Visiting Morocco in January, February and March (replay)

AZDEAN ELMOUSTAQUIM: Welcome to the Destination Morocco podcast. If you have listened to our episodes and you listen to the way that it's edited, the sound quality behind it is the genius, Ted Cragg, he's the producer and we're having him back in today's episode. Ted, welcome back to the podcast. 

TED CRAGG: Hey, thanks very much Azdean. It's nice to be back. 

AZDEAN: So what do we have for our guests today, Ted? 

TED: Well, we thought we would take a look at some travel planning to Morocco, especially in the new year, that time of year. if you're thinking of going to Morocco, you know, in the next little while, perhaps just after the Christmas holidays, then it's a good timing to really, uh, think about the type of stuff that, you know, you might need to prepare, do some research and what to expect in Morocco at that time of year. 

AZDEAN: Absolutely. Absolutely, Ted. 

TED: So what's Morocco like in January and February? 

AZDEAN: It gets a little cold, but getting cold is a little bit relative depending on what you're going to be traveling from. So for us, the locals, it does get cold, I would say, single digit in Celsius. Okay. In the mountains, definitely it snows, and it gets really, really cold.

So if you're planning in trips in the winter, especially during Christmas and the holidays, just make sure that a lot of places, they have restrictions. 

TED: What kind of restrictions? 

AZDEAN: The kind of restrictions, especially during, I would say, New Year's Eve, many hotels or riyads, they want you to stay for more than just one night because of the availability.

And it gets really, really busy and packed. So they may ask you for a three night booking or a four night booking for that. Even though you may not want to stay for days at a hotel, but that's how they have it set up. 

TED: Right. When would that come to an end? How long after New Year's? 

AZDEAN: Well, January 1st, everything is back to normal, and that's the slow season, which is January.

TED: Now, I know that there's quite a lot of differences between the north, the south, the coast, the mountains, I mean, talking about weather and temperatures in the winter, is there a big difference then between, you know, Tangier towards the north, Marrakech, and then places further south?

AZDEAN: Oh, definitely. Yes. The temperature really, really changes. If you have been to Morocco, you know that the landscape changes every 45 minutes, every hour. In some places it's cold, but in some places it's cold. Plus you have the wind chill and it makes it even colder. So if you're traveling to Morocco, I would say January, Even December, January, and February, your packing is different than what we have talked about in, you know, what to pack to Morocco episode.

So, obviously take a little bit more layers, be comfortable, shoes and everything. It's gonna rain quite a bit, and also the scenery is different. Just like you said, from the south to the north. If you're doing a north of Morocco tour, you're pretty much still okay. The south changes quite a bit, because some areas where it rains and it snows, sometimes the roads closed.

So just keep that in consideration. Oh yeah. It may change your itinerary, so you may need to be a little bit more flexible. 

TED: Now, do I need to pack differently if I was, let's say I was going to a bit of the north and a bit of the south, Do I need to bring different clothes for both or can I expect to just bring kind of, you know, winter type clothes for the whole area?

AZDEAN: Well, I would say winter type of clothes for the whole area, even though in the south, it's a little bit more cooler because of the mountains. But you'll be just fine because the warm clothes in the U. S. or, you know, in the west are much, much better than what's available in Morocco. So you'll be good. 

TED: Well, I mean, I guess that brings it back to like, it's a different time of year to travel than anybody who travels off season, you know, wherever they may go knows that expects that that's partly why you go, you don't have the crowds, the prices are probably better.

And so you kind of know that going in, but I guess the fundamental question is how much can you really expect to see in Morocco? Are things still open? Do you still get the similar experience that you would more when let's say there's better weather? 

AZDEAN: Oh definitely, everything is still the same except the weather is different, except like you said, the crowd is different.

For example, when you go to Merzouga or to the desert, the desert in January, February is completely different than July, August and any other month. So when you visit it during the winter time, it feels like it's not the same spot that you have visited. The sand looks different, it feels different, the sky is different, the stars shine brighter in the winter than the summer time.

So it's a completely different experience. If you get a chance to experience it during the summer time, or the spring, or the fall, it's different than January and February. 

TED: Can you still do any of the desert camping in the winter? 

AZDEAN: Oh, definitely. Yes. Everything's still the same. Just like I said, just pack for the season and you'll be good.

You'll enjoy it. It's still a lot of fun. It's very cozy, very romantic, very beautiful. 

TED: Okay. So, yeah, do you find that some places might shut down or have, you know, shorter hours because it's a low season? 

AZDEAN: Not really. Everything stays the same. It's not gonna change just because it's a slow season.

