Our family trip to Morocco (taking in Marrakech, Rabat and Tangier)

Our family trip to Morocco was filled with adventure and colour, souk bartering, mint tea, sunshine and meeting wonderful people. Our Morocco vacation saw us travelling by train, from Rabat to Marrakech and then overnight to Tangier and on to Fes. It felt adventurous and exciting and full of travel fun. Our Morocco family holiday wasn’t without its moments but the whole trip left us wanting more and keen to explore Morocco further.

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Arriving in Rabat

We started our family trip to Morocco in Rabat. Landing as night fell and negotiating taxis in our basic French as the drivers ordered us in and out of cars.

As we became increasingly frustrated and they argued loudly with one another, finally a driver took pity on us. Happy to honour the agreed charge and helped us load our bags and whisked us off to the city centre.

The air was warm and heady and the sights were wonderfully evocative. And it was exciting to be back in Morocco, a country we had visited before having children but never since.

Staying in Rabat

We were staying at Onomo Rabat, a simple, comfortable hotel in the centre of the capital city which was the perfect base.

As morning broke we looked out on to the colourful streets, the green palm trees dotting the landscape, listening to the atmospheric call of prayer ringing out and felt so happy to be there.

Rabat is the capital of Morocco but often overlooked in favour of more popular towns like Marrakech and Fes.

It has much to offer though.

We wandered through the medina, dusty streets opening into wide spaces and we fell in love with it.

There was the pungent smell of spices in the air and the streets were alive with cats.

We happily wandered and every few steps stopped to watch the various merchants in the souk selling henna, baskets, leather and our favourite, the baklava makers loading sticky pastries in to bowls, the honey dripping in amber pools beneath.

It felt like a friendly city. Smiles greeted us as we walked and we wished we had longer to linger.

We stopped at a small convenience store and picked up supplies for our journey onwards – bottles of water, biscuits and bread. Then we collected our luggage and headed to beautiful Rabat train station where we waited to take the train to Marrakech.

Taking the train Rabat to Marrakech

The journey south took just over four hours. We’d opted for first class tickets as it was the only way to ensure we would get seats.

The train was comfortable and clean enough and the time went quickly as we read our books, ate our snacks and watched the beautiful red Moroccan landscape pass by.

Seeing the names of towns on stations we passed through made me wish we had more time to explore. I vowed we’d be back for a longer trip.

Arriving into Marrakech – our family trip to Morocco

We pulled in to Marrakech as the sun was starting to go down. After the experience with taxi drivers in Rabat decided we would walk the fifteen minutes to our next hotel so we could avoid a repeat experience.

It was a pleasant enough walk and nice to be out in the fresh air stretching our legs after the long train journey.

Arriving at the Mövenpick Hotel Mansour Eddahbi Marrakech was like arriving in a different world. It was the perfect retreat with green gardens and beautiful pools and just an oasis of calm.

We were in Marrakech for four days. Exploring and taking in the sights and coming back to the Movenpick to relax and let the children swim.

It was the perfect balance and allowed us all to really enjoy our time here.

Marrakech

Marrakech was as vibrant and colourful as I remembered it.

Jmaa El-Fnaa – Our family trip to Morocco

We walked through Jmaa El-Fnaa where the whine of the punji of the snake charmers rang out and the children’s eyes widened as monkeys on chains were pulled through the crowds. Henna artists, uninvited, squeezed thick paste on to my daughter’s arm and street food sellers stood in front of us to stop us going forward while yelling their number in our face, “one hundred and two, come and see us, stand one hundred and two, great food”.

It was overwhelming and the children clutched on to our arms.

We found a retreat in one of the bars. Up high, overlooking the chaos and much removed from it.

We bought cold drinks, managed to squeeze on to a table at the edge of the veranda and spent a good couple of hours taking it all in from above.

The children loved it, they could see it all happening, “look, that lady is trying to sell her dresses”; “the dried fruit seller is doing good business”; “the poor monkeys”. But they didn’t feel that it was so close to them to be suffocating.

We watched the action as the sun went down. Frowning at tourists who gave money to those touting animals and smiling at the toy sellers who sent their small frisbee-like helicopters whizzing up in to the darkening sky.

As night fell the children were ready to face the action again, knowing what to expect. Wanting to buy the toys they had seen and smiling widely as we bartered for little treats for them.

We stopped to watch crowds gambling, acrobats performing and dancers ringing their bells and singing their hypnotic tunes and this time we really enjoyed it.

The medina

Marrakech is one of those cities that gets under your skin. Soon we were weaving our way through the backstreets of the medina and taking in all the sights like pros.

We bartered for bags weaved from straw and picked up wooden snakes and rounds of bread.

We ate well in Marrakech too, from a delicious tagine in the medina to some great food in the Henna Cafe. Here we also stopped to get henna tattoos which were beautifully done.

For me Marrakech isn’t a city to plan. It’s a city to wander through and lose yourself in.

The parks

We found ourselves in the gorgeous Cyber Park Arsat Moulay Abdeslam and strolled through this tranquil spot looking at juicy grapefruit growing high in the trees and spiky flowers and enjoying the calm of another side to the city.

We even avoided the taxi drivers for longer with a horse and cart ride back from the medina one day. This was the perfect way to see more of the city.

Soon enough it was time to move on and we were really excited by our next destination of Tangier.

