Marrakesh On a Budget
- Genea Morfeld Swan
- Oct 14, 2019
- 7 min read
Updated: Oct 19, 2019
#Marrakesh #RiadBabChems #ZED #ONCF #JemaaelFnaa
First thing I should mention is that we flew ZED to Casablanca. This cost almost $300 for the three of us. I know $100 each may seem like a lot to a nonrevver. You may wonder why we didn’t fly AA to MAD then ZED the much cheaper route of MAD to CMN. The answer is simple: sanity and connection times. MAD is a HUGE, sprawling airport with lots of security checkpoints. If we flew in there, we would have had to go OUT THROUGH SECURITY to check in at the AT ticket counter then try to make our flight in under two hours. NO WAY that would have happened.
The Royal Air Maroc (AT) flight was very pleasant! Don’t expect alcohol to be served — Muslims don’t drink. Also, don’t expect an upgrade. However, all three of us had seats together at the front of the plane. AT boards their flights back to front! Genius!
The plane came in late, it literally BEGAN DEPLANING at boarding time so I estimated maybe a 40 minute delay. Nope. They re-stocked that baby and pushback was EXACTLY at departure time. I was summarily impressed. We had two meals onboard. One had couscous and was DELISH. Breakfast was more pre-packaged but we had not expected a second meal and we were glad for it. I recommend taking your own viewing device but they did have seat back viewing with options in French, English and Arabic.
Due to timing and flight loads, my daughter Dru, 18, had to fly in the night before we arrived (she is currently studying in Malaga!) and spend the night in Casablanca by herself and ride the free hotel shuttle back and forth to meet us the next morning so we could catch the train out.
Rookie mistake: She forgot to turn her Euros to MAD before leaving the airport and had some issues paying for dinner at the hotel. Oops. They did eventually accept her Euros for dinner but I would definitely recommend getting your money exchanged BEFORE leaving the airport. Morocco is a very cash based society and credit cards are accepted at a very limited number of places.
Her hotel was clean and felt safe. The hallway was also painted horror movie black. A little creepy… But it only cost $47 a night so she sucked it up. https://www.onomohotel.com/en/hotel/16/onomo-hotel-casablanca-airport
Carry, Cole and I waited for Dru outside security at the little coffee shop and watched the stray cats. Dru met us there and her surprise at seeing her brother was so darling!
Rookie mistake: We sat and waited for her instead of going to buy our train tickets. Go straight to the booth to get your tickets because a line will form and if you miss the train you will have a wait for the next one! As it happened, the ticket guy did us a solid and only quickly sold us a ticket to get to the stop for the 30 minute train to Casablanca — other wise we would have missed the airport train! You can (and should) go ahead and buy your Morocco city tickets here if you didn’t buy yours online. (Train tickets are not more that $20 each)
The airport train took us the maybe half hour to Casa Voyageurs where we had to get off, purchase our Marrakesh train tickets and wait the thirty minutes for it to arrive. We didn’t know where to get off but a very kind stranger randomly told us when to get off and waited for us when we didn’t do as he recommended. It seemed a warm and friendly country already! People were very surprised and excited to talk to Americans.
There was a small restaurant at this train stop.The Marrakesh train takes 2.5 hours so I’d at least get some bottled water here but there is a rolling cart that goes by on the train as well.
NOTES: Leave your nalgene at home as you will need to drink bottled water the entire trip. Also, I’d recommend skipping the train restroom. (Having your own toilet paper could possibly come in handy if you do go, however.) Don’t forget: no #2 when the train is stopped as it empties on the tracks.
Rookie mistake: because we purchased so last minute, no first class tickets were available so we rode second class with many locals. This was somewhat awkward because we didn’t understand seats were assigned and the attendant had to come on and exchange words with people that we didn’t understand and one passenger ended up standing the rest of her trip. So many thoughts here on WHY she didn’t go sit down. And I will never know.
NOTE: Your train ticket includes your car number, cabin number AND your assigned seat number written faintly and extremely small. Have more concrete travel plans that us? Buy your train tickets in advance! https://www.oncf.ma/en/
Riad Bab Chems
Price: $54 per room per night PLUS $2 per person per night
We THOUGHT we had a transfer to our hotel from the train station but that didn’t happen. Possibly a language issue. No biggie, there are taxis to the left of the beautiful station when you walk out the door. We were staying at a local riad inside the medina walls so the driver dropped us outside of the Jemaa el-Fnaa market (taxis weren’t allowed at that hour) and assured us it was only a few minutes walking. We made that a LOT longer because of course we doubted ourselves and had to finally call the riad to come out and get us.