Everybody's still open. Everybody operates the regular hours. It's just the days are shorter. That's the only difference and it's a lot colder. So, 

TED: and what are the crowds like at that time of year? Do you still get some people traveling? 

AZDEAN: Yes, we do get a lot of people traveling and also there's a lot of people that love to travel during the winter time versus the summer time.

TED: So when would you recommend starting to plan a trip to Morocco for that time of year? Does it take more planning? Do you have to do more research or anything like that? If people are thinking right now of going in the new year, what should be some of their first moves to put it together? 

if it's within say three weeks and we're like, "You know what? I think we have time. We've got money and it works out. Let's go to Morocco. We're in Portugal. Let's go hop over to Morocco." Is it too late? Would that be too late? What could we expect? 

AZDEAN: Okay. Three weeks, you're currently closed. So the good news, we communicate. So the good news, I will know before you go. So we can set it up a little bit with as much ahead of time as we can. Now, the good news, it's a slow season.

There's quite a bit of availability in terms of riads, hotels, everything. So that's the only exception that I would make and say, okay, three weeks, it's still okay, even though it's still tight on the regular season. 

TED: Now, what if I'm not too picky, especially being last minute like that, you know, if I'm not fixed on staying in a specific particular Riyadh in Marrakech, let's say, but just getting something and would I still be okay to book at the last minute?

AZDEAN: You'll still be okay, but this is how we do it. It's a little different when we think, let's say, when we get an itinerary, we look at the activities that are going to be doing. We look at where everything is located and positioned in the city. And we try to put you on a Riyadh that it's really good quality.

It's not too expensive and it's not too cheap. They have good service, good experiences. So that way. Everything that we want to do, it's close to each other. So versus looking for a place for you to stay, riad, that it's 30 minutes or 45 minute drive from the square, which is the hub, the center of Marrakech, we're losing time.

And time is precious. When you go to Morocco, you're going for a week or 8 days and 10 days. 

TED: Yeah. 

AZDEAN: We want to save as much as we can. 15 minutes here, 10 minutes here, 20 minutes here. It adds up. So that's why when we book a riad for you, of course, we ask for your permission, And if you don't like it, the first choice or second, we can always change it.

And that's what I would recommend. 

TED: So you would choose a place, suggest it to me as the client, let's say, and ask if it's good for me, do I want to stay there and go ahead with the booking? 

AZDEAN: Yes. And that's how we do when we build itinerary, we give you the choices. Let's say in fast, this is the reality that you're going to be staying in, obviously with their website, their pictures and everything.

And then if you see it and it's, if it's a good fit, then we keep it and say, Hey, you know what? I don't like it or this. And then we change it. We send you more options. So everything we do is 100 percent approved by you. 

TED: What would happen if now we're there, we get to a place and for whatever reason, we don't like it.

It wasn't what we expected or something's changed, et cetera. Like, is there, how would you manage changing once we're actually there? 

AZDEAN: If you don't really like it, I will see if we can put you somewhere else close by, and that's how we solve that issue. Luckily we haven't had this before, but if it happens, that's the way that we'll do it, especially with, if it's a big city, there's a lot of availabilities like Marrakech and Fès.

There's plenty of places to stay. Right. 

TED: Well, that's good, yeah. I guess one of my fundamental questions really is, I mean, I do kind of have this attitude, and maybe some listeners do too, especially if, say, you're already in Europe, and it's a relatively quick, easy flight from Spain, Portugal, France, you know, over to Morocco, and you're thinking, Hey, let's hop over there for a quick visit.

How minimum a time should you really plan to go and stay to really do something? Now, I wouldn't expect to see the whole country or anything like that. Like maybe I'll just go to a couple of places, but at least get a taste of it and be able to see and do something. So what's kind of a minimum time I should at least expect to go?

AZDEAN: That's a really good question, Ted. And I actually have gotten a lot of requests and emails about the same situation. I would recommend three days. A lot of people, they come through the ferry. And like you said, just a quick flight from Europe. I would say just stay on the North side. Three days is perfect.

You can see Tangier, you can see Fes, you can do Chefchaouen. You can do those cities, not to the extensive, but at least you still have a really, really good experience in three days. So that's what I would recommend. Then we build you a small itinerary and we do some activities in it, and hopefully you'll like it when you prove it and we move forward.

TED: That's interesting. Yeah. I hadn't thought about taking the ferry. You should, uh, be fun to do an episode about that. At least in part, you know, the experience of getting there by, by boat. That'd be cool. And I love the episode we did about your guests who went from Tangier over the mountains to Tetouan.

AZDEAN: Yes. 

