An incredible car journey to African Morocco will undoubtedly become the most bright and memorable if you decide to travel on a rented or your own car. This country, the gateway to whole Africa, is filled with fabulous palaces. It is also called the country of the Thousand and One Nights, as well as the pearl of the Maghreb. In any case, no one has left the Kingdom of Morocco without an amazing adventure. Let’s learn about Moroccan roads more.
Moroccan roads
There are both tall and free roads in Morocco. The first are straight and proud, surround themselves with a chain of European gas stations with shops, cafes, toilets, etc. The latter are winding, filled with serpentines around the mountains and therefore are very picturesque. Morocco is surprisingly diverse country in terms of landscapes. For 100 km driving by car you can see dozens of diverse natural views, the ever-changing ocean coast, desert dunes, mountain slopes, rocks and forests. But at the same time, you must look at the road, especially the signs of speed limits. In Morocco, any violation of traffic rules is punishable by a suddenly appeared policeman and costs a tourist or a local resident a pretty penny. Therefore, it’s better not to exceed the speed in any case. Traffic lights on the roads are available only in major cities, that is why you can see traffic jams only there. The remaining routes throughout the country are full of roundabouts. Huge flocks of sheep often graze along the roads. On the roads themselves, you can find a lot of motorcycles, donkey-drawn carts, riders, and in the desert – camels. Of course, there are no tracks in the desert itself. But SUVs can try to drive. The main thing is not to forget to bring a shovel, so that you have something to dig out. The quality of the roadway in Morocco is excellent, even if it’s forgotten by all mountain couloir, its serpentine path will have a surface of high strength level and markings.
Roadside service
Basically, there are many shops and market stalls along the roads. Bargaining, you can reduce the price two or three times from the initial. Fruits and seafood in Morocco are cheap, so try to diversify your menu to the maximum, because Moroccan hotels are not too much in this regard. Mainly, they offer salad and lamb, stewed with vegetables.
Remember that in Morocco people will try to get money out of you everywhere – like any tourist, you are a walking wallet for the Arabs. For example, there are usually no receipts at gas stations. They can name one amount, and the change will be given so that you pay 10 or even 50 dirhums more. The same can happen at the airport, where you will get a reserved in advance car, and in a completely empty hotel where you will try to rent a room (you will immediately be offered a cost twice as much as usual). Don’t get lost, turn around and pretend you leave – you will be stopped and the price will be reduced at once by half. Therefore, count a change, bargain wherever you can, especially in cases where you are imposed a service, for example, a guide.
By the way, the roads themselves in Morocco are very clean, literally licked up. That can’t be said for tourist centers. There you can see piles of garbage even in the center (the historical centers of Moroccan cities are called medina). Parking in medina is prohibited. In other places – simply aren’t marked. No way. That is, you can park anywhere, and there are no restrictions. But as soon as you want to leave this place (even after a five-minute stop), the Arab will arise from nowhere and begin to demand money for parking. But he has no authority to do this. Of course, you can give him one or two dirhams, but you can spend them on souvenirs with the same success.
Car rental in Morocco
There are many rental offices in Morocco only in major cities and airports. It is better to reserve a car in advance. In this case, you will get guaranteed exactly that car that you specified when reserving. On average, the car costs about 25 euro per day. Add 6 euros per day for full insurance. Remember that almost no one speaks English in Morocco, so the processing at the airport rental office can drag on. Don’t forget that in the process of accepting of the car from the clerk, you need to fix all the scratches on the car’s body and the problem areas in the cabin. Also be sure to look at the level of gasoline in the tank. There were cases when, in fact, the car was given with a tank that was only half filled – with a full under the contract. In general, keep your eyes open. You are in Africa!
Routes around the country
As a rule, people who first get acquainted with Morocco, want to see everything. Feel the atmosphere of the country, from which Africa actually starts, swim in the ocean and climb onto a high rock, spend the night in a camp of the Berbers and play with a sand in the planet’s biggest sandbox – the Sahara.
Depending on which city you have arrived in, the route of car travel is planned. As a rule, it is coastal areas first, and then – mountainous ones with a part of the desert. As a result, someone gets a ring route, and someone – eight-shaped one, and it is better to pass no more than two hundred kilometers per day. This let you not to convulsively photograph in a “faster-faster” mode, but enjoy the views and every Moroccan corner. If it’s possible, you can take a tent and a burner with you, and also don’t forget warm clothes – it’s cold enough at night in Morocco. But someone prefers to spend the night in hotels (though there is not hot water in them everywhere). In either case, both variants can alternate, and each one will be lovely in its own way.
There is actually an option for road trip in Morocco by your own transport. To do this, you should get on a ferry in Italy, and in two days you can already move along Moroccan roads. Of course, there should be a Schengen visa, car documents and “green card”. This is an option, you might say, for seasoned people. Either way, on a rented car or on your own, Morocco is better to watch for at least two weeks. They allow you to get a minimum of unforgettable impressions – from Legzira arches, from Atlas studio in Ouarzazate, from the Dades gorges with the stunning mountain serpentine, from swimming in the ocean water, and much, much more. The main thing is that you are independent in your aspirations to see something new, because the car will allow you to travel all over the country.
So, you can visit the ancient cities of Fez and Marrakesh, and in the real Sahara, and on the ocean in Essaouira, and in the blue town of Chefchaouen, cross High Atlas, watch the sunsets in oases and communicate with monkeys in the cedar forest. You can see goats grazing in trees, enjoy delicious cheap seafood, take a walk in incredible eastern bazaars. But you can’t forget to issue an international driving license. If you still don’t have one, you can easily and quickly process it on our website. With an international driving license, you can drive not only on the roads of Morocco!
Published January 14, 2019 • 7m to read
