Top 10 Highlights from Gals Abroad Getaways Morocco 2023
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We just wrapped up the most amazing Gals Abroad Getaways trip to Morocco and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
This destination was our first GAG trip outside of Europe and I was so happy with how our Gals embraced this destination with an open mind.
When we polled our newsletter, Morocco was by far one of the most popular destinations our gals wanted to visit in 2023, and just purely from my own observations, it seems to be one of the top countries many visit when they’re ready to take the leap out of European destinations and into a destination with less Western influence.
That was also my experience visiting Morocco. I visited for the first time while I was studying abroad in London and hopped across on a short flight following a weekend in Spain. Since then I’ve returned in 2022 and of course, this past May to host 14 of our gals.
This trip was a little longer than previous Gals Abroad Getaways, with the main trip being 10 days, with an optional 5-day extension. And while I wish I could dive into every nitty gritty detail from the trip (it would be a novel lol), here are my top 10 highlights.
TOP 10 MOROCCO MOMENTS
1. SPENDING TWO NIGHTS IN THE SAHARA DESERT
This place is PURE MAGIC. This was hands down the destination everyone was most excited for (they all told us so in our intro calls haha).
For context - it takes a minimum of 10 hours to drive to the Sahara Desert from Marrakech (which is why many people skip it). But when Linda and I were here in 2022 to scout for this very trip, the moment we arrived we knew this had to be a focal point of our itinerary.
Here’s the tea - many group tour companies DO NOT include the Sahara in their itineraries. And if they do, it’s only for a night and they most definitely do not do the full drive in one day.
As you probably already know, we like to do things a little differently over here. To us, it made no sense to drive 10 hours just to ride a camel, wake up with the sun and drive home (as many other tours do). When Linda and I visited in 2022 we did the full 10+ hour drive in one day so that we could spend two nights in the desert & have a FULL day to experience the Sahara and the people who call this place home.
We discovered fossils, happened upon this group of camels munching on an acacia tree, shared mint tea with a nomadic family & had what probably was my favorite meal in Morocco.It was hands down one of the most incredible days of the whole trip and after that, we knew we had to replicate that experience for our gals.
The moment our ladies arrived in the Sahara you could feel a shift in the energy. Everyone had massive smiles on their faces, it felt like we were truly in an otherworldly destination.
A few of us even made this funny video that will forever be one of our most iconic 😂
Being able to bring our gals to places like the Sahara Desert was such an honor and is truly at the core of why I wanted to start this business and seeing 14 women (many of them strangers) riding camels into the sunset on the sand dunes in the Sahara will truly be a memory I hold onto for the rest of my life.
2. THE FRIENDSHIPS THAT WERE FORMED AND STRENGTHENED
I will always feel like a proud mamma bear when I see all of our ladies giggling, connecting and truly forming strong bonds with their fellow travelers. We take great pride in cultivating a community of like-minded women on every single one of our trips and Morocco was no exception.
We had 8 gals from previous trips join us on this trip and one of the coolest things I watched was how these women who live across the country from one another got to re-unite in a truly remarkable destination & strengthen their existing friendships & create new ones.
I love that our trips are quickly becoming an annual tradition for some of these ladies so they can be reunited & discover new destinations with their new travel-loving gal pals.
On the last night of the trip, we read through ALL the inside jokes and funny moments from the trip that a few of our gals have been documenting and we were all BURSTING with laughter and beaming from the amazing memories. Our farewell dinners are always so meaningful as we do our signature Gals Abroad Getaways love notes (IYKYK) and reflect on our time together.
3. TRAVEL DAD
Something that was different about this trip from previous Gals Abroad Getaways trips was that we had a local guide with us the entire time. In our opinion this is ESSENTIAL in a country like Morocco and truly makes the experience seamless & richer thanks to all the history, context and expertise of the guide.
We were SO lucky to have Younes join us for our 15 day journey. Almost immediately we began lovingly calling him “Travel Dad”. He was always looking out for us, had EXTREME levels of patience & couldn’t resist a classic dad joke or two.
One of my biggest tips for visiting Morocco would be to hire a guide - you can read more of my tips for anyone visiting Morocco for the first time HERE.
4. ALL OF THE AMAZING PARTNERS WE WORKED WITH
My love language is gift giving so I always try to knock it out of the park when it comes to gifts for our gals. We’ve been so lucky to work with some incredible partners over the years, here are some of the goodies we gifted our gals:
TIMESHIFTER
This is one of the greatest travel tools you can use to help you beat jetlag (it’s so legit astronauts use it). Essentially, it gives you a personalized plan based on your international flights with recommendations on how to combat the impacts of jetlag on each leg of your journey.
