Today marks one month since I stepped off that plane…..

Today marks one month since I experienced a city like I never had before…….

Today is the day I tell you the story of the beauty that is Marrakesh…….

I want to tackle this blog post a bit differently, I want it to be a bit more informative with more helpful tips. If you like this style of writing let me know in the comments and I will keep it up. So let me start from the very beginning…

Planning :

The decision to go to Marrakesh was solely based on my desire of going somewhere warm during the German winter season. We get close to 6 months of cold, dark,  wet weather, I knew I wanted to go to a dry and sunny place. What better place to go to than mother Africa! 🙂  Deciding on where to go is the easy part, the difficult part comes when you start trying to book flights and accommodation etc. You have to make a decision on whether you want to rough it out or perhaps you prefer a bit more comfort. Then taking into consideration your budget, because let’s face it who wants to go away on holiday, only to come back home broke and stressed?? Only risk takers live like that!

Flights – a return flight to Marrakesh from Germany typically costs anything between 180€ – 580€. That is a lot of money! There is no way I could ever justify paying that much for a weeks holiday, and I didn’t pay that much. The trick to getting good, inexpensive flights is to take advantage of holiday sales. So instead of paying such a ridiculous amount for a 3-hour flight, I took advantage of the Black Friday Sales in 2017 and got a 56€ return flight to Marrakesh with Ryanair! The difference is a bit crazy but well worth it!

Accommodation – since I was going away for a week I knew I needed somewhere I could feel safe, comfortable and at home but at the same time not pay for with my kidneys. I always go to 3 different accommodation sites to check different offers and places. Sometimes, a hotel or flat can be cheaper on a different site because of the commision the site takes. So the same hotel can be 20€ – 50€ (total) cheaper on another site. It’s worth doing your research and doing so months in advance.  With this link, you can get €15 off your next accommodation booking anywhere in the world! Click here

Another option I always go for is a room with no cancellation fee, so if I like it, I’ll book it, if I find something cheaper and better I can just cancel my booking and book the new room with no charge to me. I love the flexibility of that, some rooms go cheaper as the days go by, after a few weeks the price of a room can go down so I book the room at the new price and cancel my previous booking… and so on and so on. I’m sure you get the gist.

In Marrakesh, I ended up going for a Riad and not a hotel or Airbnb.  I went for this option because, after my research, I learnt that Riads are a more traditional or authentic of the Moroccan houses/palaces. They are two or more storeys high with a  fountain or courtyard in the building interior, usually, dead centre of the compound, the way they are beautifully designed and built make the owners feel like royalty but still at home. Over the years those Riads have been turned into guest houses, with character, tastefully decorated interiors, home-style cooked meals and a personality that greets you as soon as you walk through its doors. Each Riad has its own distinct feel about it, but all of them, at least the ones I got to see, are homey.

Accommodation to me has always been important when I go on vacation. Feeling at home, taking a hot shower, making a cup of tea at night or a cup of coffee in the morning, all those little things are absolutely necessary for me.

What makes you enjoy your vacation more?

Now that I have written about 700 words, I think I  will stop here…. Part 2 will be about all the beautiful things to see and do in Marrakesh. It’ll be up on Saturday! 

Leave a comment below telling me where you plan on travelling to this year, I would love to know! xxx