4 Moroccan Cities in 8 Days: Was It Worth It?

Table of Contents

4 Moroccan Cities in 8 Days – My July 2026 Trip

Starting from June 27th when I first arrived in Tangier it was quite an experience. 4 Morrocan Cities in 8 Days – From Tangier I travelled to Fez by train, then onto Casablanca by Coach before finally arriving in Marrakech for my last 3 nights.

For what is now my 5th time coming to Morrocco I got to say it is good to have come back here again.

Also to get to see some new places – namely Fez, Ifrane, and Casablanca too and to experience new things such as the Afgay desert evening tour and the monkey forest.

Although, just going back to Tangier, and Marrakech again was quite nice. Feeling like I don’t want to leave and just feeling so comfortable where I’m staying. I mean actually I felt like this in Fez too – my last morning I really felt like booking longer.

Another Morocco Blog – Do I Even Have Anything Else To Write About?

View across the road from Tangier Ville ferry port July 2026

So, I said in my most recent Gibraltar blog that I was thinking of skipping writing about this time away – An adventure which besides Morrocco also Included a 1 night stay in Malaga Spain and 5 nights In Gibraltar – BUT to be honest, the more I thought about it the more I decided that even just going to Fez as a new destination was enough of an excuse to share a blog about.

Even going to Casablanca – that was not planned at all and that was a new experience.

Also, this was quite a special trip for me. Since finding out about the Monkey forest – this Idea has definitely been in the back of my mind for quote some time now, and I suppose even just taking the much easier crossing to Tangier this time around was another thing.

Plus I wrote a new Gibraltar blog post too so that’s another thing because I have published that this is actually the 2nd part. Really a direct continuation.

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About My 2 Day Stay In Tangier (My 2nd Time Here)

View from the side of Tangier fort Morocco taken in July 2026

Actually, this visit to Tangier I have already wrote about in my previous Gibraltar blog. There is not too much to say about my stay here which I didn’t write about in that but just to make this blog post its own I shall begin here.

To be honest I didn’t get up to too much here. All I really did here was just walk about, visit restaurants and cafes. My highlight was watching the Sunset in the evening on my 2nd day.

I mean no disrespect to Tangier when I say this but for me there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to do here besides visiting the fortress (the Kasbah).

I should have done a tour of this really.

It is quite an impressive place – it was originally built by the Romans but it has quite a storied past being under both British and Portuguese colonial rule.

I was a bit annoyed with myself that I didn’t get a ticket for here. I’m sure as someone that likes a good walk this would have definitely been very satisfying for me but I guess I just got lazy.

I’m not a huge war history buff but I’m quite Interested in history in general – I can imagine that this place was quite dangerous back in the day with it’s canons ready for any unwelcome ships at sea that got too close.

I’ve seen other forts like this before. In Malta for example but this looks like it was proper impenetrable.

I will let you do your own research if your interested;

Read more about the history of Tangier Forteress (HERE)

But anyway, let’ continue.

Going To Fez and Finally Getting To See The Monkey Forest of Ifrane

Last time I was in Morocco on the train heading to Marrakech from Tangier I was reading about the Barbary Apes and where I could find them in other places besides Ouzoud. It was this journey I learned about the Cedar Wood Forest that you can get to from Fez, and now 14 months later I was actually heading towards here.

I remember thinking about how I would have to come back to do this and I actually was very happy that on this occasion this trip was now fully in my plans.

Taking the Train To Fez

Catchting the train from Kenitra to Fez Morocco from train station July 2026

One good thing about staying in Tangier before was I had a phone number for a driver that I used before. This same guy I messaged on WhattsApp this time and he was very happy to pick me up and take me to the train station again from Tangier Ville.

It actually was no trouble whatsoever. Getting to the train station, catching the train and getting to Fez. Everything was quite straightforward.

