Our Moroccan Road Trip Adventure: 2 Weeks with the Kids

We're lucky to have a great team in our office who allow us to take advantage of school holidays and go off on adventures with our children. We get asked about these trips all the time — our itineraries, where we stayed, what we'd do differently — so we thought we'd start a series of blogs to share them.

Our first big adventure was a Moroccan road trip over the Easter holidays, when the kids were in Year 2 and Year 5. We spent two weeks travelling around the country and loved every minute of it.

Marrakesh

Marrakesh is only a three-hour flight, but arriving there feels like you've flown halfway across the world.

Our taxi dropped us off and we were met by a man with a cart, who loaded up our luggage (including a Vida Vida bag or two) and our youngest son.

We stayed at Riad Houdou, right in the heart of the medina. Walking through the old town felt crazier than I remembered from previous visits — not sure if it's got busier with speeding mopeds and bikes, or if it was just having kids to look after this time.

We didn't try to pack too much in — mostly just wandering and taking in the chaos. Our favourite restaurants were Terrasses des Épices, a lovely rooftop spot, and Ma Maison, an Italian restaurant with live music.

If you want a break from the sights and the medina, Oasiria water park is great — the lunch there was really good, and they have a heated outdoor pool, which was much needed in April.

The Road South

After three nights in the city, we picked up a hire car and headed off on the road. Our first stop was Ouarzazate, en route to the desert. We visited Atlas Studios, which was surprisingly good — interesting film sets brought to life by a great guide.

The Desert

The next leg, out to Merzouga, was a long one but well worth it when we finally arrived at Desert Heart Luxury Camp. Our tent was amazing and the staff were brilliant.

We spent two nights at the desert camp and did dune buggy riding, a sunset camel ride, and a day trip into the Berber black desert — we loved all of it.

Dades Gorge

Leaving Merzouga, another fairly long drive took us to Dades Gorge, where we stayed two nights at La Perle de Dadès (this could easily be cut to one night if time is short).

Taroudant

From there we headed to Taroudant for one night at the wonderful Dar Toukia. It was the most expensive hotel of the trip, but we loved it and wished we'd stayed longer — we'd definitely add a night here if planning a trip with time to spare.

The Coast

We then drove to Imsouane, a cool surf village that's really only worth a visit if you're into surfing, like my husband. If surfing's not your thing, I'd swap this for Essaouira (which we skipped this time, having been before) — or head straight to Taghazout, which has a great choice of cheap Airbnb apartments, or treat yourself to an all-inclusive stay.

We spent our last four nights at an all-inclusive, Riu Taghazout, near Agadir, then dropped the car at Agadir Airport and flew home from there.

Top Tips

• You don't need a car in Marrakesh. Hire one for your last day there from the outskirts of town, so you're not navigating through the crazy parts of the city.
• Driving in Morocco is easy. We got stopped quite a lot, but smiling and not attempting to speak French saw us waved on most of the time. We did get one speeding ticket, but it was only around £10, so it wasn't the end of the world.

Our 15-Night Itinerary

If you want to fly in and out of Marrakesh, you could do a loop — visiting Taghazout or Agadir first, then Essaouira.

A Shorter 10-Night Itinerary

For less driving: skip Merzouga and swap in a desert camp at Agafay instead. There are no sand dunes — more rocky desert — but it's still a great experience and cuts down travel time significantly.

Got questions about planning your own Morocco road trip? Drop them in the comments — and stay tuned for the next post in our family adventures series.