Morocco Travel Story and Guide: Tangier, Marrakesh, the Sahara, and Fes

Morocco Inspired My Wanderlust

Crossing from Spain into Morocco felt like stepping into another world. The sounds, colors, smells, and pace were intense, disorienting, and unforgettable. Morocco challenged us early, but it also rewarded us with generosity, adventure, and some of the most vivid memories of our entire world trip.

This was the point where travel stopped feeling like sightseeing and started feeling real. What follows is a story-first travelogue with practical notes mixed in for anyone dreaming about Morocco.

Keep scrolling for the full story, travel advice and resource links at the bottom of the page. You can also use the dots to jump to different sections.

Arriving in Tangier: Crossing Into North Africa

We crossed the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry and arrived in Tangier late at night. This was back when travel meant paper maps, instinct, and a guidebook you treated like a compass. No smartphone. No glowing dot on a screen. Just big packs, a folded map, and the very real feeling that we had stepped into somewhere completely different.

Our plan was simple on paper: walk from the ferry port to the train station and catch an overnight ride to Marrakesh. But in practice? That turned out to be a long, unfamiliar journey in the dark, a walk that was over 30 minutes carrying our heavy packs and wandering streets you’ve never seen.

Everything felt unfamiliar right away. Signage in Arabic. Different clothing. A nighttime energy that made you pay attention. Every street looked plausible and none of them felt right as we tried to orient ourselves toward the station.

Then Morocco gave us the perfect introduction. Rob, confidently walking while staring at the map, stepped straight into an unmarked hole in the sidewalk. Not a stumble. Not a trip. One second he was walking, the next he was hanging waist-deep in darkness with his backpack still somehow upright.

I yanked him out, laughed from pure adrenaline, and then stood there realizing how close that could have gone the other way. Lesson number one came fast: in Tangier at night, you watch the ground as carefully as the map. That turned out to be true in a lot of places outside the U.S. and Europe.

©Photo by Corey Gasman

Marrakesh Medina and Jemaa el-Fnaa: A Spicy Experience

Arriving in Marrakesh after a sleepless night felt like being dropped into a living maze. The Marrakesh Medina is dense with narrow alleys and souks. Getting lost is easy, and somehow that is part of the appeal.

At the center is Jemaa el-Fnaa, a square that transforms throughout the day. By evening, food stalls appear in rows. Smoke from grills fills the air. Hawkers shout. You can find tagine, grilled meats, bread, snails, lamb, and fresh orange juice squeezed right in front of you.

As night deepens, the square becomes a performance space. Storytellers, musicians, drummers, dancers, and snake charmers pull crowds into loose circles. It is chaotic and electric, and at first it can feel overwhelming.

We found it generally safe, even at night, but like any crowded place it is smart to stay aware and keep your belongings close.

Rob & I Exploring the Marrakesh medina, a maze of rugs, lanterns, spices, and wrong turns.
©Photo by Corey Gasman

Sleeping on a Rooftop Riad Terrace

We stayed inside the Medina in a traditional riad. Riads are old Moroccan homes built around a central courtyard. A defining feature is the rooftop terrace.

Our accommodation was extremely simple and cheap. We basically slept on the rooftop under open air. Rooftops are central to riad life and offer a break from the chaos below, much quieter than hotels. At night, the city hummed beneath us while we stared at the sky thinking, wow, we are really doing this.

Heading South: High Atlas Roads and the Pull of the Sahara

After Marrakesh, we signed up for a tour heading south toward the Sahara Desert. The road took us over the High Atlas Mountains, past villages and kasbahs that seemed to rise straight out of the earth.

Somewhere during those long bus rides, strangers became friends. Our group included people from all over, including a couple of guys from Germany who had picked up some High Atlas hash. Sheesh. File that away for later.

Following the caravan into the Sahara, where the desert decides the pace.
©Photo by Corey Gasman

Overnight Sahara Camel Trek: Sunset, Campfire, and the Biggest Stars

Most overnight camel treks leave in the late afternoon from small desert towns near Merzouga, heading toward the Erg Chebbi dunes. We mounted our camels and rode out into a landscape that did not feel real.

We reached camp near sunset and shared a communal meal of slow-cooked meats and vegetables, eating with our hands. Mint tea. Simple but delicious food. A campfire. Berber hospitality that made you feel welcome fast. Everything slowed down out there. Time mattered less than the moment you were standing in.

Later that night, after the camp quieted down, one of our new friends rolled a large joint from the hash they had picked up earlier. We decided to climb a high dune. At the top, we sat in silence, shared the joint, and stared up at the sky.

The stars were unreal. The Milky Way stretched across the darkness like a bright smear of light. Somewhere in my head, The Doors were playing. “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher.”

That was the moment I felt it most clearly. I wasn’t just traveling anymore. I think that might have been the moment I became a traveler.

Sunrise was just as unreal. Windswept sand. Clean blue sky. Dunes shifting from gold to red as the light changed. If you ever go to Morocco, I cannot recommend an overnight Sahara experience enough.

©Photo by Corey Gasman

Moving Forward: A Taxi, a Mercedes, and Trusting the Road. Oui!

Our tour was heading back to Marrakesh, but our next stop was Fes. We didn’t want to go backward.

With help from locals and a few friends we had met while camping in the Sahara, we hired a taxi north. The driver pulled up in what looked like a late 1970s diesel Mercedes that smoked, rattled, and somehow seemed completely confident it would make the trip. It overheated two or three times along the way (see pic). We packed into the car like sardines, along with three new friends from England.

The driver didn’t speak a lick of English. His answer to every question was the same cheerful response, “Oui!” That’s when it sank in. This was going to be a long ride north, roughly six to eight hours, in an aging taxi that had already seen better decades.