TED: So now that's on my list too. It sounds like a beautiful city with the mountains back. Oh my gosh, it is. And it's pretty close together. And then from there, Chefchaouen isn't too far either. So I can see you're starting to piece together a bit of an itinerary. Yeah, 

AZDEAN: absolutely. Yes. That's why three days, it really, really makes sense.

It's very short. It's very condensed. There's a lot of things to do and see in those three days. And you go back to Europe or the US and whatever your final destination is. But three days, you really get to see a little bit, not much, but at least you have a feel. So just in case next time when you have a little bit more time, you can explore even more.

TED: Now, how far is it from, say, Chefchaouen to Fez? 

AZDEAN: I would say it's about three and a half hours or so. I'll give you an example. If you're in Fez, And during those three days, Fes should be your base if you're flying from Europe. So when you're in Fes, you can do day trips. You can do day trip to Tangier, to Asila, to Tetouan, to other cities, neighboring cities.

TED: Now even that far, like Fes to Tangier, that's gotta be a few hours. 

AZDEAN: Yeah, but it's a day trip. 

TED: Okay. 

AZDEAN: You plan it right. There's a lot of things to see in Tangier. So you get to see Tangier without spending the night, you go back to your hub, which is in Fes. And then the next day, Meknes is right next to you.

It's your neighbor. Then you do Volubilis. It'll take you a couple hours as well. Then with the drive, you do Chefchaouen. You definitely get to see the sunset at the Spanish mosque. Then you spend the night at one of those really nice riads. Then the next day, you go back to Fes. And it depends, you want to add another day in Chefchaouen, you can.

Now that way, it doesn't feel like you have driven too much. And you just take it easy, slow down, and enjoy the moment. That's the way that I would do it. 

TED: Nice, and that's part of it too, because I've really taken to slow travel, to an extent, especially with the kids in tow, because it's hard to move around every day, you know, and we all get tired, and the kids like routine, and our kids are still pretty young, 

yeah. I want to ask you, can you fly directly to Fez from places in Europe? Do you have to go through Casablanca first?

AZDEAN: No, you don't have to go to Casablanca. FAS has its own international airport. It's really nice. And also you can do the same thing in Tangier. It just depends on your itinerary, the cities that you're interested in seeing, the activities and things that you're interested in doing. You can fly to FAS. We do pickups.

We have started the tour from FAS. We have started tour from Tangier. We start a tour from anywhere you're gonna be. That would be your first contact in Morocco. Casablanca, it's because it's popular. It's the biggest city, the biggest airport. And that's why we do, I would say 90 percent of the tours from Casablanca.

Then the second city is Marrakech, obviously. Then the third is really fast. Then we have Tangier, so we can start a tour from any city. Like you said, sometimes you come in. You have few days you want to spend just by yourself, your friend and family and the kids and do things on your own. Then you book a tour with us and say, "Hey, I'm in Fes. I want to go to the desert for the next five days. Can you pick me up from Fes?" Then we coordinate it. We pick you up from the riad and then we go start doing the tour. 

TED: I know Destination Morocco, the travel company, you're all about the flexibility, right? And giving people lots of options. So it's good to keep in mind.

Yes. And speaking of, say, slow travel or staying in one place, I follow Riad Zahra in Essaouira. Oh my goodness, yes. Who was back in episode 6. If you haven't listened to that, check it out because you really get a nice taste of Essaouira on the coast there. But he posted a thing where I think they have a special or something like a long term price basically for people who want to settle in Morocco for a few weeks, you know, use that as like their home base.

And maybe they can work remotely of course, or work online. And it gives you a nice option of a place to stay and a beautiful place too. 

AZDEAN: Yes. I love Xavier. And that's the thing that we do, you know, we have really, really good network.

It's just not one person does everything. There's a lot of people behind me that do amazing work, and they deserve the credit for it, and Xavier is definitely one of them. 

TED: Yeah. So I guess the main thing to get across is that if I'm thinking of traveling to Morocco, January, February, perhaps early March, I may know that it's colder, it's kind of lower season, you know, I know that going in, but I just want to be sure that it's still a smart time, it's worth traveling, because if you go different times of the year, more things might be open, or more things might be possible, and I know that, I understand that, but if that's my chance to go, I want to know just that it's worth going that time of year, right?

AZDEAN: It is. It definitely is. And keep in mind, if I say that it's cold for me, it's really a relative, because you know, 60 degrees Fahrenheit is cold for me, but for somebody else, that's summertime. So that's why a lot of people travel to Morocco at that time, because in their country, it's really, really cold.

