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MrsSC (Morocco)
Hi! So I'm freshly back from Morocco (less than 12hrs 
)! Had a great time with my BFF, who was visiting from the States.
We stayed at a Riad outside of Marrakesh (Hotel Dar Ilbham), great place for peace and quiet. Living in bella Napoli, I wasn't up for the hustle of 24/7 people of the city center. Liked the riad, staff, grounds, and facilities (gym, pool, restaurant, spa). It is a bit out, so not much in the "neighborhood" (just wild dogs, but again, I live in Naples, so wasn't a big deal for me 
), but as I said the riad offered plenty for the time we were there (4nights).
We did hire a guide and driver (rough guide tours) and I was glad we did. It simplified travel quite a bit. I think it would be hard(ish) w/o some Arabic or French (which I/we, unfortunately, don't have). We did a day trip to Essaouria (coastal town with a hippie kind of vibe) and Ait Ben Haddou (Atlas mountains). Long haul drives (3/4hrs), but worth it. One day in the markets of Marrakesh was good for me (I'm not really into to markets/haggling). Cool to see, but a day was enough.
Anyway, let me know if I can provide any other info! Cheers!
Re: MrsSC (Morocco)
Thank you SO much for following up VA! Did you do the day trip to Essaouira and Ait Ben Haddou on the same day or different days?
Any restaurant recs?
We have decided to add on extra day to hit Essaouira for sure and won't be going until March now as DH has lots of work in southern UK in Feb.
Thanks guys, it really was a fun trip
!
The day trips were on two separate days. Marrakesh to Essaouira was about 3/3.5hrs each way and then Marrakesh to ABH was about 4.5hrs each way. Both were really pretty drives and I bet will only be better in March. If you drive to ABH (or anywhere in the High Atlas mts) you may want to consider Dramamine (or ginger, etc). I was wretchedly car-sick, which is completely unusual for me (I've driven through the Rockies, Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees, and the Amalfi Coast with absolutely no problems. Rough seas and small craft, great; air turbulence and prop planes, fine. But God was I sick). My friend was totally fine, but our guide did mention lots of people get car sick (of course, after we had left), so might want to consider that. Sick as I was I still think ABH was cool and I'm glad I suffered through b/c it really was beautiful.
Because we didn't have too much time in Essaouria or ABH, we just kind of did the tourist restaurants. Ok, but not great. If you like seafood, you can buy fresh fish at the port, bring them to any restaurant in town, and they'll cook them for you. Which is cool.
Our best meal in Marrakesh was probably the lemon chicken tarjene (sp) at the riad. Yum! Crazy good. My friend's swears she's good to learn to preserve lemons just so she can re-create the dish back in Philly.