Is it possible to travel in Morocco alone or is it better to join an organized group? I can’t answer this question in general, because it depends very much on the personality of the traveler. I have known Morocco for 15 years and I have noticed that in the past few years especially the Germans, who loved in the 80s to travel with backpack and public transportation, now very much prefer to travel in group and they let an agency do the whole planning and organization.

That is so sad, because this country has so much to offer, which you can never experience in a group. Most of all you will miss the contact with the people, that is what gives the charm to the country, besides the beautiful nature. In an organized group you get to know only the people working in tourism, tour guides, waiters, dealers. If you travel alone you will have the best adventures just when something is not going as planned.

During my last trip I wanted to drive on an unpaved road from Ouarzazate to Demnate, partially unmarked on the maps. With my GPS (satellite navigation system) it was no problem to find the direction. But after 60 km I arrived at a mountain pass, where all tracks of vehicles ended, the road was only possible for horses and donkeys. Or bikes. I turned and drove to a small village nearby to ask somebody. That was the big event for all village kids, they came running and crying for candies and pens, this can be very aggressive. It is very seldom that tourists come to this far away spot. But soon the adults came, stopped the kids and invited me for tea. We went into a small house made of the stones of the mountains, offered pillows and carpets to help me sit comfortable and served tea, omelet with fresh baked bread and almonds from their own trees.

The family’s kids, seven, looked curiously into the room, but afraid to enter. Fortunately I always have enough toys and candies, so I called them and offered all this. It was incredible! They showed proudly the toys to their friends waiting outside, happy to have this foreign guest for their own. I have also a lot of used clothing and people far from any town can use this very much. The father offered me to take me with his horse to Demnate, but I told him I would rather return to Ouarzazate. They invited me to stay for some time, but they didn’t insist and the farewell was deeply moving. I got fresh eggs and almonds to take home and I was asked to take the grandmother to her daughter in Ouarzazate.

I met during my travel tourists in organized groups who were afraid and thought they could never travel alone. My experience is, that you need of course self confidence. If you want to travel to a foreign country and meet a foreign culture you have to prepare this trip very well, read travel guides (the best is more than one) and meet the people secure and determined, but friendly. If you are afraid that a danger is waiting around each corner, it will be there! But you should always respect the foreign culture and pay attention to how to dress. Be prepared and optimistic and you will have the most interesting adventures, make new friends and will long dream about this trip.

The best thing when you travel alone is that you yourself can organize anything. You are always free to do what you want, stay where you want and go where you want. I met a young couple from the USA, they had a rental car, but had booked all hotels in advance. They couldn’t even go to spend a night at the beautiful dunes of Merzouga, because the agency had only booked a hotel in Erfoud and there was no time to stay longer, the next hotel was waiting. During your trip you will encounter so many unexpected things, invitations, tips from other travelers or places where you want to stay longer. In the south of Morocco there are so many small, but nice and comfortable hotels where you can always get a room, only in big cities like Marrakech or Fes is a reservation necessary.

Woman travelers

For many years I have been going to Morocco and very often I hear the surprised question: “Alone? How brave! That is too dangerous. And boring.”

All this is not true. Morocco is not more dangerous than other countries, maybe less dangerous than some European countries. The stories of women who disappeared in the labyrinth of medinas are not true. The Moroccans are much more open, more direct than Americans or people from northern Europe. It is not unusual that a man, may it be a policeman at a control post in a street or the man changing my money in the bank, asks me if I want to spend the night with him. But if you answer such a direct question with a likewise open “no” he might ask you why not and will start a conversation about the different women in Europe and Morocco, but he will accept the no. They will never force you (unless you do something stupid like drink and smoke with Moroccans).

The biggest danger with Arabic men is not force, it is charm. They can be very charming when they look at you with their big brown eyes and give you a lot of compliments. Once an engineer on the ferry boat said to me: “When a man is talking for a while to a woman and doesn’t ask her, she will think she is not attractive to men.”

But women should be careful how they dress. With mini shorts and tank tops you ask for hassle, too many men still believe European women are coming only to look for sexual adventures. Nobody has to wear a veil, but respect the local habits. In a western oriented city like Agadir Shorts and T-Shirt are okay, but in traditional villages and during Ramadan it is a confrontation.

And traveling alone as a woman is never boring. Wherever I go people ask me where I come from, where I will go and we talk about my country. In no European country it is so easy to make contact with the people. And for women it is easier to meet Moroccan women, they invite me to their house, although we cannot talk much. Women seldom speak French.

Only sometimes there are problems. One evening in Fes, I was the only woman in the streets, every other man tried to talk to me although I avoided eye contact. They start with “bonjour, Ca va, and if I don’t answer they called me racist or Jew. But this doesn’t happen in smaller towns.