Morocco 7 days itinerary — How to spend 7 days in Morocco perfectly to visit: Fez, Chefchaouen & Tangier

Morocco, the land of tiny ancient streets interlaced as mazes, is a place for those who love crafts take hours to go through the factories of tannery, weaving, pottery, jewelry, crystal oil… to experience an unique culture with all 5 senses. Morocco’s capital is Rabat, and the largest city is Casablanca. For the convenience of traveling during the 33 – day trip to 11 European – African countries, I did not go to these two big cities but focus on the most prominent locations in the North of Morocco. They are Fez or Fes (exploring Medina that was recognized by UNESCO in 1981), Chefchaouen (Blue City), Tangier (the coastal city bordering Spain).

So, what to do and how to spend 7 days in Morocco perfectly? Let’s check it out our suggested Morocco 7 days itinerary with the very detailed guides to visit 3 most beautiful cities with rich history, culture and most quintessential features of these cities from A to Z to find out the answer!

Morocco 7 days itinerary: Before you go

Time zone & Temperature

The timezone of Vietnam is 6 hours faster than Morocco, and I fly from Madrid, Spain. Europe is 1 hour faster than Morocco.

Morocco is adjacent (lying next to) the Atlantic and Mediterranean sea, so the climate is quite cool and pleasant compared to African countries located in the continent. The temperature ranges from 17 – 38 degrees Celsius depending on the season and region. The most favorable and best time for you to come here is June, September and October, the weather is not too hot, not too cold, with little rain. July and August are the two peak hot months, in many places in the Sahara the temperature reaches over 45 degrees Celsius, so you should avoid visit in this period. Theoretically, but if you do not plan to go to the desert in the south, according to my experience you should go to the 3 northern cities in July like me, it is still quite cool, even you will need a blanket at night.

Money exchange

The currency of Morocco is Dirham (Moroccan Dirham, DH): Because you can pay for the hotel in Morocco by EUR, you do not need to exchange too much. Right at the gate of the arrival hall of the airport, our group consists of 3 people have exchanged 100 Euros in advance to pay for travel and snacks, the rest will be exchanged in city center will get better exchange rate. The exchange rate at the in June 2019: 100 EUR = 1050.80 Dirham.

Language

The main languages ​​of the Moroccan people are Arabic and the local language Berber. Because they used to be a French colony, in tourist areas and hotels they speak French well and English is very bad. When go out for eating and drinking in local restaurants, I must use body language and Google translate. This is also an obstacle and difficult for those who want to make a self–sufficient traveling journey to Morocco. Some common words used like Medina (ancient citadel), Souk or Soud (market in Muslim countries).

4G Sim Card

Use for internet access and communication between group members.

Outside the arrival hall gate of the Fez airport, there is Maroc Telecom network provider, which immediately gives out a free 4G Sim Card and it will be installed into your smartphone, very convenient. Then you can go to the city, come any grocery store and you can ask them top-up, just like in Vietnam.

You can go to any grocery stores to top-up for your 4G SIM Card. I chose the 2.5GB package with the price of 25DH (circled in red above), which was quite comfortable in use for 7 days in Morocco. If you call or go online a lot, you should buy a higher money package.

7 days in Morocco: How to get to Morocco?

Route 1: From Madrid, Spain (Europe) – Fez (Morocco)

We flown from Madrid to Fez with Ryan Air with one way ticket around $93, it’s takes 1 hour and 35 minutes to arrive. The airport in Fez is quite small, the 1st floor is designed in a typically traditional style, and looks different from other international airports. If you depart from Vietnam and want to fly directly, you should fly to a big city like Casablanca, there will be many flights and the airfare is also reasonable, about $562.88–$606.18 / way, the round trip from $909.27 or more. In addition, it is possible to takes connect flights from Hanoi / Ho Chi Minh City by Vietnam Airlines, Scoot Air, Air France, China Airlines… to major European airports such as Paris, Barcelona, ​​Rome… and continue the next trip to Morocco.

Route 2: Getting from the airport to Fez city center

The cheapest way is takes the City Bus Fez for 4 DH. Known as the City Bus of the city, but it feels like an old 90s car, often bouncing and without air conditioning, there is only one driver who also check tickets, so there is a lot of contraband tickets from the back door. The first impression when come from Europe to Africa is like going into Doraemon’s time machine going back decades. Maybe because I chose the old city to come, this difference becomes even more obvious.

Route 3: Traveling between cities: Fez – Chefchaouen – Tangier

You can travel by CTM intercity bus. According to the documents I read, it is very rare for people to buy online tickets, most of them take a taxi to the CTM station 1 day before to buy a paper ticket with time, price, and code (pictured below). In case run out of CTM tickets, you can ask a few other bus companies around.