The only thing I did have to keep in mind was the train had one change in a City called Kénitra. I wasn’t here long – only about 10 minutes. It actually looked like somewhere you could expect to find Crocodiles with its big river here (The Sedbou) but what I learnt is Crocodiles in Morocco are now extinct and they have been since the 1970s.

Going off track here – sorry just find this so Interesting. This video above explains what happened to the last crocodiles. I know this is not exactly related to my stay here but anyway – the train journey was very easy and I got to Fez for around 4PM on the day.

This part was not so easy. It was hot (46 degress the weather report said) and I had to walk for 50 minutes to get to my hostel in Fez which was really quite challenging. I was OK I guess just made sure to get a few drinks on the way. It was pretty much like this for the whole of the rest of my time In Morocco – people were saying about a heatwave in England but this was proper cooking.

Arriving At My Hostel In Fez

Gate of Fez Medina photo taken July 2026

The BackHome Hostel was the place I booked for my stay in Fez. I had looked at a few places but I decided on this one because it had a swimming pool, a pool table and it had a an image that said it was the winner of the Moroccan Hoscar Awards (best hostel award).

It wasn’t too much trouble to find really. I found it pretty much right away and considering what I found out (that the medina this is located in is one of the most extensive in Morrocco) this could have been a very different story.

I surprisingly found this quite easily. Although, when I did get here this was definitely a bit of a pain. I think it was mostly just me being me. Basically, after, I was shown my room, and put my bags away I come back downstairs and started having a bit of a meltdown.

It must have been only 5 minutes later that it dawned on me – the hostel had not given me a key, and I couldn’t remember my room number. The guy who let me in had gone and I just thought where is my key?

I suppose it was a bit silly really but all I could think was I needed to go out for a drink because I was so hot and sweaty, I needed a shower for the same reason, and I had no key to go out.

Also, I couldn’t remember my room number to find my bag and I was just thinking how many of the wrong rooms would I have to walk into. It sounds funny but for me it was really not lol

Going Out and Finally Making Sense Of Things

After, my mini meltdown at the hostel – I finally, plucked up the courage to go out without a key. I didn’t go too far. A place a few doors away Invited me in for tea. It looked like a house but it was a cafe. I had a Mint tea here and I went back to the hostel. This time I made sure to ask about the key and my room – they said I was in room 2 and I didn’t need a key. Just to buzz the door.

After this I quite liked it here. My bed was very comfortable, it had a nice big walk in shower, free breakfast and although I didn’t use the swimming pool still I kind of liked having one here.

Swimming pool at the back home hostel in Fez Morocco

Finally Getting To Visit The Fez Monkey Forest

This was the day I was most excited for. I would say In many ways I really quite liked this tour. The driver was very nice and I think I’d definitely like to do book it again.

There were 4 stops on this tour. It was supposed to be 5 with the Ski Station but we didn’t go here for some reason. The first stop of the day was in Immouzer Berber village. This was just a short stop to see how people lived here in caves.

Very Interesting although we did all have to pay 30 MAD each upon leaving. The man who lived here (I think) said something like this was the oldest cave of its kind in Morocco.

The next stop was in Ifrane a place dubbed “The Switzerland of Morocco” – I had the most lovely Chicken Tagine with Chips here and it was only 90 MAD with Orange Juice and Tea.

The driver actually said to me “don’t go to to the first 2 restaurants as they are very expensive” and I found this other place a bit further down the road. It was actually stunning here – I’d definitely recommend Ifrane as a place to stay in Morocco if you don’t like the medinas and are looking for a more luxury place to stay.

You wouldn’t actually think this is in Morocco – it has a massive Golf course, Ski resort and you can actually fly straight here. Luxury hotels here are $250 plus a night but there some cheaper options too from what I can see.

The monkey forest you get to after a drive of about 20 minutes. I was told by the driver that the monkeys actually live all throughout this Cedar Wood forest but of course where you will be most likely to find them is at the tourist stop in the national park.