The countryside rolled by. Wild dogs lined the roads. The car made new noises every hour. We laughed and went with it.

©Photo by Corey Gasman

Lunch, Moroccan Style

At lunchtime, the driver pulled over at a tiny roadside grill. No menu. Plastic chairs. He ordered for us without hesitation.

The cook didn’t actually keep meat on hand. After we paid, he calmly walked across the street to a butcher, picked out a leg of lamb, chopped it up on the spot, skewered it, and tossed it onto the grill. The smoke barely had time to rise before lunch was ready.

Minutes later, we were eating one of the best meals of the entire trip.

Farm to table feels too fancy. This was butcher to grill to table in under ten minutes.

©Photos by Corey Gasman

In Morocco, the best meals sometimes come from the side of the road. From butcher to grill just in time for lunch. Glad I grabbed a few pics.

Fes: A Cheap Hotel and an Unforgettable First Night

After the long, rattling, diesel-fumed taxi ride, we finally rolled into Fes and found a very cheap hotel. I mean cheap-cheap. Maybe eight rooms total. The kind of place where the staff clearly lives there, knows everyone who comes through, and immediately makes you feel like you’re part of the operation.

Unfortunately, my stomach had other plans.

That packed taxi ride did not sit well with me. Right after checking in, we were starving and headed out to find food nearby. We sat down at a restaurant, menus hit the table, and that’s when my body sent the emergency alert.

I needed to go. Immediately.

I attempted to sprint back to the hotel, but there was one small problem. The door was locked. In this hotel, you had to turn in your key every time you left, and the front desk guy was nowhere to be found. I stood there for a brief, hopeless moment, doing mental math that confirmed what I already knew.

I did not make it.

At age 30, I officially shit my pants in Morocco.

There I was, hand-washing my pants like a defeated man in a Moroccan bathroom (if you want to call it that, a squat toilet and hose), suddenly very grateful that I had splurged on Under Armour travel underwear. If you’re wondering, yes, they clean up surprisingly well. Highly recommend. Five stars.

Later that night, the hotel guys reappeared like nothing unusual had happened and asked if we wanted them to run out and grab us some beers, which we happily handed them cash for. In a Muslim country, this felt like winning a small lottery. Beers appeared. Then they invited us into the courtyard where they were cooking over an open fire.

They asked if we wanted some of their porcupine.

We had just eaten and politely declined, which in hindsight may have been a missed opportunity, but I was still recovering emotionally.

Then they asked if we wanted to try kif. They explained it poorly. We nodded politely. We smoked some. A few minutes later it became very clear that this was, in fact, weed.

That’s when one of the guys decided to show us his room.

He opened his closet and inside was a massive black hefty bag absolutely stuffed with marijuana buds. At this exact moment, Rob and I exchanged looks that said, “This is it. This is how it ends.”

Now we were shitting our pants again, but this time metaphorically.

Our brains went straight to worst-case scenarios: setup, police bust, bank accounts emptied, Moroccan jail. Meanwhile, this guy was just laughing, completely relaxed, treating us like old friends.

And that’s exactly what it was.

No cops. No scam. No drama. Just locals welcoming two clueless travelers into their world on our very first night in Fes.

Morocco does not ease you in gently. It throws you straight into the deep end, pants optional.

Fes el-Bali Medina: The Medieval Labyrinth

The next day, the hotel staff insisted we get a guide to visit the famous medina. They were right.

Fes el-Bali is a maze. Narrow alleys. Covered passages. No cars. Donkeys carrying goods. You navigate by sound, smell, and instinct.

The call to prayer echoed. Merchants shouted. The smells shifted every few blocks. More than anywhere else, it hit again: wow, I am traveling.

©Photo by Corey Gasman

The Chouara Tannery: Color, Craft, and a Smell You Will Never Forget

From a rooftop viewpoint, we looked down on stone vats filled with vivid dyes. Workers stood waist-deep, moving hides by hand. The colors were stunning.

Then the smell hit. Hard. The process uses lime and pigeon shit to treat the hides before dyeing them. Mint sprigs help, but only a little.

The hides are softened, cleaned, and dyed entirely by hand, then dried and turned into leather goods sold throughout the medina.

Watching leather being made using methods that haven’t changed in centuries gave us a whole new appreciation for Moroccan leather.

Traditional Berber/Tuareg desert headscarf, longer and often indigo-dyed. (left) Babouches traditional Moroccan leather slippers.

©Photo by Corey Gasman

Why Morocco Stays With You

Morocco left a deep impression on us. From Tangier’s chaos, to rooftop nights in Marrakesh, to the silence of the Sahara, to the medieval intensity of Fes, it was not always comfortable, but it was always real.

If you do one thing in Morocco, spend a night in the desert. You will never forget it.

Morocco Travel Resources (Top Links)

• Lonely Planet – Morocco
  https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco
• Rough Guides – Morocco
  https://www.roughguides.com/morocco/
• Morocco Tourism Board (Official)
  https://www.visitmorocco.com/
• UK Government Travel Advice – Morocco
  https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/morocco
• US State Department – Morocco
  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Morocco.html
  
• The Man in Seat 61 – Trains & Transport in Morocco
  https://www.seat61.com/Morocco.htm
• The Culture Trip – Morocco
  https://theculturetrip.com/africa/morocco/
• Atlas Obscura – Morocco
  https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/morocco
• Backpacking Bananas – Morocco Travel Guide
  https://www.backpackingbananas.com/morocco-travel-guide/
  
• Reddit – r/Morocco & r/travel (Current Traveler Updates)
  https://www.reddit.com/r/Morocco/
  https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/

Bonus: Food-Focused

• Migrationology – Moroccan Food
  https://migrationology.com/moroccan-food/