Morocco, cheap?

[HannahP 119]

Okay, so, my hubby and I were given $4,000 to spend on a honeymoon. I think we can save up another $1g, easily. So that's $5,000.

Flights would take up 3/4s the budget until I checked Iberia.com, which I got from this forum. So we're looking at roughly $850 x2 for plane tickets.

I've /heard/ that Morocco can be cheap. We looked at apartments to rent (around the big cities) and were getting 50-100 euros for a week.

Would we make it make it on 5k, you think? Anyone with experience?

[star_dragon 0]

Glad you got the tip on the iberia flights!! Just to double check, call American Airlines too. I called and told them the Iberia flights I wanted and the price quoted on the phone were cheaper than what was listed on iberia.com or aa.com. My RT ticket for Mar/April was about $540 or so! Yeah you can definitely do it I think. Where in Morocco are you thinking of going and for how long?

Definitely go to Marrakech and you'd be able to do a side trip to Essaouira so you can see the ocean...it's a quick 2-3 hour ride from Marrakech. You can also go trekking in the Atlas mountains - another quick and easy side trip from Marrakech.

Hmm....I'm hoping someone else comes along and gives advice, but my experience with Morocco has been mostly from the local's perspective. We did rent apartments though, both in Marrakech and Essaouira and it was definitely cheaper than staying at a riad (hotel). However, the very first time I went to Marrakech as a tourist, I checked Lonely planet for lodging options and the reviews really helped. Frommer's just published a Morocco guidebook for the first time (they're my favorite guidebook publisher). Trip advisor has lots of good reviews. The first time I went to Morocco, my friend and I flew in from Madrid and spent 2 nights in Marrakech and then took the overnight train from Marrakech to Tangier and caught the ferry to Spain. We did this with no problems as 2 solo female travelers.

On my other trips to Morocco places I've visited with my fiance (this was his first time for all these too....lol) are the Cascades d'Ouzoud which is a few hours outside of Marrakech, beautiful waterfalls. We also drove 8 hours south and had an overnight excursion in the Sahara Desert. We used this company: http://www.saharatrekking.com/ It was an AMAZING experience. It was reasonably priced and safe and we camped out in tents in the desert. We rode camels at sunset and ate dinner under a sky of stars and a full moon. The only sound you could hear was a little desert wind and the sound of the camels grunting..lol. My fiance had never been and he was the only Moroccan of a group of 3 couples - the rest were from Europe.

Morocco is definitely more economical than Europe, which is why I think many Europeans make Morocco their quick weekend getaway or frequent holiday destination (its kinda like Mexico for us - close and economical)........

Let me know if you need more ideas or have questions and know when you're going. My fiance has lots of contacts and business cards we picked up from our traveling around Morocco. Maybe we can drop you a name or two

[sara535 15]

Just dont get sucked in to buying any of the rugs in the souks. You'll be there for hours drinking tea and bartering and its STILL overpriced.