I actually had a massive problem with this place. For the locals here to kick, punch and hit the monkeys with sticks like it is a normal – it really quite disturbed me. Even a family here having a picnic I see them getting their little boy to hit one of the young monkeys with a stick. It was very upsetting to watch.

I’ve always thought Moroccans were good peaceful people but these lot – no way. Even this same family I see hit one of their girls. Not just a slap – this young girl was punched hard in the back. It was horrible, and to think these poor monkeys have to put up with these people here.

I went to sit somewhere after this, and this did cheer me up. One of the moneys came and sat with me. Not very old – I’d say maybe a teenager. This guy climbed on my shoulder took off my hat and started playing with my long hair. It was so funny and he I thought I was very friendly.

I suppose this was the best part for me. Ifrane town was cool but mostly the monkeys are what I was here for. We stopped at one last place after this – the Berber village of Azrou. This was so everyone could have dinner but I just had tea and orange juice here considering I had already eaten at the restaurant in Ifrane.

Getting Lost In Fez Medina

After getting back to Fez another thing I did was have a walk around the medina. My idea was – no Google Maps and I would find my way out. Mostly, as a kind of excuse to just look around but wow – I couldn’t believe how difficult this was.

One thought I had was – it was like being trapped in the Minotaurs Labyrinth. Of course, I had many people stopping me wanting to help me and show me around but I was quite sure all they wanted was my money.

It is something I learned from my first time in Morocco in January 2025. Most people here are in some way or another after your money and it is best to just not even talk to them but there were at least two people I did briefly speak to and what they said was Fez medina is the biggest in Morocco and has xxx thousand different streets here.

I actually did google this and it is true – the Fez Medina (specifically the Fes el-Bali district) is the largest medina in Morocco and is widely considered the largest car-free urban area in the world.

*It is a massive labyrinth containing an estimated 9,000 to 9,500 streets, alleys, and lanes. Some specific counts cite 9,454 alleyways. This dense network covers approximately 280 hectares and is home to over 150,000 residents, making navigation notoriously difficult even for locals.

Travelling To Casablanca

This was never actually in my plans to go to Casablanca but after seeing the actual distance from Fez to Marrakech this is what made to decide to come here for just the one night. My problem was that there was no direct (or cheap) buses or trains from Fez to Marrakech so coming here definitely seemed like my best option.

I’d always kind of fancied coming here to Casablanca really but I was told by other Moroccans in the the past that it’s not a good city to visit. I didn’t quite catch why but I just figured I would make my own mind up, and come and see this place for myself.

I mean I got a feeling that here is a bit dodgy. For one there was a lot of other Africans here (not Moroccans) – I don’t know if they are the trouble or its just all the drinking culture that brings all the wrong uns out but honestly, I don’t really know.

I actually thought it was quite lively here. Personally, I thought it was a cool City. They had a big concert on here too. It was pretty mad actually because everywhere I went in Morocco seemed to have stages up. The only City I didn’t see one was Tangier.

I don’t know what the occasion was but everywhere I went seemed to have some kind of party on. Maybe the time of year but Malaga had one, Gibraltar, Fez had one, Casablanca and finally so did Marrakech.

Going Back To Marrakech

This was another nightmare for me. I learned another new mistake never to make again lol

So I had a coach from Casablanca to Marrakech booked for 14:30pm on the day. I had loads of time to get here but what I stupidly done was clicked on one of the ads on Google maps instead of my actual location for the bus station. I never knew they even had ads on Google maps and annoying this is where I ended up.

It was quite horrifying really because as I was being so lax about getting my coach I was already cutting it fine. My shock when I realised – It was 14:15pm I had 15 minutes to get checked in and pay for my bag and I was an hour and a half away from where I was actually supposed to be.

I didn’t even have time to get a taxi. Probably what I should have just done in the first place because £25 I lost and there wasn’t another bus until 18:30pm.

