Morocco - Best time to go?

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JC4LAB

Guest
My guess is that Late spring could be the best time cos of Mountain flowers etc but notice October to March is popular for cycling with holday companies like Explore etc....Has anyone been and confirm what is the best time of year to go there?The route I am looking at is Marakesh , Draa Valley and Todra gorge more than the very High Atlas..Thanks
 

friedel

New Member
Location
On our bikes!
The south is quite pleasant in January/February. Check out when sand storm season is if you plan to go as far as the desert around Zagora (I think spring, but not sure on that. We encountered one in March a few years back).

Do you plan to cycle across the mountain passes? If so, then spring might be quite good as in winter the passes can be closed for a day or two at a time.
 
Went trekking in October several years ago.

It was pretty hot during the day in Marrakech, Draa, Todra but bl**dy cold at night (we paid the cheap rate in hotels, to sleep in sleeping bags on the roofs : dusty, dangerous if you sleepwalk, but no kids bothering you)

Up in the Atlas it was seriously cold, most people were buying blankets as well as our sleeping bags. We did Toubkal rather poorly equipped, because it wasn't actually on the itinerary and we'd all assumed that being in North Africa and October it would be pleasantly warm : we set-off at 3am or something in order to avoid the crowds you get on Toubkal and it was seriously cold until the sun came up, then pretty hot and dehydrating coming down again.
 
It's worth speaking a bit of French : doesn't need to be that good, because most Moroccans' French isn't that good either, but there are different prices for different foreigners

Cheapest -> most expensive
- Moroccan-resident foreigner, usually French or Belgian, etc
- French or Belgian
- British (which includes Australians, etc as we're all the same to a Moroccan), other European
- German, American, Japanese

They'll charge basically what they think you'll pay. Residents know the score so know what things really cost, Francophones will argue with them and so get a better price, Germans/Americans/Japanese just get charged the Earth.

I asked for 'un bouteille de l'eau' in a shop in a small town and was charged one price, one of our group came in a few seconds later and asked for 'a bottle of water' and was charged double...
 

friedel

New Member
Location
On our bikes!
Just had a thought. If you are into mountain flowers, you should maybe consider February for the almond blossoms. So gorgeous! And I think there is a festival around Tafraoute or Ighrem. Maybe you can Google it. Souk Tleta de Tagmoute is a gorgeous stop with lots of blossoms too.

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OP
OP
J

JC4LAB

Guest
Thanks for the repiles so far..Keen on flowers cos I like photography too and find photographing through a frame of trees or including flowers can add to a picture..I would like to go over at for Xmas to the desert & Draa Valley then do the High Atlas on a seperate trip later if this is a good idea
 

friedel

New Member
Location
On our bikes!
JC4LAB said:
Thanks for the repiles so far..Keen on flowers cos I like photography too and find photographing through a frame of trees or including flowers can add to a picture..I would like to go over at for Xmas to the desert & Draa Valley then do the High Atlas on a seperate trip later if this is a good idea

The desert area will be warm during the day but chilly at night. Take warm long johns. Not sure you will see many flowers around Christmas time. In February, wild rocket was blooming in the desert and that was also almond blossom season but I don't remember seeing many flowers on our first trip, which was over Christmas.

Our first trip we did through these guys:

http://www.equatorialtravel.co.uk/

It's basically a one-man operation and if you give them a call and ask for JP he will be able to give you lots of tips and hints for Morocco and it would be a good start for organising the desert part of the trip (assuming you want to go into the desert and see things like Chegaga, which you cannot cycle to -- you can only get as far as M'Hamid by bike and after that you need to walk or take a 4x4). JP is great, even if you don't book a trip through him he is really "Mr Morocco" and was very helpful to us when we were planning, before we bought anything from him. I know him, so you can say hi from me if you like (I don't get a commission, honest!)
 
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