• Ticket price from Fes – Chefchaoeun (July 2019) is 80 DH + bulky baggage is 5 DH / person. Depart at 12AM. There are a few trips a day, but when we buy it, there is only one trip at that hour.
• Ticket price from Chefchaoeun – Tangier: 45 DH, depart at 8:30 am.

Commuting in the city

Taxis in Morocco are quite cheap, many firms but you have to bargain before going. And each short trip between tourist destinations is only about 10–20DH, do not pay more.

7 days in Morocco: Where to stay?

Compared to Europe, the room rate in Morocco is much cheaper with many hostels, homestay are uniquely decorated according to local architecture style, included breakfast and the quality of customer service is also very good.

Fes (Fez)

Dar Mfaddel, ratings on booking.com is 9.0
Address: Zkak lahjar, Fes El Bali, 30000 Fès, Morocco (Morocco)

A small hostel in Medina, 2–night for a double room costs 43.33 euros. The Moroccan–style house is very unique, although the surrounding is built of brick, surrounded by almost no windows, but there is a sky well in the center of the house that is air–in and air–conditioned so it is cool all year round. When you come here for the first time, you will also be greeted with warm mint tea, served with crispy aromatic seed biscuits. Breakfast is served attentively, full of nutrients in Moroccan style. The doors and ceilings of the rooms are exquisitely designed, carved to emit a special scent that makes your mind very relaxed. Another plus point is that the receptionist is very handsome and lovable. (Check rates on Agoda.com or Booking.com).

You can find more hotels in this city on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Chefchaouen (Blue City)

Casa Amina – Reviewed 9.0 on HostelWorld
Address: Derb Chebli no6, Souika, Chefchaouen, Morocco (Morocco)

The house is built in the traditional Moroccan style and located in the blue city, so almost every house / hostel here wears typical blue color with many shades. Items are simply decorated with pictures and crafts such as brocade pillows, bronze platters, porcelain … What I recommend you to book here is its central location, very convenient. Just a few steps to reach the large square, where restaurants, eateries and souvenir shops are concentrated. (Check rates on Agoda.com or Booking.com).

You can find more hotels in this city on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Tangier (Sea City)

Mamora Tanger – Score on Booking.com is 7.8 | Price 46 Euro / night / double room
Address: 19 Rue Mokhtar Ahrdan (Ex postes) Petit Socco, Old Medina, 90030 Tangier, Morocco

Standing on the top floor of this hotel you can see Spain. Tangier is a small but modern and bustling city. The hostel rooms are also built in a more modern way, not as old as in Fes and Chefchaoeun. Clean, fully equipped, 11 minutes walk from the beach, convenient to travel. The rooms are normal, but because we only stayed here for 1 day and 1 night, we went to the airport early the next day so this was enough for us. (Check rates on Agoda.com or Booking.com).

You can find more hotels in this city on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

So, how to spend 7 days in Morocco (Morocco 7 days itinerary)? Below are our suggested the sample Morocco itinerary for 7 days that you can refer to.

Our group of 3 people spent 7 days from July 14, 2019 – July 20, 2019 to explore 3 cities in Morocco (Fes, Chefchaoeun and Tangier).

7 days in Morocco — Day 1: Go to Fes and hang out in Medina

Get lost on my own way, discover Medina: Fes built in the 9th century and reach its peak during Marinid dynasty in the 13th, 14th. Fes el Bali (The Old Fes) is the oldest citadel in Fes, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. In the old citadel (Medina), people moving and transport goods, collect garbage mainly by donkeys, and rudimentary freight cars because the road is very small, with many narrow alleys. Therefore, it is also considered to be the largest contiguous car–free urban area in the world by the scale of population.

Experience the street food of Morocco, try delicious snail and Moroccan bread. Chat with Moroccan people by using Google translate. The food in Morocco is really attractive, delicious, and fragrant, rich. I will write in detail in another article.

Morocco 7 days itinerary — Day 2: Fes: Visiting traditional craft villages

Enjoy breakfast like a local: After waking up, something worth waiting for and eagerly is a typical Moroccan breakfast. For the first time enjoying an “epic” breakfast, elaborately arranged, both delicious and extremely full of nutrients make me treated as a real god. The dishes are very simple, but are cooked from raw ingredients, nutritious and mostly handcrafted: whole wheat bread, marmalade, salted olives, olive oil to dip with bread, butter is made from a fragrant goat’s milk that distinct from the industrial butter as I’ve ever eaten, boiled eggs, fried dough, orange juice, coffee and a bowl of soup. All are included in the room rate. What a great meal! Awesome!

