intricate artisan techniques, but also the arid valleys and seaside communities and the deserts and the oases and the fringes of in-betweens.

I want to meet and learn from people. Some who have been on the land for thousands of years and live lives traditional in most ways. Some who are modern citizens in the breathing heartbeats of the cities. Some who are expats, who have found their comfort in the North of Africa.

I want to swim within the warmth of my comfort zone and tread water far outside it. I find it so cool that Morocco is a country where you can do both.

Naturally, most cannot take a month off to experience Morocco. The hope is that you can take segments of this itinerary and fit it to your own travel needs.