Rookie mistake: Arrive early so your taxi can get you closer to your riad. The market is open in the early hours to taxis and vehicles. Check before you go to know the specific times and know your riad phone number before you go.
To get to Riad Bab Chems you cross Jemaa el-Fnaa market by staying on the right hand side. You will pass directly in front of Cafe du France (keep it on your right). Keep walking, the market will narrow to a road. You will keep walking until you get to the pizza place on the left directly across from the juice place. Make a right here, this is Derb el Hajra. Riad Bab Chems will on your right (1 minute) directly in front of the first archway.
We used booking.com to book Bab Chems right before we left Charlotte. Our criteria was location, price point (cheap!) and authenticity. We loved the pictures of the riads with rooftop terraces and tile covered inner courtyards. The fact that they also come with breakfast is a boon as well. This riad felt very authentic and included a lovely host. It’s not the fanciest place but the location can not be beat. We spent most of our Marrakech time in and around the Jemaa el-Fnaa market so it was an excellent fit for us.
Pro tip: Be prepared to pay in cash (MAD) for your entire stay at check in! There will be mint tea and it will take a minute to fill out the forms (all visitors get their own). You will need your passport.
Breakfast was delicious local bread/savory pancakes, fruit, coffee and pastries. It is served downstairs, not on the rooftop which was slightly disappointing but not a deal breaker. Cole and Dru had the first floor room and we were on the top most floor. These rooms are plenty spacious for two people. I have to say I enjoyed the beauty of the Call to Prayer — except for the dawn one. haha
There are a total of 7 rooms in this riad. It is run bed and breakfast style with no room service so be prepared to make your own bed. The roof top experience and open courtyard was very charming. At this price, don’t expect fancy but it is SO CLOSE to the market that coming home for nap time during the heat of the day was super easy.
Jemaa el-Fnaa Market
Price: Depends on whatever you buy or eat!
Oh this market is super fun! ESPECIALLY at night! The lanterns! The snake charmers! The juice vendors! We went every night. The congestion was so bad in places that it was almost comical but we were smart and kept our things close.
Pro tips: this is a Muslim country. Women should cover their shoulders and knees. It wasn’t hard and I was shocked at the number of European tourists who flouted this simple local custom. It’s also better if you have a man in your group to keep down some of the comments. (Cue my haters for saying it but....) I could tell it made a difference in our little group. However, I never felt unsafe. If you take pictures or video tape someone, expect to pay. Again, not an issue. Tourism is how some of these people pay their bills so have coins and small paper money ready.
We stopped in one very special spice store and were invited to mint tea with Admin, nephew of the store owner, who was extremely knowledgeable about tea and shared many local spices with us. His English was incredible and he was very excited to share his culture with interested Americans. We bought quite a few souvenir spices and tea from him and even stopped by a couple more times when we passed by his lovely store during our walks!
Visit a souk and cook Moroccan food in Marrakech
Price: $56 per person
This was hands down the best idea we had while visiting Morocco! I thought of this idea while we were in Morocco but unfortunately we were only planning to spend cash on this trip so we couldn’t book online. So I tracked down the company through Trip Advisor and called them to ask if we could pay cash day-of. Wonderfully, they had availability the very next day and were willing to take cash!
There were 11 of us total and our instructor was Sanae. She is young, charming and extremely knowledgeable. We met at Cafe de France. Pro tip: Lots of tours are meeting here at the same time so know who you are looking for.
The very first thing we did was go to the live chicken stand and pick out our chickens for our tanjine, the most popular local dish. We saw our chickens slaughtered and plucked. This was sobering and thought provoking as we are very far removed from this part of meal prep in the US.
Afterwards, we toured the market for the rest of our produce. We walked to the riad where we would prepare the meal, beginning with our tea service and an explanation of the importance of tea in Moroccan culture. We enjoyed this activity so much we have resolved to take cooking classes on all of our trips together as a family!
Saadian Tombs
Price: Around $7 per person. Open 9-5
We stumbled on them on one of our walks and just casually went in but I think it would have been nice to see these with a tour guide! I loved comparing the similarities with the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, to this gorgeous, small site. If you are looking at the Mosque, they are on the right hand side. Get a guide or at least have a book.
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