Important things to know before travelling to Morocco
Morocco is the most beautiful and affordable country to visit with deep traditions, amazing food and 18 different landscapes, you can check them out here, I only saw half of those landscapes unfortunately. Don’t even think twice if you should go or not, pff you must! I’ve spent a month touring Morocco and only covered half of it with pretty intense schedule. I would definitely come back to explore the other half, stay tuned, but so far I would like to share my observations on some things that everyone should be aware of when visiting Morocco. And some of those things I had to learn the hard way because I did not research it beforehand.
Do I need a visa to Morocco?
Visitors from Canada, US and Europe do not need to apply for a visa. You must have a valid passport with at least one blank page. Visas are not required for visits lasting less than 90 days. Please research visa requirements for other countries.
My entry process into the country was smooth, i flew in from NYC via Royal Air Maroc and the whole flight was approximately 7-8 hours to Casablanca. The passport control section moved fast because there wasn’t many visitors that day and i was out of the airport to pick up rental car in no time.
Morocco is no fly zone for drones
So we didn’t know about it... At that time I just recently gave my boyfriend a drone for his birthday and we were basically new parents to this baby and we didn’t know that some countries are drone restricted. Or at least we didn’t suspect that Morocco could be one of those countries. Therefore, unsuspecting we went with the drone on board. Everything went okay actually until the end of our first week visit where we decided to fly the drone around villa in Taghazout to film an amazing sunset. Oh man that was a disaster, the drone created the whole scene and a scandal with a management of hotel but thankfully they didn’t report us. Overall we were clueless about this restriction and only found out about it at that point of our stay. It is surprising that drone wasn’t confiscated upon arrival after baggage screening. But according to the articles we stumbled upon it would for sure be discovered and confiscated with the fine of $1k applied to the owner upon the departure screening (and yes there were vigorous several screenings). Well we didn’t take this information lightly and barely slept that night. Early morning with the fist sunlight we drove to the nearest big city (Agadir) and shipped this “contraband” off our hands back home to US.
It is dangerous to take pictures of Moroccans without their permission
Essaouira, Morocco
During the first couple of days upon arrival we visited several cities along the way including Essaouira. We first noticed the aggression to my Iphone camera during the visit to fish market in Essaouira. That fish market is very popular among the tourists for the famous blue boats and the Game of Thrones shooting scenes. All in all, the fish market was in a full bloom featuring every kind of exotic fish, shellfish, mollusks you name it. And every time when I was pulling out my camera many sellers would turn away or start yelling at me. I was thinking (and I am sure of it) that a lot of that fish was caught illegally because it is an outdoor market with no license needed. I loved the Netflix movie Seaspiracy and I highly recommend everyone to watch it that you can see how many fish are caught illegally on the coasts of Africa (and in many other places). That’s why in my view those people weren’t camera friendly. But then we spent more time in Morocco and noticed people turning away and even getting aggressive in a view of the camera anywhere (expect the Sahara desert). Guides eventually told us that it is in the Islam tradition that pictures and statues are prohibited because they are thought to encourage the worship of idols. Therefore there is no images of prophets of Islam (like there are in other religions saints are painted in churches and on things for sale to take home). According to wikipedia there is a name for this: “Aniconism is the avoidance of images of sentient beings in some forms of Islamic art. Islamic aniconism stems in part from the prohibition of idolatry and in part from the belief that the creation of living forms is God's prerogative.” Interesting, right? Therefore be careful and better ask a permission to take a picture of someone or with a someone.
Non-Muslims Are Not Allowed Inside Active Mosques
This you could probably guessed on your own. If you think that you would’t even care much i can tell you that you will remember of their existence all your trip, why? Because the Call to prayer in Morocco (called in Arabic Adhan / Azan أذان) goes off 5 times per day every day. It is very loud and was kinda intimidating for me.And the fact that I wasnt allowed to visit a mosque made me feel as an outsider even more. But the good news are that there are a few exceptions and popular Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, second largest functioning mosque in Africa and is the 7th largest in the world, is available for tourists to visit and take pictures.
Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
Depending on the season dress accordingly
My perseption of Morocco was very common one: sand dunes and camels! I didn’t know that there are different landscapes that vary drastically from one another and also different seasons (like whaat it is Africa, no?). Therefore to quickly brush over this topic it is very hot during summers and very cold during winters ( don’t stay in Riads). The best time to visit is spring and autumn, bring colorful dresses preferably knee length and pants if you planning to ride a camel (see my picture below, you can wear it underneath a dress like I did).
Negotiate/bargain prices
We travelled from US where all the prices are set in stone and negotiating is not common. Therefore it took us a week to realize how much we got ripped off by basically everyone - seller at a fishmarket, seller at a clothing store, gas station representative.. In this county it is normal and expected to not agree with proposed price right away (like we did, we paid how much we were told) but to negotiate it down. Keep in mind that as a tourist you are a sitting duck for all that trickery. The country is poor and tourists are a source of income for locals therefore they usually say 3x higher price that it is. Don’t be shy and counter offer your bargaining at 1/3 of the price you're quoted. After some time in Morocco you will get used to this and also sellers would understand that you didn’t arrive just yesterday and understand their game.
Moroccans don’t speak much English
There are two official languages in the country: Arabic and Amazigh (Berber). Given that Morocco used to be a French colony, majority of people speak French as a second language. During our trip most Airbnb hosts did not speak English only French&Arabic and used google translate to communicate with us. On the other hand our stay in hotels was more convenient because hotel staff spoke English therefore I would recommend staying in hotels if English is your primary language. Regarding going on tours - all the tour guides from Marrakesh to Sahara desert spoke flawless English and it was a very enjoyable time. I highly recommend to research and book couple of tours to expand on Moroccan history, culture and take amazing pictures.
Are there alcohol in Morocco?
The short answer is yes but the majority of people don’t drink it. The main religion of the country is Islam and that means that Morocco is a dry country but alcohol is available in most touristic places, in the hotels, bars and restaurants. When we were living in the suburbs of Marrakech we shopped for wine and beer in the local supermarkets and had no problem finding it but we could not by any means locate the wine opener anywhere.
Have fun visiting Morocco, stay safe and alert but enjoy this colorful exotic country to the fullest!
Planning a trip to Morocco? I highly recommend Lonely Planet travel guide below. I buy Lonely Planet guides to every country I visit and build my trip based on their suggestions.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you like my suggestions and decide to make a purchase through my links, at absolutely no extra cost to you but it will earn me a cup of coffee that i will enjoy while writing more articles for you guys:) Cheers!
Top things to do in Marrakech: 1. Medina, Marrakech 2. La Mamounia 3. YSL museum and Jardin Majorelle 4. The Souks 5. Mosque Koutoubia