I was actually desperate to get on the bus as well – it was so hot that I couldn’t wait to get on there with the air con – but now Instead I had another 4 hours to kill.

I didn’t know what to do – I stopped at one place for tea and it was so boring. I mean no offense to the Moroccans here but how they just sit there for hours doing nothing but drinking mint tea I don’t know how they do it.

Although, one thing was with this spare time I did finally get my hair cut. I said to myself I’d get it done whilst away but I kept on putting it off. Maybe if I hadn’t got it done on this day I wouldn’t have bothered at all. It was cheap too only 30 MAD (around £2.50 GBP).

The young lad who cut my hair he was only about 14 so very unlike me I give him a tip of 50 Dirhams extra as I quite respected him not being like the lazy teenagers back in the UK.

Finally Catching The Bus To Marrakech

So I was not making the same mistake again. I was basically only 10-15 minutes away from the coach stop. I wasn’t missing it again and I didn’t. The trip wasn’t too bad. No USB to charge my phone but I was able to plug in to my laptop which I was using to write my blogs on anyway.

We had one stop in the desert. It was swarming with flies like a biblical plague but it was fine got some food and drink, went to the toilet and then headed for Marrakech.

A whole hour I had to walk for to get to the Sun Hostel, but it was not a problem. I was let in with no complaints and it was funny really – I just took the keys and went to my usual bed without really much else being said at all.

Booking a Self Guided Tour To Ouzoud

Photo taken from start of Ouzoud Tour.Morocco July 2026

This was funny too. The last time I was in Ouzoud I really thought to myself “do I even need a tour guide?” It was my 4th time here and it just didn’t feel necessary.

Plus, the way I was taken the last time I was here – this was different and there was Monkeys right at the beginning of the tour playing by the river.

My idea was to make sure I could go this way again but also so I wasn’t being rushed around by the guide and its bad but I didn’t want to have to pay the guide at the end either.

So, I see on Getyourguide.com there was an option to do this self guided tour for just £12 with transfers. I was definitely all over this. Although I will say it was a bit confusing making my own way around here after leaving my group.

I suppose really I was quite rude. After getting out the mini bus I more or less demanded to go off on my own. They did not seem to easy about this at first but after a few minutes they just said “OK, just make sure you are back here for 14:30 – 15:00pm and no jumping off the waterfall”.

It was funny but serious at the same time because you do just want to jump in the water here. Many people do because it is just like paradaise but you could imagine not everywhere here is safe. So, I didn’t jump off the waterfall but the joke seemed to be on me for a whole different reason after this.

I left the tour guides and I didn’t know which way to go. It just felt so stupid but I suppose it wasn’t that bad. I stopped for a tuna sandwich and a drink and from where I was sitting I started to notice the direction the other tourists were heading and I basically just followed them.

It was quite easy after this once you get to the main trail it’s mostly straightforward and you can’t get lost really. I knew where I was basically from this point and actually this was when I first see the Ouzoud monkeys.

Barbary macaques in ouzoud morocco july 2026

This was a nice surprise but madder still I had just bought a bag of monkey nuts thinking Id have them for later on at the monkeys den.

I had one monkey straight away climbing on me and I got a good few selfies with just this one. Although, this was mostly because a guy here took a load of photos. I never actually paid him he was really hounding me and wanted 50 dirhams. He was a bit aggressive even saying he’d get me change but I didn’t want to give him 50 MAD and that was that.

Although, I did still get robbed funnily enough. Shortly after this as I was walking round giving the monkeys the nuts a big greedy Alpha came along and swiped the whole lot out of my hand.

I was getting a bit bullied by him really. Before this he was pushing all the other monkeys away to get all the nuts himself. I kind of wished I never bought them. I mean I suppose in a way its good really to have the locals about with their own food for them.

Even though they want your money at least you don’t have to walk around with food around all the monkeys – who all want feeding.

