If you love being active while travelling and enjoying flavours of life from a different culture, here’s some great information you should know before experiencing this progressive North African country.
Some common Moroccan terms you want to know
Below are a handful of terms you’ll find helpful to familiarize yourself with prior to travelling. If you don’t know these terms beforehand, we guarantee you’ll know them after your Moroccan adventure because you’ll encounter them over and over!
Medina
The old part of a town or city, found in many North African countries, not just Morocco. It’s typically surrounded by a wall and contains narrow streets, homes, markets and mosques. Many medinas do not allow cars as there’s so little room to pass. You may, however, encounter motorbikes speeding erratically among pedestrians in what feels like a very dangerous manner. Always stay alert!
Souk
A vibrant traditional marketplace district prevalent in villages and cities throughout Morocco. These bustling areas feature a diverse array of stalls offering a wide range of goods, including food, spices, clothing, handicrafts and even herbal remedies.
Riad
Any house in the medina with a central courtyard that now welcomes travellers as a boutique hotel or guest house. Riads were originally the expansive villas of wealthy families with a number of rooms (some for housing servants) and a more elaborate courtyard with a garden and often a fountain or pool.
Historically, the central courtyards in Moroccan medina homes were focused inwardly. There were two reasons for this: the weather and the culture. Small exterior windows and a central courtyard helped to keep a constant, comfortable temperature inside the home. Second, Moroccans have always valued privacy and don’t like to show off, they prefer houses that look modest on the outside and beautifully furnish them with ornate detail on the inside. The ample courtyards at the center also provided a pleasant space for family activities.
Kasbah
Another word for “fortress” but often entire towns are considered kasbahs and sometimes just a single building is. Virtually every Moroccan village has a kasbah of some size where either the ruling sheik or king once lived, providing a view to watch for approaching dangerous guests. Generally, they look like mud castles, built in many shapes and sizes, with high walls made of layered dirt and stone and very few windows.
The photo shows the world-renown Kasbah Aït Ben Haddou in the Dades Valley.
Tagine
The word tagine actually has two meanings. First, it refers to a type of cookware traditionally made of clay or ceramic. The bottom is a wide, shallow circular dish used for both cooking and serving, while the top of the tagine is distinctively shaped into a rounded dome or cone.
Second, the word tagine refers to the succulent, stew-like dish which is slow-cooked in the traditional cookware. Typically, a tagine is a rich mixture of meat, poultry, or fish, and most often includes sweet and savoury flavours blended together.
Along with opportunities to buy a tagine pot on every corner, you’re also guaranteed to eat tagine during your travels. Virtually every restaurant in Morocco has some variation of tagine on their menu!
Chokran
(pronounced show-kron)- meaning “thank you” in Arabic. When travelling there are always a few basic local language words we attempt to quickly learn. A simple no chokran and a smile, came in very handy when we landed in Morocco and were immediately bombarded with taxi drivers offering rides!
Where to stay- Riads or hotels?
Everyone loves the idea of a Riad! But there are some pros and cons…..
After staying in a variety of accommodations our experiences were quite diverse. When choosing a riad you will most likely be in the medina of a large city. Recall that medinas are busy and noisy! Sleeping within the walls of a riad with inwardly facing windows provides a sense of calm amongst the commotion, that’s for sure. With this, however, usually comes very little daylight (small inward windows) so don’t expect a bright, airy room. It also means that all guest room doors face inward so you’ll likely hear other guests coming and going and walking closely past your little window. This is all part of the Moroccan experience, but something to be aware of.
As for hotels, like every part of the world, they are varied. Our experience was that a 5 star Moroccan hotel is not quite the same level as 5 star hotels in more developed countries. Remember there will not likely be central heating in most buildings so if you’re travelling in cooler months (we were there for the month of March and it was fairly cool and damp), the tiled floors will be chilly. I was really happy I’d brought along my favourite slippers! Of course you could always buy some traditional Moroccan slippers in any souk!
For more on this topic, we enjoyed this article from Feel Morocco. (We have no connection to this travel company, we just found the information helpful!).
Tour etiquette to be aware of
Avoid “nice locals” offering to show you the town. They are likely not certified tour guides. They’ll also often offer to help you find your way but will always expect a tip afterwards. There is also a bit of a game in the Medinas where young men/boys will try to spoof tourists and get them lost. It’s not that hard to get lost! If you need directions in a medina (and you will at some point), ask a shopkeeper!
Hot Tip: Download the app Maps.me and use it when exploring the medinas, you’ll often be without wifi or google maps to rely on. It’s a lifesaver!
We encountered one friendly, persistent local who offered us directions while driving his motorcycle alongside us in our rental car. He talked to us through our window (while driving!!), stuck with us through many stop lights and was offering to guide us to our hotel (we were clearly lost!). When he finally said, “my cousin has a travel business and he can tour you around the city tomorrow”, we knew we had to ditch him. A polite ” no, chokran, we have our own tour guide tomorrow” and he finally said farewell. We certainly didn’t feel threatened by him at any time and it was kind of fun, just a bit annoying after a while!
