To celebrate my 40th birthday in February, my sisters mom and I spent a phenomenal week exploring Morocco! We wanted a relaxed travel experience, so we stayed in Marrakech for the first few days, ventured out into the Sahara Desert on an incredible tour, then finished the vacation with a luxury stay at a boutique hotel outside the city.
Here is an overview of our itinerary and favorite moments:
Day 1: Travel from the USA to Morocco
Day 2: Get to Know Marrakech
Settle in at the Riad Atlas Acacia, wander the market streets, book mani-pedi’s at Bollynails, then lunch nearby at Zeitoun Cafe. We walked back to town past the Koutoubia Mosque, the Artisanal Market (that had some of the lowest rug prices we saw the whole trip), and then to find Herboristerie Firdaous, which my savvy little sister had read about in Vogue.
Day 3: Palace and Massage
Our first stop after the breakfast offered by the Riad was Bahia Palace. We bought tickets at the front, and were happy to have arrived close to when the gates opened, because it got really busy. After wandering all of the halls and gardens (and taking a thousand photos) we lunched at the chic and delicious Nomad. Reservations are necessary, and we loved eating outside on the patio overlooking the spice market. The afternoon was spent luxuriating with a hammam, massage, and rooftop pool hang at the gorgeous Riad Wazani. We finished the day with dinner and incredible desserts at Mandala Society.
Day 4: Gardens and Fashion
We began the day with a quick taxi ride over to Majorelle Garden and the Yves Saint Lauren Museum. The two are right next to each other, and you can get a combination ticket. Everything is timed entrance, to arrive close to your entrance time. While you wait, don’t miss the darling concept store 33 Majorelle across the street. We took a thousand more photos in the garden, and stayed for lunch in the beautiful garden cafe. Once we headed back to the old town, we passed the evening expiring more shops, and had dinner at Zeitoun Cafe overlooking the medina.
Day 5: Local Cooking Class
While visiting other countries, we always love a chance to connect with some local people and get a feel for the culture. This Airbnb Experience run by Brahim was a really fun way to learn some traditional Moroccan recipes, and meet a beautiful family. The experience included breakfast, menu planning, a visit to the local market and spice shop, then several hours of chopping, sautéing, mixing, simmering, and cooking on open flames and charcoal to end up with a multi-course Marrakesh dinner.
Day 6-8: Sahara Desert Tour With Atlas Tours
This three-day tour is normally from Marrakech to Fes, but we asked to customize it to return us to Marrakech instead. The whole experience was fantastic- a great driver and tour guide, thoughtful stops, beautiful accommodations. And, of course, the bucket-list worthy experience of riding camels into the Sahara Desert Sunset.
The first day was several hours in the car winding out of the city and up and over the Atlas Mountains. We stopped either for drinks or bathroom breaks or at these beautiful viewpoints to see the landscapes as we headed through the mountains, we visited an old town called Ksar Air-Ben-Hadd0u as well as a few other sites.
Our first evening was spent at the thoughtfully designed Dar Jean Tiouria Dades. We all agreed this is a hotel we would return to again on our next visit. The owner, Mostapha, has been designing and building it himself, and it is really something.
On the second day after some driving and site seeing, we arrived at the dunes of the Erg Chubbi. After being wrapped in headscarves and alighting our camels, we rode up the dunes to watch the sunset, then rode the camels into our desert camp.
We woke up to watch the sunrise over the dunes, then headed into the van to spend the (whole) day driving back over the mountains into Marrakech.
Day 9:
We were excited to spend the last two nights of our Morocco Girl’s Trip in the fabulous Berber Lodge. It is about 45 minutes outside of the city center, and the guest houses are nestled in a walled community. Every single detail is gorgeous, interesting, and comfortable.
We sat by the pool, ate all of our meals at the lovely restaurant, and relaxed.
Day 10: Travel Home
Day ten was the final long travel day to get home to our families after an epic girls’ trip. Some of the souvenirs we brought home are: some lovely ceramic pieces, local street paintings, rugs (duh), tee shirts, vintage tea pots, and sandals.
