Hostels in Morocco

Morocco is a stunning country with such a vibrance and contrast in landscape. The capital city is Rabat, although the most popular city among tourists is Marrakech. It is easy to fly in and out of Marrakech as a hub, and there are a very large number of Morocco hostels here for tourists -- but do your reading up on them before you choose one, as they can vary in quality substantially.

The Medina area is filled with markets with loads of merchants harassing you for their business. The best shopping, however, is not done in Marrakech, but in the lovely seaside town of Essaouria. You can snag quite a few good bargains in this town, as well as check out the port where all of the local seafood comes in every morning. This is the best city in Morocco for seafood, if this takes your fancy. Do make sure that while you are here you eat your fair share of tagine and couscous, the most prominent foods in Morocco.

The capital city, Rabat, is lovely and has quite a few important monuments to see, such as the Hassan II mosque, which is the third-largest in the world, and the mausoleum. These are some of the most stunning architectural features in all of Morocco and are not to be missed. Casablanca, made famous by the movie of the same name staring Humphrey Bogart, is a large port city with not a great deal to do, but it is a great gateway for transport to and from other places and there are a couple of Morocco hostels here as well.

From there moving inland, there is the stunning town of Fes, with its narrow streets in the Medina that are so easy to get lost in. It can get a little bit crazy here, so booking a Morocco hostel in Fes outside of the Medina may save you the hassle of getting lost in the Medina. Further north you will find the large port city of Tangier, where you can take ferries over from Spain. From here it is recommended to visit the beautiful painted city of Chefchaouen.

A must-do during your stay in Morocco is a camel safari in the desert and an overnight stay in a Bedouin camp. You can organize these yourself from a Morocco hostel in a major city or you can head to one of the towns closer to the desert such as Merzouga, close to the border of Algeria. The other great thing to do is explore the Atlas Mountains and the stunning gorges and hiking they have throughout. In parts of the High and Middle Atlas, you can ski during the winter months as they get snow. There are Morocco hostels scattered throughout these regions and if there aren't hostels, there are riads that can be quite cheap if there aren't any available to you. You will find that outside of the major city centres that Morocco hostels are not as prominent as they are in the cities.

There is loads to explore during your stay in Morocco and to do this you can take the trains from city to city; to many of the smaller destinations they do have buses. Make sure you get some advice from your Morocco hostel about the best way to get around and see things and make the most of your time in this country that has super friendly and helpful local people.

Handwritten by local expert for Morocco hostels Globetrotter