I’ve never felt more welcome in a country, I’ve never felt more unwelcome in a country.
Morocco. Here are 18 reasons I’ll be back:
Also see: 3 months in morocco by campervan – Here’s what I did
1.The music
I’ve never heard such an interesting mix of styles and instruments. The music is heavily ingrained into the culture here and I love it. I want to come back for the annual Gnawa music festival in Essaouria. Listen to some of the music in this post here: Marrakech by van – 14 photos and a sound recording
2.The mountains
Morocco has the highest peak (Jebel Toubkal) in the whole of the Atlas Mountain range and in north africa at 4167 metres – and it’s just 65km south of Marrakech. The Atlas spans Morocco Algeria and Tunisia and is about 1600 miles across. See post: Exploring The High Atlas Mountains of Morocco – and access by van
3.The coast and beaches
People come from all over the world to surf this coast – Taghazout, imsouane, Dahkla. A lot of the coast is wild and untouched. I want to come back and go to Dahkla. See post: 14 photos of Morocco’s best known surf town
4.The Sahara Desert
The Sahara is Arabic for ’The Great Desert’. It covers a huge area of 3.6 million square miles and is the worlds largest hot desert – 3rd largest after Antarctica and the Arctic. Next time I want to spend weeks treking the desert rather than just one night. See post: The Sahara desert by campervan and camel
5.There are loads of other vanners knocking about
The van community is strong here. This guy spotted my van when I stopped to take photos on a quiet mountain road
6.It’s exotic
7.There’s just loads of open land to explore and roam
8.Living is cheap – for food and stuff
I got all my food from local markets. I was mainly eating fresh veg and fish with nuts and fruit as snacks. The produce is really good and they use less pesticides because there are not many insects due to the warmer climate.
9.The people are really welcoming
This guy was one of many nice people I met in Morocco. He asked if he could be on the blog…
10.The landscape is hugely varied and unique
Even the whole of Europe doesn’t have the variation that Morocco does
11.The life
Moroccans know how to live: stop the car, put a rug down, have a fire and make tagine.
12.The cities – Marrakech, Fez and Rabat.
I said I’d not go back to Marrakech but I probably will. The cities are mesmerising. They draw you in.
13.There’s so much stuff I’ve never seen before
Walking through the city feels like like there’s about 100 different films being made at the same time, but no one is filming.
14.The buildings
This is Ait Benhaddou near Ouarzazate. It’s a fortified city made of clay and mud bricks.
15.The architecture, art and geometry
I love the geometry and the intricate patterns and designs, made up of many intersecting squares and circle. It’s totally hypnotising and it’s everywhere.
16.The food
It’s difficult to eat badly in Morocco, it’s good simple food – vegetables in a tagine pot with a mixture of spices. I mostly ate fresh fish, bread and vegetables.
17.You can completely escape any sign of winter
It has to be the best destination for a European vanner. It hardly ever rains and the days are always bright and clear
18.And the fact that it is just 8 miles away from Europe
It takes just one hour by ferry from Spain – see post: How to get from Spain to Morocco by campervan – in 4 steps
Till next time
I think if I come again I won’t spend as much time on the coast – It’s difficult to camp there in a van and you get moved on a lot. But inland is totally different. I could easily spend a winter down in the valley of Tafraoute – see post: Wildcamping paradise by the Blue Rocks in Morocco
And as usual feel free to share your experience, tips and help in the comments below. Oh and please share if you like this post 🙂
Do you live in it full time ? How many times did the morrocan police stop you ?
Yeah I do. The police really don’t like you wildcamping on the coast. Ideally they want you in campsites and you have to fill in forms saying exactly where you have been and where you are going. I was told that security was a lot higher during the time I was there because of certain things that had happened. The Moroccan police are genuinely looking out for your safety though and they don’t just tell you to move for no reason or because ‘it’s illegal’
I never would have considered Morocco. If I ever van around Europe (I’m in the USA), I’ll add Morocco to my agenda.
Your blog is incredible and I’m about to start doing a similar thing, the only part I don’t understand about your travels is how you afford it all! Do you work at each place or?
love it! we’re about to head ot morocco in our van and finding your blog super useful 🙂 Cheers
For now, despite my age, i still don’t have my driving license, a cc to get your book and obviously a van buuuut within these coming months i’m gonna turk all of this around and being also European (French) i had also figured that Morocco would be the best and most simple option when winter is approaching (hate to be cold!) so thanks for this post and website, it sounds great. It surely is motivating!
Love the blog, I didn’t think Moroco was much of a tourist place but this blog changed my mind!