Tentatively planning 3 Weeks UK-Morocco post lockdown for our Honeymoon!
 

Hi All,

My betrothed completely surprised me the other day by seriously suggesting we finally take my Defender 110 to Morocco, like I have always wanted to do, for our Honeymoon. Until this point I had been budgeting for a tropical island somewhere so this has come as a really welcome idea.

I was pretty active in the whole overlanding scene in the early 2010's with trips to the Pyrenees, Alps & N Italy but since then Nessie has just been relegated to my daily driver and summer holiday car camping trips in the UK, so I'm guessing a few things may have changed around here, let alone the rest of the world!

Now as this is our Honeymoon, and we've got a healthy budget, the emerging plan is to bounce between a few posh hotels for a couple of nights at each with maybe a night camping somewhere in between. Proper luxury and not a real dirty overland trip at all!

So, I'm tentatively starting to think about a route for October this year, or depending on restrictions, possibly March-April 21. We would have 3ish weeks, ferry to Spain, take a few days getting south and then have about 10 days in country before starting to head home.

I'm a bit confused as to when the winter ferry timetable kicks in for the return from Santander/Bilbao at the start of November, if this is the case we would consider planning to drive back through France but otherwise I'd hope to come back the way we went out.

Any suggestions for scenic bits of Spain and nice rural campsites on the way down? We don't have to rush it in 48 hours and I'd also like to pop into Gibraltar as its somewhere I've been many times with work but the Mrs hasn't, so would consider the pros/cons of getting the ferry over from there vs Algeciras.

Then once in Morocco, I was thinking heading to the mountains first, potentially near Ifran. Is that doable on day 1 or are there any suggestions to take a slower scenic road and stop elsewhere for the first night?

Then the plan is a bit more vague. South to the Desert, then loop back via Marrakesh, and if we have time possibly Oualidia, splitting the time between nice camping spots and swanky hotels/Riads. A proper desert wild camp would be really good to fit in there too. The overall plan is not to try and hit every piste and thrash the vehicle but to see some exciting parts of the country, balance the stress/excitement of a vehicle based trip on the easy side and have a lovely luxe holiday with a bit of a soft overlanding as well. I have an older copy of Morocco Overland currently packed in a box somewhere and once we've finally moved house in the next few weeks I will start route planning properly. Any pointers on other books or maps to consider as well?

So I appreciate this is not the usual trip itinerary, and a lot hinges on the state of the pandemic, but if anyone has any suggestions for the unmissable bits of Morocco that fit our vibe please let me know!

Cheers,

Dan & Amy

I've sent you details of our Brittany Ferries discount code which will save you 10% on the vehicle and passenger details.

My preference is Portsmouth to Santander rather than Bilbao as the onward motorway connections are easier (Bilbao is on a toll motorway).

If you are not looking for the fastest route through Spain I'd suggest the more western route via Valladolid and Salamanca, then explore the Roman town of Mérida, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QKOAHMkGTk and https://spanishsabores.com/2012/04/2...-civilization/ .

And then two nights in Sevilla which is so beautiful.

There's practically no ferries from Gibraltar, your best options would be either Algeciras to Tanger Med or Tarifa to Tanger Ville.

Yes, Azrou/Ifrane is possible as a first night from the northern ports. This is one of my favourite areas of Morocco and I've been killing time during the pandemic writing about it on TripAdvisor, see https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTo...et_Region.html

You could do a lot worse than combine Azrou -- Merzouga -- Tafraoute -- Sidi Ifni -- Essaouira -- Marrakech

Tafraoute in particular is beautiful, I tend to stay in Hotel Salama... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkms9W69i9Y

TBH a ferry int Morocco and then getting down to Ifrane/Azrou in one day will be a long day. Far better to head to Chefchaouen for the first night then Azrou on day 2. Chef to Azrou is a 6 hour drive at best

If your doing your own route planning be aware that all the guide books almost go out of date within a few months of publication due to the speed of Morocco's road building in recent year. But its still worth having a copy of Chris' latest Morocco Overland to help.

10 days in country isn't very long with the driving distances involved to be honest, don't try and do too much, lots of people underestimate the route times, and its not helped by googles optimistic driving times particularly in the Mountains.

Azrou to Midlet is a nice drive with plenty of good pistes and smaller roads to get you south, then piste over the top of the High Atlas and down to the Dades gorge is a classic (soon to be lost to tarmac, do it while you can). Then either across to Merzouga and the desert pistes to Zagora. Or south through Jbel Sahro to Tazzarine the Zagora down to Erg Cheggaga and Lac Iriki before heading north to Marrakech for a stay in a luxury riad.

Thanks guys, that's a really good framework to work from.
A new copy of Chris' latest and some maps are in the amazon basket as we speak.

Morocco is still in the middle of changing many of the road numbers. For maps your best choice is the Reise KnowHow map which shows both the old and new numbers, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morocco-Rei...068/ref=sr_1_1

Ignore the fact the listing states it's a 2015 map, what gets delivered is the latest.