PRINTS BY SABINA FENN
Sabina is an incredibly talented artist that depicts some of my favorite destinations around the world in her gorgeous watercolor art prints. We’ve worked with her on every Gals Abroad Getaways trip we’ve hosted and for Morocco our gals got one of these two gorgeous Marrakech prints.
She has prints for many destinations around the world & they are all so beautiful and make for the perfect addition to any travel lover’s home.
WIPEYS
I learned about this travel, toxic-free, biodegradable wet wipe company during the panini and never looked back. Their jet packs offer wipes for your face, surfaces, tech, and hands and are essential travel items.
They were SO helpful in Morocco, especially in the Sahara!
CENTIME
I love any jewelry piece that has significance and helps you remember certain memories. We gifted our gals these gold bracelets that have the coordinates of Marrakech on them.
They pair perfectly with other bracelets and are a special way to remember their time in Morocco with Gals Abroad Getaways.
Centime has a bunch of other bracelets and necklaces that can be customized with coordinates - HIGHLY recommend!
LIQUID IV
I knew we couldn’t go to Morocco without some Liquid I.V. - I swear by these when I’m traveling. Morocco is a destination where tummy troubles can be pretty common and having these hydration multipliers can be essential when trying to recover. I always keep a few of these in my carry-on because airplanes dehydrate you too.
BAN.DO
I’ve been a customer for YEARS and essentially, every cute graphic tee, passport cover etc. I’ve owned has probably come from them. Looking for whimsical, colorful and fun, well anything? Ban.do is your spot.
We gave the gals my favorite bag tags!
PS Ban.do is having a sale RN!
Uviña Skin Products
Uviña Skin is a mother and nurse-owned brand that makes it REALLY easy for you to have healthy, glowing skin! They have this super easy 3-step skin care routine helps cleanse, calm, brighten, and hydrate your skin using ingredients inspired by tradition and culture.
All products are easy to pack in a carry-on (hello, face cleansing bar!), TSA-friendly and are simple to use and made with non-toxic, naturally-derived ingredients.
FARMER’S FRIDGE GIFT CARDS
You'll find these fridges all over Chicago but I LOVE that they are in airports across America and that's my go-to spot for healthy airport food on the go!
Something I’m really happy about was being able to work with a local Moroccan artisan to create custom name bags for each of the gals in their favorite color. I met Mostafa when I was in Morocco last year when I randomly stumbled upon his shop. I loved how kind, and easygoing he was and how AMAZING he was to work with. So there wasn’t even a question in my mind that I would hire him to make gifts for our gals and bring them back to his shop.
5. KASBAH TAMADOT
This was hands down the stand-out property of the trip. This property is consistently topping lists as one of the best resort hotels in the world and we couldn’t agree more.
Click here for a quick tour of the property!
Many of our ladies opted to stay in the properties Berber Tented Suites - one of the best room categories - because of the absolutely stunning views, incredible decor and the feeling that you’re escaping into the Atlas Mountains in style.
We timed this stay at the end of the journey for those only doing the main trip and in the middle for those joining on the extension so that the resort could be the destination. We wanted our gals to feel free to really enjoy the property and not feel guilty for spending the day relaxing by the pool, getting spa treatments and indulging in room service.
On every one of our trips we aim to select small, luxury boutique properties and push the limits on what we include when it comes to the properties we stay at.
6. WINE TASTING IN MEKNES
I don’t think much can top our final day wine tasting in Meknes. While wine tasting might not be the first thing you think of when you think of a Muslim country like Morocco, but it certainly shouldn’t be overlooked. We learned about Moroccan Grey Wine (an alternative to Rose) that we couldn’t get enough of.
And let’s be honest, we very much enjoyed passing around the bottles of wine they kept bringing us that were paired with one of the most delicious meals we had in Morocco.
We even got silly at the end (are you shocked) and made this reel lol.
7. SHOPPINGGGGGGG
Let me tell you, the gals did not miss one opportunity to shop haha. Shopping in Morocco should be a national sport. There are so many amazing artisans creating everything from rugs that take years to complete to beautiful ceramics and every sort of knicknack inbetween.
Some of the best purchases were a ceramic Tajine scooped up at a roadside stand in the Atlas Mountains (which sadly did not survive the journey home lol), a STUNNING handmade kaftan the exact paint color used to create that amazing blue color known as Majorelle Blue & not one but two INCREDIBLE Moroccan rugs.