Arriving At The Ouzoud Waterfall and Everything Else

View overlooking Ouzoud waterfall morocco

So, it was pretty good as one thing I did notice was the group was about half hour behind me. After I got off my boat trip they was just queuing up for theirs. I really would have liked to have gone in the water. Even just to paddle my feet but I was a bit too much of a wimp to do it.

Maybe next time I will bring my sliders especially. People here were going in and I just felt like I was being so boring.

I went for dinner after this. One of the tour guides from earlier on spoke to me and told me to come to the restaurant facing the waterfall. It was nice – I think I paid about 130 Dirhams for a tagine, bread, Moroccan salad, water, sprite and mint tea with water melon also.

After this there was 2 things I did. 1st you have the rainbow – unfortantely it wasn’t here this time. Not enough rain I think, and the 2nd – of course I had to go up to the apes den.

Feeding the barbary macaques green beans at Ouzoud Morooco July 2026

I feel like I’m becoming a bit of a regular here. For one I see the same guy here from my last 3 visits. He give me some runner beans – I fed these to the monkeys, he took some photos and he was very happy with just 30 dirhams.

I should have give him more considering how nice he was. Not like the other guys that get aggressive demanding money. He didn’t even ask me, and I have seen him before he is actually very good with the monkeys here – not like the horrible bastards in Ifrane.

It was time to go after this. I had some trouble with finding the bus but it wasn’t too much of a big deal because when I did find it I was here before everyone else.

Side note: one tip if you are doing this tour be careful with the bottled water at the restaurants. I had a bad stomach on the way back and it was lucky I managed to get to a toilet in time. It’s a long way back on the bus so last thing you want.

My Last Day In Marrakech / Agfay Desert Tour

By this point I wasn’t really feeling too great or enthusiastic about going on another tour. I think when I go away and do so many things I sometimes struggle to process it all.

I maybe wouldn’t have minded a chilled one but then I hate wasting my time away so for me one last tour I had to try get on it.

I tried to book a different one the night before but for some reason my payment was never taken.

I was a bit gutted but then I say another tour that was available instead.

It was cool this wasn’t until 3pm and actually this was an absoloute steal. Again I booked this on GetYourGuide.com and I think as I booked this on the day it was half price – only £7.50 reduced from £15.

The Agfay evening tour i was really in two minds over but I figured that I should stop being so miserable and enjoy my last night.

It was great in the end. The value of it was unbelievable – I got driven here, driven back, I got a Camal Ride no extra cost and dinner with entertainment. It was a real nice family experience. Of course I was on my own but I really thought I would love to bring my own family here. There was music, dancing and the most amazing fire show at the end.

I was actually sad at the end of the night when I had to go. It was a nice end to a very eventful 2 weeks. I highly recommend it – The Agfay Desert Evening Tour from Marrakech – especially if you have children. There was 2 little girls on my bus and they both loved it.

The music was fun but again the fire show was unbelievable. These guys were putting these flames in their mouth and all sorts, you would see this and think how is this possible – it really was this crazy.

My Last Morning

This was really no trouble. The hostel I am so glad I stayed here again because they actually contacted me to see if I needed an airport transfer. They have done this every other time I stayed here and for 20 Euros I was quite happy to pay.

I got to the airport. It was a bit long having to queue for my boarding pass but after this everything was fine. I got back to the UK for just before 3PM. Annoyingly I missed my bus by only 2 minutes, and I missed the next one in Hitchin too which meant another hour waiting but I suppose it was nice to be back.

Especially to see my nieces before they left for their own holiday the next day.

Although, It was quite sad having to leave Morocco again – even with its extreme heat (around 46 degress at its highest) being there was quite relaxing in a lot of ways. I definitely will be going back – perhaps even for my craziest adventure yet…

Look out for another blog on this soon.

I’ll finish this post here anyway, and if you would like to leave a comment you can do so in the comments section below.

Many Thanks For Reading;

Alexander B. Chivers

TeddyBearsTravels.com