Hiring a guide at the hostel: The hire price for a tour guide is 25 euros / tour for 3 people, he will lead to visit the traditional craft villages: Essential oil making, tannery workshops, bronze sculpture, weaving shops… Actually, these craft villages are quite close. But when going to here without experience, it’s easy to get lost and you often can not find the right direction. So, I recommend hiring a local guide to have a full experience in Fes.

The Chouara Tannery workshop was built in the 11th century, one of the oldest tannery in the world. The skin after being stripped from animals (goat, sheep, camel, cow, …) is soaked in white tanks (contains skin emollient), then impregnated in circular tanks filled with pigment. The most terrible thing is that coming here you will experience a smell like corpses, extremely stinking. Each person will be given a bunch of mint leaves to smell, drown out the thick air of death smell in this place. After drying leather, it is used to make bags, shoes, sandals … very beautiful and unique.

Watch the sunset at Marinid Tombs / Merenid Tombs (if you use Google Maps, you have to search by French name – Tombeaux Des Mérinides) – The tomb is located on a hill in the north of Fes al-Bali, go through the road, right next to Medina.

I don’t know why, when I told a taxi driver to go to Boji Nord, but the taxis were lazy so they took me to the nearby Marinid Tombs, about 750m (10 minutes on foot). From these two points, the entire Medina area can be seen with the dominant white color. In Morocco it is darker fast than in Europe so you should try to arrange to come here soon. Around 6:30 pm, it was already quite dark, unlike in France, it’s only get dark after 10PM in the summer.

Morocco 7 days itinerary — Day 3: Fes – Chefchaouen

Because I watched the sunset late on yesterday, so today I determined to watch the sunrise earlier at 6 o’clock, LOL. The stalls in Medina only opening at around 10AM-12AM, so you can freely experience the morning atmosphere without people.

After finishing my breakfast, I went to the bus station to go to Chefchaouen and the bus departed at 12AM.

Arrived at Chefchaouen, buy food and fruit at the local market.

7 days in Morocco — Day 4: Chefchaouen (Blue City)

Take pictures and take pictures. Because Morocco is the 6th country among 11 European-African countries on my journey, so I want to stay longer (3 days) in Blue City to explore and relax before continuing the long journey ahead. Every corner of this city makes me fascinated. Not as noisy and bustling as Fes, the people and scenes in Chefchaoeun are more simple and peaceful.

Enjoying sunset at Spanish Mosque. This is a mosque built by the Spanish but has never been used. Recently, they intend to renovate to make a cultural center. Although this mosque is not open and has nothing special, it is a gathering place for tourists to watch the sunrise and sunset. From here you can see the whole large blue city.

Afternoon – Evening: Have fun at Place Outa el Hammam & Kasbah square, buying souvenirs. In Chefchaouen, visitors often gather at the big square because there are few places to have fun. In the afternoon, this area is very crowded, many restaurants and local dishes such as hot snails, hand-made cakes in Morocco style…

Morocco 7 days itinerary — Day 5: Chefchaouen

Day 3, also the last day in Chefchaouen is just going around and relax. If you don’t have much time, I think 2 days is quite enough in Chefchaouen.

Lunch at the restaurant at the foot of the Ras El Maa waterfall.

Evening: Drink mint tea / Cafe, enjoy the bustling evening atmosphere in the grand square – Place Outa el Hammam & Kasbah.

7 days in Morocco — Day 6: Tangier

Take the bus from Chefchaoeun to Tangier at 8:30 am.

Going to the beach of Playa de Tanger: The sea in Tangier is not really beautiful, the water is cloudy and there are not many accompanying services. From here you can take a 30-minute ferry ride to get to Spain.

Take a taxi to Cape Spartel. Although this is the northwestern tip of the African continent, there is nothing special about it. It’s too free, so my group took a Taxi here to play and kill time :)))

Morocco 7 days itinerary — Day 7: Tangier – Lisbon (Portugal)

Take an early flight to Lisbon (Portugal)

I thought the airport in Fes was the worst, but coming to Tangier Airport, I even discovered my thinking was short-sighted :))). For the first time I was witnessing the waiting hall for loved ones like a sidewalk stall to watching football in Vietnam, dark around.

Morocco has taken myself from surprise to surprise. Before boarding on the plane, though regretful, I still feel very satisfied with the few seven days in this African land. I will definitely have to come back because there is an appointment with Marrakesh, Rabat, Casablanca too.

Goodbye and see you a day not far!

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Morocco you can refer to

• 2D1N Zagora Desert Tour from Marrakech
• Ourika Valley Day Tour from Marrakech
• Essaouira Day Trip from Marrakech
• Agadir Day Trip From Marrakech
• Moroccan Cooking Class in Marrakech
• Marrakech City Tour
• Quad Biking Experience in Marrakech

Are you looking for more top things to do in Morocco: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Let’s check it out here.