You could easily plan a visit to Morocco JUST to shop (and maybe I’ll do that when I’m ready to furnish my future home lol).
8. TRYING ALL THE MOROCCAN ROAD TRIP SNACKS
We had A LOT of long drives on this trip. The reality of visiting many of the major destinations in Morocco is that driving is the best method of travel but that often means 5+ hours in the car.
So to make these drives more interesting some of our gals took it upon themselves to find the WILDEST flavors of chips at any one of our many “Comfort Stops” (that’s what Travel Dad called them). We made a point to do taste tests on the bus and it became a fun way to learn about the local gas station snack culture (lol).
Flavors ranged from Caviar & Foie Gras to Honey Butter Chicken and Lime with Pink Pepper.
We even tried some of the local McDonald’s cuisine (again lol). Our favorites were these Gouda Bites & Algerian Fries which had this unique red sauce with fried onions on top.
9. SUPPORTING LOCAL WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
With each Gals Abroad Getaways trip, we always make an effort to ensure our tourism dollars stay in the country that we are visiting. This means selecting locally owned and operated hotels and restaurants, working with local guides and supporting small businesses where possible.
Another way we aim to have impact on the destinations we visit is by supporting local women’s organizations by visiting and donating to their causes.
In Marrakech, we dined at Amal Association which is a non-profit dedicated to supporting courageous women on their journey towards empowerment and financial independence. A portion of each of the lady’s trip costs were donated to the center.
For the ladies who joined the extension, we stopped for lunch at Nzala Cooperative where a small group of women share their Fesi embroidery work with the world with a commitment to provide economic opportunities to women in rural communities. We learned about their incredibly intricate work, shared a meal & shopped for some pieces that we could take home with us.
10. THE UNEXPECTED & UNPLANNED MOMENTS
Some of the most meaningful moments are the ones that aren’t planned. From quietly watching the sunrise in the Sahara to exploring the blue city of Chefchaouen in the early morning when it’s peaceful and quiet - these are the simple pleasures of travel and the moments we always want to leave room for our trips.
here’s what some of the gals had to say about their trip
Want to know more about the places we visited on this trip? Here’s an overview of each stop:
Marrakech
With the design flair of Paris, the ethnic diversity of New York City, the commercial heartbeat of Hong Kong and a history to rival any European city, Marrakech is at the very heart and soul of Morocco and is the perfect place to begin our grand Moroccan tour. We stayed here for 4 nights at an amazing luxury riad and jam-packed a variety of sights and amazing dinners into this leg of our trip. On our last day, some of our gals opted to work with a local photographer to capture some gorgeous photos among the endless ornate backdrops and others spent the day on a motorcycle and sidecar tour of the city - just one example of how we provide our Gals with a variety of add-ons to customize each trip to fit their travel style.
Sahara Desert
Stretching some 3.5 million miles and touching 11 countries, the Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world and is roughly the size of the entire United States. While the journey to this remote part of the world is a long one (approx 9.5 hours), it was so worth it as our Gals got to enjoy watching the sunrise and set over the desert’s iconic sand dunes. We stayed at a luxury camp for two nights where we rode camels, sand boarded, and learned about the local Saharian culture.
Atlas Mountains
By far one of the most serene destinations in Morocco, we traded sand for mountains as we explored North Africa’s highest mountain range – the Atlas Mountains. This massive mountain range runs diagonally across Morocco for nearly 650 miles and is known by local Berbers as ‘Idraren Draren’ (Mountains of Mountains). While we were here, some of our Gals got to connect with the Berbers who call themselves - Amazigh or the “free people” and have ruled the area unconquered for thousands of years.
Casablanca
Casablanca is the country’s largest city and the best representation of modern Morocco. It is also home to one of Morocco’s most important monuments - Hassane II Mosque. This is the largest mosque in Africa and one of the only mosques open to non-muslim visitors in Morocco.
Chefchaouen
We traveled north to visit Chefchaouen, the enchanting “blue city”. This is one of the most peaceful of all of the destinations we visited. We spent some time wandering the Media, which is a much calmer experience than in Marrakech & Fes and stayed in one of the most beautiful Riads in the city.
Fes
Fes is the second-largest city and one so perfectly preserved it feels like someone has pressed pause on time. The city’s history dates back to the 8th century and was referred to as the “Athens of Africa”. Our Gals visited one of Fes’s oldest tanneries to see the ancient craft if dying leather. The craft remains virtually unchanged from the process of ancient times and is fascinating to observe.
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Planning your first trip to Morocco
I’ve put together a post that covers all the questions a first time traveler might have before they visit.
