In the autumn of 2008 I embarked on a whirlwind cross-country adventure around Morocco with S. We had just two weeks to explore, thus I knew it was a trip that had to be well-planned.

Eventually, after much research, we settled on splitting our time between three locations. Namely the capital, Casablanca, the unmissable imperial city of Marrakech and the gorgeous, underrated port city of Essaouira in the west of the country on the Atlantic Coast.

Looking back, I certainly don’t have any regrets. In Casablanca, for example, I paid tribute to the spirits of Bogart and Bergman with dinner at Rick’s Cafe. As a huge fan of the movie Casablanca, it was a dream come true.

In Marrakech we investigated the souqs and drank in some classic Arabic-Spanish architecture at Marrakech Museum.

Moreover, we paid tribute to the legacy of Yves St. Laurent at Majorelle Garden and sat with the snake handlers on Jemaa El-Fnaa. In fact, I found myself so charmed by the city’s famous square I bought a painting of it from a local artist.

In Essaouria I loved hanging out on the quiet windswept beach. Looking over the city from the fortress and watching the fishermen going about their daily doings down at the port.

Finally, as a bonus I hadn’t even planned for, we did some spontaneous hiking near the village of Setti Fatma in the foothills of The Atlas Mountains.

I have always had Morocco marked down as a country I definitely need to see more of one day. So far, however, a return visit has evaded me. To find out more about these old travels, why not visit Morocco through my travel articles on:

Casablanca

Marrakesh

Setti Fatma

Essaouira

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