So when they go to Morocco, and I see them wearing shorts, and it's like, what's going on? 

AZDEAN: In the tours, one of the biggest changes we made in building our itineraries, in setting up tours, is having a tour leader throughout the experience. What that gives us is more of a control over how everything goes in the most positive way. In the last few tours we've had, there's a special tour guide in Casablanca.

He's an amazing gentleman, very nice, very humble, very modest. And he does the tour in Casablanca. So basically, Casablanca is the only mosque that is open for non Muslims to go inside and visit. If you don't want to go inside, there's still plenty of things to see outside. The structure is just magnificent.

it's really really beautiful, especially, you know, the sunset and anyway, So when you go you hire a tour guide to go with you inside the mosque and give you a sight visit Normally cost about 15, which is definitely worth it This gentleman that we're working with his name is Khalil Najjari and he's partially blind or almost blind So when he gives the tours he's with his brother And his brother basically guides them and walks them from spot to spot inside the mosque.

It's fascinating. So that 15 really gets split between the two brothers and they're supporting two different families. The way that he gives the tour, the way that he speaks and everything in between. I mean, he'll ask his brother to go to a specific spot in the mosque and he'll stand, then he'll point with his hand and say, you see those mosaic, you see that marble?

And the guests are just How could he do that? They get kind of freaked out, and then he'll start speaking, he'll start explaining everything. He's gonna be our tour guide basically for Casablanca. Now, if you're going on your own by yourself, you can still use him, you can still get in touch with him. I will leave his information 

TED: you know, I feel like I don't know if we really set out to do this, but there's not a lot of podcasts, of course, about Morocco or even just people from Morocco, you know, so it's very rewarding when we get people and I love hearing the voices of real authentic people that are actually there on the ground telling the stories, describing what they do.

That's what makes this whole thing so special. 

AZDEAN: I completely agree. It amazes me that we have this type of audience and we're very grateful. And I know a lot of people don't book us, but they still go to Morocco. And I'm very happy to hear that the podcast has helped them one way or another, especially the scam episode.

Sure. 

TED: Well, that brings up a good point then maybe just to wrap it up. So why should people book with Destination Morocco in particular? 

AZDEAN: Well, we are a small business. It's a family owned business. There's me, my wife, my son, Imran, we are different because we're small. We are different because we know you. We feel you. We're here for you. Without the client, we don't exist. There's no destination in Morocco without everybody that booked with us.

And the other thing is we are eager to share our culture. We are Berbers. The team behind me, 90 percent are Berbers from different parts of Morocco, the North, the South, the desert. They're all different languages. And we get along so well. We work together so well. What makes us different is the love that we share for Morocco.

And we want to share it with you. Morocco is a beautiful country. Morocco is a very hospitable country. The people of Morocco are amazing. When you come and visit us, there's a lot of things we do that it's not in the itinerary. And we don't want to say it in the itinerary. We don't tell you that it's in, but we keep it because we want it to be a surprise for you.

And that's what makes us different. 

We want you to feel as our guest. In our culture, when you call somebody to come to your house, you give them the best of everything you have. That's what we really try to do. And also we support other small businesses that are either related to me or other small businesses that we know them.

We want to share our Berber culture with you. We want to share our hospitality with you. And that's what really makes us different. When we build an itinerary, we think about the activities, we think about what are you gonna like, the things that is gonna be a good fit for you in Fez, are you gonna go to church, you wanna go to synagogue, you wanna go, you know, to the mosque, whatever you wanna go, whatever you wanna see, wherever you wanna visit, if it's a cooking class, if it's a henna class, if it's a mini Moroccan wedding, all type of activities.

TED: Well, we've learned a lot about you and your company and the things that you do and offer. And hey, it's fun for me. I mean, it's a pleasure for me to be a part of it too. So let's keep getting them out. 

AZDEAN: You know, Ted, I've said this to you many times. I can't really thank you enough for everything you do.

Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for supporting me. Thank you for being behind me, for being patient with me. The podcast would not happen without you. So I know I've said this to you many times, but that's exactly how I feel. 

TED: Well, thanks. It's my pleasure. I'm just really glad that we're doing it and we're getting this information out there, helping people out and learning about your country.

It's, it's why I'm here. I mean, I, my background's travel and now I've kind of put it together with podcasting too, which is fun, but that's, it's it. I love learning about other cultures and countries and people. So yeah, this is what we're here for. 

Thank you. Thank you, Ted. Thanks. So yeah, it's been fun being here and, uh, I'm sure I'll be back again at some point. Oh, definitely. 

AZDEAN: Yeah. Mi casa es tu casa. 

TED: Gracias.