7 things you need to know before visiting Morocco

When I began travelling one of my goals was to experience as much authentic culture as possible when visiting new countries. In Morocco this was no different, I didn’t stay in a fancy resort or stay directly in a tourist driven areas of the city but instead stayed in a more Moroccan area. When I arrived in Morocco I found it to be so different to any place I had ever been before.

I think Morocco should be on everyone’s travel list, between food, culture, and the views, it truly is a breathtaking country. However, I have spoken to people who didn’t share the same experience of Morocco with me so I am creating a list of top tips that you should know before travelling to the country to make the most of your experience.

MONEY

You must know that a lot of places in Morocco do not take card payment. You should pay for everything in Moroccan currency which is called dirham. Most restaurants in the city will take card payments but taxis, markets, and restaurants in the smaller areas will not.

The first thing you want to do when arriving in Morocco is take out money at the ATM in the airport to withdraw dirhams (Moroccan currency). You will need this to pay for a taxi to wherever you are staying if you haven’t already booked a private transfer.

We found BMCI banks are the best option for this as they don’t charge any withdrawal fees. However, if you do go to another bank, the fee is about €2-3. Me and my boyfriend both took out 1000 dirhams each, which is the equivalent to €95.

This money held us over our four days in Agadir, which included eating around 3 meals out a day, shopping at the market, a cable car ride, some groceries, and tips for waiting staff and taxi drivers.

When leaving to travel to Taghazout, we both withdrew 500 dirhams each which is €50 to last us another three days. In Taghazout no where takes card payment and they do not have an ATM, so we were a little scared we didn’t withdraw enough money but thankfully we just had enough for the three days. We had some money left over from Agadir as we used our card for a few small payments.

I recommend not withdrawing too much money when you arrive at the airport because you can always withdraw more when you are in the city. You will spend a lot less than you think you will. You don’t want to withdraw too much because it can be awkward to exchange your dirhams back into your own currency.

TRANSPORT

The taxi’s from the airport usually have a fixed charge so you can’t haggle with the driver like you can in the city of Agadir. You can try but it is harder than haggling with the inner city taxis. It was a 30 minute drive from the airport and it cost us 200 dirhams (€20). This is expensive for a taxi in Morocco but you don’t have much of a choice if you are travelling from the airport.

You can book a private transfer with your AirBnb, so I would recommend looking into that to see if it is cheaper before you arrive.

Within the city, you will see two forms of taxis, there are red taxis and black/yellow taxis. The red taxis are city taxis that will only travel within the city. These taxis are usually very cheap but you have to haggle with the taxi driver to get a good price or he will overcharge you. You can also expect to share these taxis with multiple people, hoping in and out throughout your journey.

The black/yellow taxis are used for further journeys if you were travelling to another town, to the airport, or just anywhere outside the city. These taxis can be more expensive but again you have to haggle with them. If they are persistent on a price, be firm, walk away and they will come after you.

If you are travelling to a nearby town in close proximity, you can get the public bus. Be aware that the bus will be very crowded and you may not have a seat but it is the cheapest way to travel.

We travelled from Agadir to Taghazout on the public bus and it cost 0.70c each. This was for an hour-long journey and it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be. There is no air conditioning on the buses, so it can be very warm. As well as that, the bus is usually late so don’t think just because it isn’t there on time that it won’t show up.

There are usually a lot of taxi drivers surrounding the bus stop to try get you to use a taxi instead but don’t give in to their high prices if you are on a budget.

MOBILE PHONE

Remember that when you are in Morocco your mobile data will not work, nor will your calls and very few places have free wifi. So, if you are staying in an airbnb ensure you plan with the host when, where and what time you are meeting at. We spent about an hour searching for our Airbnb, before a man on a bike pulled up next to us and said ‘Are you looking for an Airbnb?’ We trusted him and he brought us to the door. Lucky!

You can buy a 20GB SIM card at the airport for €20. I recommend that if you are travelling in a group at least one person gets a SIM card to ensure you have some access to wifi or calls at all times. As well as this, you can download MAPS ME app, which is an offline navigation app that worked really well for us during our stay.

SAFETY

It’s probably best that you research Morocco before going to visit because it can be a bit of a culture shock once you touch down. Compared to my life in Ireland, we live very differently from each other.

When packing for Morocco, I would recommend not to just pack shorts and t-shirts because when walking around in your shorts you can feel a little uncomfortable. It isn’t the norm in Morocco to have your skin on show so when you are one of the very few who is showing skin you can feel a little out of place. However, Moroccan people are very nice and friendly, so I didn’t feel like I was being judged at all.

Due to a lot of people coming up to you on the street trying to get you to buy things or give them money, I personally wouldn’t travel Morocco alone as a female. I had my boyfriend with me and I was happy about this because sometimes you can feel a little intimidated by the large crowds and haggling.

However, the whole time I was in Morocco I did feel very safe. The people are super friendly and make you feel very welcome in their country. I have heard that Marrakech is more hectic than Agadir and that there can be a lot more people persistent and abrupt with you when they want you to buy things.

TOURS

I would pre-book any tours you wish to go on before arriving in Morocco, we used the Website GetYourGuide.ie. This will help you feel more organised but you will also get it at a better price than you would get from booking at an information desk in Morocco.

There are so many similar tours available in Moroccan cities and in the desert, so I recommend doing your research to ensure that you get the best price. Always look to see if tours include things like free pick up from your accommodation, lunch, or/and any extras.

When booking camel tours ensure that the tour provided treats their camels well. Tour providers that treat their camels poorly, understandably can have aggressive animals and as well as not supporting these providers, you want to ensure your safety. Through research it is easy to indicate one from another. You can do this through reviews and also by the tour providers themselves. Camels that wear muzzles are usually treated badly.

I also recommend if you are going on day trips to the desert ensure that you bring water and snacks. You could be out for hours and their may be no shop to get food or water, so I would highly recommend bringing some snacks because after our day trip to the desert we were starving.

BARGAIN

In Morocco you will definitely bargain, whether it is in the market, in taxis, buying street food, or with stalls. It can be really awkward to suggest lower prices when greeted with friendly people but in Morocco all people that you bargain with are going to be friendly, as they are running a business. You just have to shake off the awkwardness and be firm with your price suggestion.

Within reason you will bargain a lot in Morocco, but never show the seller how much money you have. Keep your money in a bag, purse or pocket and only take out as much money as you want to spend at a time.

In Agadir the Souk El Had is one of the biggest markets in Morocco and if you want to buy something here you will need to bargain. Retailers here start at extremely high prices for what they are selling and you will be able to get the price right down to less than a quarter of their opening price. You just have to be firm with your price and it is okay to walk away because they will often wait until you do until they give in.

CATS

If you are an animal lover Morocco will be a great place to holiday as there are cats at every corner. Cats are everywhere in Morocco, they are in restaurants, in cafes, on the street, at the beach, just everywhere. 

We felt as though there were a lot more cats outside the city in the surf town of Taghazout. The cats there will jump up on your table as you’re eating, jump up on your lap and look for as much food as possible off you. If you are not a cat person then maybe this could be a bit of a turn off. 

You have to be careful if you are leaving anything on the ground due to the cats. We saw cats sniffing through people’s bags, but even worse we saw them go to the toilet on multiple bags while we were there, so we became very careful of where we left our belongings.