Marrackech to Tangier on the night train – family trip to Morocco

We had decided to take the night train between Marrakech and Tangier. Partly to save time but partly simply for the adventure.

It was with a real sense of excitement that we arrived at Marrakech’s train station. This was a beautiful, large space with gorgeous Arabic design to it.

We picked up some food at the station and took it and all of our luggage down to the platform for the ten hour journey on to Tangier.

Once again we had opted for first class cabins which gave us a room for four. And we paid for a bed in the cabin next door too which we didn’t use.

The train was clean enough and we settled back on the bunks with the food for dinner and waited for the whistle to blow and the train to ease its way out of the station.

There’s something about the rhythmic rock of the train that makes me so sleepy. We were all ready for an early night.

How we slept

We watched the sun set over Marrakech, sending orange stripes across the sky and saw the biggest, roundest moon rise above us. It felt nice to snuggle down in our beds for the trip through the countryside and north to the coast.

I’d love to say it was a good night’s sleep and we all rested well but I barely slept.

The train heaved and creaked and jolted. We pulled in to deserted stations whose lights flared through the window and passengers chatted and laughed late in to the night in cabins down the hallway.

At Rabat the train reversed, meaning we were suddenly at the front and I realised that a thick, deep fog had surrounded us as we seemed to pick up speed, rattling through the darkness faster and faster, horn occasionally letting out an ominous moan and I felt incredibly apprehensive.

By the time we pulled in to Tangier station I could have cried with relief.

Arriving into Tangier – our family trip to Morocco

We found a lovely taxi driver who loaded up our bags and took us straight to the lovely Mövenpick Hotel & Casino Malabata Tanger, just outside of the city. Here we checked in and ate a good breakfast spread before heading to bed for a morning sleep while the children dozed in front of cartoons.

Tangier is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit, it’s such an evocative name. I was so looking forward to exploring the streets and alleyways and finding out what made this city tick.

This seaside city really is beautiful and there’s colour in the streets everywhere.

It was great to wander here, getting properly lost in the back streets.

Tangier medina – Our family trip to Morocco

The medina was full of hustle and bustle and wound upwards and backwards, with snaking pathways and hidden homes.

The Beat Poets in Tangier

We stopped in the The Grand Cafe where the beat poets would hang out and sipped our drinks and watched the world go by.

My favourite part of the city was out beyond the medina though. Here the crowds of cruise ship tourists would rarely venture.

We saw the real heart of Tangier here with bakeries and bookshops. And windows opening to the street selling stuffed rolls and hot snacks.

People would smile and ask if we were lost and we felt welcomed here and the city felt alive with a happy beat.

We stopped at the Cafe de Paris where William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac sipped their coffees over half a century earlier.

It looked as though little had changed and we were the only non locals there. Ordering freshly squeezed orange juice for the children and strong coffee for us while pulling up a table amongst all the local men.

It was such an atmospheric cafe and possible to imagine all the conversations that happened here and hours spent idling over the decades that have passed.

Safety in Tangier – Our family trip to Morocco

It wasn’t all happy times in Tangier though.

There was a definite edge to the city, an undercurrent, a feeling. We were aware of it a number of times during our stay here.

As we wandered across the beach, looking out over the shimmering mountains of Spain and Europe across the glistening sea we suddenly felt uncomfortable with men edging closer.

We left and made our way to a playground up on the promenade and could see glances being exchanged, a feeling that we were being surrounded.

So we left quicky, jumped in a taxi, the one time we were happy to and got back to the hotel.

It didn’t define our trip but it was certainly an element of it and important to tell.

Cooking in Tangier

Our faith in Tangier was restored by one of the best things we did in the whole of our family trip to Morocco with a stop at Blue Door Cuisine where we went to learn to make Royal couscous.

This was such a fantastic experience. All of us having a chance to get really involved and as a family we loved it.

We first learnt how to make traditional mint tea, with huge rocks of sugar and so much ceremony, it was a real insight.

Then we kneaded our own bread, rolling and pounding and shaping the dough.

We took this to the community bakery which was a wonderful place to have the chance to visit. Tucked away in a back lane, somewhere we would never have discovered on our own, we watched as our rolls joined countless others and many other items including whole fish roasting away inside.

It was such an experience to be there with an insight in to this hidden world.

Then it was back to Blue Doors to make the main dish, a vegetarian royal couscous. We cooked up the couscous, steamed the vegetables, made the topping and each created a delicious meal which we all sat down to share around the table.

It really was a fantastic experience and one to remember from the trip for years to come as we cook it up at home.

When our time came to an end, despite its slightly dark side, we were sad to leave Tangier.

It’s a vibrant city and feels alive with an authenticity and a mix that’s addictive.

Taking the train from Tangier to Fes

We jostled for position with the crowds at Tangier station and boarded the train just as a storm was blowing in. It felt like the perfect tempestuous way to leave the city.

As we rocked our way through the countryside towards Fes, where our flight home awaited us, we reflected on our travels through this beautiful country.

Morocco isn’t squeaky clean and full of theme parks and staged attractions. It’s real and colourful and intriguing and is somewhere that becomes intoxicating. We’ve barely scratched the surface but want to see more. We can’t wait to return.

Check out our film of our family trip to Morocco here

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The best things to do in Tangier with kids