Renting cars and driving in Morocco
Following a week long private tour through the Atlas mountains and into the Sahara, we chose to rent a car in Fes and drove to Tangier then Chefchaouen (the Blue City). We didn’t experience any challenges with our car rental (we got ours through the arrangements of a concierge at our hotel- a local agency, but airports are always an option as well). Here are a few tips you’ll definitely want to bear in mind when driving in Morocco:
Go slow– there’s a lot on the roads- from camels and donkeys to bikes, pedestrians and stray dogs.
Don’t speed– road signs are not well posted. Try to follow a local but bear in mind, you’re a tourist and even if you’re not speeding, you are a great target for local, small town police who seem to make a game of stopping tourists. We were pulled over for allegedly speeding, even though we were going the same speed as those in front and behind us! When my husband politely asked how much we owed for the ticket, the policeman smiled and said “300 dirham” (about $30 USD), but for you today, 200 dirham”. We suspect the money went straight into his pocket but, who knows? We considered it the price for our Moroccan experiences!
Lots of horn honking– Don’t worry about it. Like many less developed countries, honking is a form of communication. They honk when mad, honk to tell you to go ahead, honk to say hello, etc!
Avoid driving in large cities and, of course, old medinas! Our best practice is to arrive at our destination, park the car and then explore. Walking is always fun or taxis are very inexpensive and we’d much rather have our car safely parked than fight the congestion in a large city!
Bartering is a national sport
Moroccans are honest, trustworthy people BUT they are not afraid to overcharge you for an item or service. Everything is negotiable! Tourism is an enormous source of revenue for Morocco and, as a tourist, you’ll be perceived as a source of money. Vendors will appear pushy but most are completely harmless, just persistent! Many times you may have to politely smile and firmly say “thank you, no I do not want it”.
Tipping is highly encouraged by the locals. Everyone from the doorman to servers, luggage sherpas to camel guides and entertainers…….They rely on tips as part of their incomes and they will remind you! You will likely find the cost of goods and services is quite low compared to North American or European prices so be sure to build in a tip budget.
Walking and Exploring
Most tourist areas of Morocco are safe to wander around. The people, as a whole are trustworthy. Crime is relatively low but of course, be sure to keep your wallet and phone well protected in crowded places. The souks are literally wall-to-wall people and an easy place for nasty pick-pockets to do their business.
Friday is holy day
As a predominantly Muslim country (99% of the population is muslim), religion rules the lifestyle. This becomes especially noticeable on Fridays when many of the shops will be closed. In the souks you’ll find a small percentage open and it is actually quite enjoyable to walk through the near-deserted streets and alleys of a souk on Friday afternoons. Be careful, however to avoid areas near mosques (which is basically everywhere) at the start or end of afternoon prayer. The migration of people towards, then away from, the mosques is mind-boggling. One Friday we found ourselves caught in the movement and felt like salmon trying to swim upstream, it was quite an experience!
Prayer call
Like any Muslim country you’ll hear the loud, throaty prayer call projecting from mosque minarets multiple times per day. Our first morning in Morocco (we were in Essaouira) we were awakened by the prayer call through our open hotel window. Well, let’s just say, it was an unexpected wake up call! The mosques literally take turns to rotate their calls 5 times per day. It soon becomes part of the noisy daily life but is also a charming aspect of the cultural experience while spending time in Morocco!
It snows in the mountains (even in Morocco)!
Visiting the Sahara desert from western Morocco for a surreal experience of camel riding, exploring and glamping requires travelling across the Atlas mountain range. We’d been advised to use a private guide and, boy, are we happy we did! Through family contacts we connected with the most lovely gentleman named Noureddine Farhat. Nour runs a variety of Moroccan tours. He’ll accommodate your timelines and wishes in a comfortable luxury 4×4 vehicle. We were so grateful to have him driving us through the snowy Atlas mountains in March, they get snow there! Nour collaborated with other tour guides in the vicinity and quickly formed a small convoy to circumnavigate the enormous traffic jam in the mountains. We, quite literally, saved hours (or even days) as we met other tourists along the way who’d been stuck in the mountain passes during the heavy snowfall causing incredible traffic congestion.
Enjoy the diverse experiences
Morocco may be unlike any country you’ve visited before. If so, embrace the differences! As we reflect back on our time there, so many things come to mind. Here are a few:
- Geographical diversity– from the exotic Sahara desert to the cosmopolitan city of Casablanca with nomadic Berber villages in between. The geography is beautiful and the history is fascinating.
- The smells– rose water is made in the Dades Valley and sold everywhere- you will come to associate the rose smell with Morocco
- Mint tea- Moroccans love their mint tea and it’s delicious! It’s also a process to make and pour in the most authentic manner. Everywhere you go you’ll be offered a cup of freshly steeped mint tea. Enjoy!
- Sand and dust– buildings are made of clay in most of the country and the roads are dusty, we often felt dusty!
- Cats- there are stray cats everywhere. Although locals feed them and invite them into their homes, they wander the streets all day. Most seem to be in fairly good shape but there sure is an abundance of them!
- Gentle, smiling people– Moroccans love to joke and smile. Their lives can be quite harsh but their nature is gentle. They love to dress you up in their scarfs and traditional dress, embrace it, this is the spirit of travel!
What are some tips for Moroccan travel that you may have? Please share in the comments below!
Safe adventures!
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