Re: Travelling in Morocco during Ramadan

Hi,
My partner and I are planning to spend a month in Morocco in October this year. We have only just found out that this is the time of Ramadan. We have already paid for our flights so I dont think we can change it. Has anyone been to Morocco during Ramadan? What should we expect? We were really looking forward to sampling the local food and eating from street vendors. Should I pay the fine to change my flight and avoid Morocco at this time? Anyone who has some info on this or some personal experiences I would love to hear from you. Thanks!

HI, during ramadan is still a fine time to go. Not a lot of adjustments required other than being considerate that moroccans around you are not eating drinking or smoking during the day but its still accepted ie not taken as an insult that foreigners come and do stil eat etc, but be kind by maybe sitting further off the street or inside a restaurant etc. and also that moods may be a bit edgey.
some places may shut for a long break around lunch time or actually close altogether on fridays which is like our sundays.
Moroccans still appreciate tourists and are open for business pretty much as normal in most or particularly the big places/towns, cities etc.

then you see them out on the streets after dark in almost party mode. they have huge/celebratory almost style breakfasts at about 630pm/the allowed time to start eating and then a late meal a while after that up to as late as 1 oclock in the morning. marrakech was packed with people when we were there last ramadan time and such a lively atmosphere.

hallo
im a moroccan man living in Marrakech...i guess u ll have no problem visiting morocco during ramadan...people dont eat during daytime but after sunset they start eating... u ll find no problem...some restaurants in downtown open ...moroccans are used to ramadan ...u ll find them laughing and cool...and at nite its like a party...u ll sure love that...for any questions contact me at chaknoune@yahoo.fr

Hi,

I am also going to be visiting Morocco during Ramadan and at first I was concerned...

Thanks for the important info!

hi my partner and i our planning a trip in october what can we expect during ramadan is food and drink easily excessible in the day?
we have a 10 day trip planned, any ideas for our itinerary we thought either to the south and visit the dessert areas and oasises or stay central in the atlas foothills. our adventure begins in marrakech places to stay,see,must do's are all greatly apprieciated.

Depending where you go you may need to plan your meal times, Breakfasts are not readily available in some guest houses, so buying bread, eggs, jam etc late at night and self catering is a good idea. It is doubtful you will find much to eat in the mountains during the day, so again plan ahead...Have a good trip.

hello
I think that ramadan will be a very nice time for you to visit morocco, you will experience somthing new...for food don't , may be you won't find locals for preparing food in the moroning , but in the evening that will be different , and you can buy sth and prepare it for yourselves,
anyway , that will be great believe me , don't worry

hello, well the problems here in Morocco the ships the close in ramadan untill the evning, so if u are intersting to came to south morocco contact Mustapha he have exprience in his work guide !! i organize the small group of turists here in all cites in morocco, here i will let u my email down desertline@hotmail.fr i hope to hear from u soon !!

u are welcome to motocco
we have tourist during ramadan

xx

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2009 10:05AM by ffinlo.

Ramadan is a great family festival. No question. But from a tourist point of view it's a time to avoid: partly because you won't know the impact of Ramadan until you arrive in a particular town or city. E.g. I spent ages getting from Fes to Taroudant only to find that everything (and I do mean everything) was closed all day except for my hotel - the same was true of Al Hoceima: one food place open, even in the evenings - a fish cafe - and I'm a veggie... bit of a non-starter...
If, like me, you go to Morocco because you want to experience the incredible vibrancy of the country then you'll be much better off going at a time of year when the souks are bustling, when local people are chatty, when the local buses are running properly - when just existing is exciting.
Ramadan's a family time, and so everyone's much more family focussed, which of course that means tourists drop way down the priority list. Quite rightly.
If on the other hand you just want the tourist life, travelling on tourist buses, going to posh hotels etc. then I dare say life is pretty much the same.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2009 10:06AM by ffinlo.

Hello there,

It is currently Ramadan in Morocco and the rest of the Moslem world and I would just like to add a few comments to the topic of Ramadan.

I am European and have lived in Morocco for about 6 years. About the only two places in Morocco that will be more-or-less "normal" for the overseas visitor are Marrakesh and Agadir. Almost all of the tourist restaurants in both cities are open during the daytime hours and thus no real inconvenience will be experienced.

The problems for tourists arise when trying to make a trip or tour outside of the city that they are in. In this situation, one will find that there are no places open to eat or drink.

If a tourist confines their current travel itinerary to Agadir and Marrakesh, then everything will be fine. It's about 4 hours by bus between the two cities - or 3.5 hours if the bus does not stop at the rest stop at Chechaoua.

There will be another time to come back to Morocco later and visit more places. Insh'Allah.