Morocco was incredible — five weeks there and I feel like I only saw a tiny slice (and my arrival here in north Africa meant my sixth continent in less than 12 months! Not at all what I had planned, but my lemon pie life made it all possible).
Published stories so far:
New
- For Ensemble Vacations’ summer 2019 issue: Spotlight: What to expect in a Moroccan riad.
- Behind the photos, a real taste of Morocco, about tiny Moulay Idriss, for CIBC’s Unpacked Adventures.
Food
- What’s that smell: Morocco’s communal ovens (for Paste Magazine) (and here’s the intro).
- A story about two Ottawa chefs who are stovetrotting around the world that I met at an innovative restaurant in Fès, Morocco, published in The Ottawa Citizen, the daily newspaper of Canada’s capital city, and republished in The Calgary Herald and The Edmonton Journal:
- Have Apron Will Travel (print version published October 29, 2015).
- Young Ottawa chefs Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Phoebe Oviedo combine wanderlust with cooking (online version with more photos and a recipe, published October 28, 2015).
- Food city Fès (Fez) (for LuxuryAndBoutiqueHotels.com).
- About Dar Roumana, a fab boutique hotel and restaurant: Stay at this sustainable boutique hotel in Fez, Morocco (for The Wayward Post).
Advice
- How to survive the medinas of Morocco –– lots of tips and tricks for keeping your stress levels down in the crowded labyrinths of Fès and Marrakech (for Passport Health).
- There’s a Morocco scam I fell for, described in Five travel scams I always avoid and the one that got me, for Tern Magazine.
- The French version is: Cinq arnaques auxquelles j’ai toujours échapé et celle que je n’ai su éviter.
- Some etiquette advice, including about Morocco, is in my article for Together magazine, PDA etiquette around the world.
- For Ensemble Vacations’ summer 2019 issue: Spotlight: What to expect in a Moroccan riad.
Where to go
- About my favourite little town in Morocco — Moulay Idriss: When you need a vacation from your Moroccan vacation (for Journey Beyond Travel).
- Off-the-radar Morocco.
- Rabat: Best homebase for your Morocco holiday, featuring the towns of Moulay Idriss and Chefchaouen (for LuxuryAndBoutiqueHotels.com).
- A visit to Marrakech, Morocco (for LuxuryAndBoutiqueHotels.com).
- The hammam: a different sort of spa day (for Nanuism).
For Boutique Travel, I included three of my favourite boutique hotels, including Dar Roumans in Fès, in this roundup Top 10 favourite boutique hotels.
And the hotels I reviewed for LuxuryAndBoutiqueHotels.com:
- Riad Joya (Marrakech medina).
- Riad Due (Marrakech medina).
- Villa des Orangers, a Relais & Châteaux hotel (Marrakech Kasbah).
- La Sultana (Marrakech Kasbah).
- Dar Housnia (Marrakech medina).
- Riad Dar One (Marrakech Mellah).
- The Repose Luxury Riad (Rabat Salé).
- Villa Diyafa (Rabat, embassy district).
- Karawan Riad (Fès medina).
- La Maison Bleue (Fès medina).
- Palais Amani (Fès medina).
- Dar Roumana (Fès medina).
- Riad Nùmero 9 and Restaurant Nùmero 7 (Fès medina).
- Dar Seffarine (Fès medina).
- Riad Tizwa Fès (Fès medina; there’s a sister riad in Marrakech).
- Riad Fès, a Relais & Chateâux hotel (Fès medina).
And as usual, my stays are hosted by the hotels, but the opinions are my own and I do not allow the hotel to review or approve the text before it is published.
Travel Eater 
Do I need a guide for the medina in Fez? We’ll be there in October.Thank you
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Hi George. It depends on what you’d like to do and how comfortable you feel.
Most guides will include shopping in their tour. If you want to shop, and particularly if you’re looking for something unique, this can be helpful. (Yes, they will take a cut of whatever price you pay).
The Fés medina is very large and quite confusing. There are more than 9000 streets and alleyways! I used Google Maps on my phone to find my way (you don’t need wifi or a SIM card, it works on GPS). It wasn’t perfect — there are some alleys not on the map and sometimes the GPS didn’t work well in a narrow alley with high walls. But I always found where I wanted to go — eventually! I think that half the fun is getting lost and discovering thing you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Keep in mind that you can’t rely on the “helpful” directions of everyone on the street. Some people want you to use them as an unofficial guide, some people think a tourist could only want a main shopping street, so will turn you back if you wander off the beaten path, some shopkeepers want to steer you toward them, and some kids just like being kids and sending you the wrong way.
When people tell you a street is “fermé” (closed) it sometimes means the street is a deadend, sometimes that is is residential, and sometimes that it is just in the wrong direction from where they think a tourist would want to go.
I found it useful to say that I was “just walking to look for photos”, or that I was “trying to learn the streets” when people asked what I was looking for and insisted on steering me somewhere. Wearing headphones (usually with the sound off!) also stopped most of the more aggressive shopkeepers from bothering me (not that they were a huge bother, but sometimes you just want to walk!)
If you’re truly lost, asking a shopkeeper how to get to a gate or a main street will usually get you useful directions. I’d suggest that you choose who you ask, rather than rely on the people who approach you. Some are truly helpful, others are not. Kids will often show you the way, but they expect a tip (which isn’t helpful to encourage them to stay in school, to learn the value of money, etc etc).
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We liked Villa des Orangers too – great place!
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Thanks Jennifer. It was beautiful and one of my favourites in all of Morocco! Glad you had a great stay there too.
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