Thank you for getting back. 2 weeks since my post and so we've already taken the decision that we'll go, so your advise is a bit worrying.. but we'll make the best of it and go anyway. Last summer we did a 5500km trip Slovenia/Croatia/Italy/west-France and back and so we're kind of used to driving long distances and never sleeping twice in the same campsite.
I do understand and share your concern on the total driving distance and we're deciding what NOT to do to limit it to an acceptable amount. We'll focus on Marakkesh, Atlas, Ouzouarte, Dades valley, desert. We'll skip all of the other cities (our children prefer nature over cities). We are not planning on camping wild. And we are aware of the different campsite standards. So let me share our plan and please comment.
For us from Belgium, Tanger is 'only' 1300km because we take the Ferry in Barcelona. That is just 3hours more than a regular ski holiday which we do every year..must be doable.
Fri 31/3 Leave 3pm after school, drive till midnight (kids fall asleep around 8pm, at least on skitrip they do), then pull up the roof on a French aire and sleep.
Sat 1/4 another 3hours, so by noon we are in Barcelona where we'll spend the day with the children depending on the weather we may go to the beach
Saturday at 2am the ferry leaves, but we can embark much earlier.
Mon 3/4 arrival at Tanger med at 6am.
Monday night and tuesday night campsites are not decided yet, but we'll be en route for Marakkesh which is 6hours in total (Google maps time - how much should we add?). Any suggestions for campsites en route?
Wednesday, we've booked a riad in Marakkesh and visit the city. From experience, half a day is enough in any city for the children.
Thursday, we've booked an all-in with aqua park near Marakkesh for the children to enjoy and us to relax.
Then the plan is to travel through Atlas, enjoy Tizi-n-Tizka pass toward Ouzouarte, then Aït Benhaddou - kasbah Taouirt - Fint oasis and then towards Merzouga (fri/sat/sun) where we've booked a camel trip and night in the Desert experience (sunday to monday). We still need to find campsites for friday and saturday in between.
And from monday 10/4 till saturday we have 5-6 days for the 830km back to Tanger. We'll probably visit Chefchaouen, but other that that we haven't planned anything yet. We'll see who we meet, what happens, what campsites we encounter and how hot it is. I have this Morocco overland route book here where I might take one of the routes labeled 'VAN'.
Saturday we have the ferry to Algeciras at 10am, then drive to Bordeaux region. Stay there the sunday (my wife's parents life there and drive home on monday). So the way back is a 23h drive split over 2days (with a rest day in between) which I don't look forward to but the ferry from/to Barcelona is only once a week and it didn't fit.
So to summarize the driving..
1x a 1300km drive from Algeciras to Bordeaux
2x a 1000km drive (home->south of france) and Bordeaux->home
1 day (2nights) on a ferry
1 day (2nights) near Bordeaux in a house
Except for the 3 complete days all the other days we plan are no more than 3-4 hours. There's 12-13h of daylight.
We never sleep 2 nights in the same place with the California. We've never done that.. it's just so much fun to go to the next stop. But I am a little concerned leaving the car behind when visiting a city or going for a walk.
Does this sound like a crazy idea?
Initially we had hoped to also visit Tazzeeka national park, Ouzoud waterfalls, Fez, Paradise City (near Agadir), Essaouira (though we still hope to squeeze that in before Marakkesh) and Legzuira Beach (which is just way too far). Those have been cut due to lack of time.
If I look at what travel agents offer for Morocco with children it's usually one week with
- Marakkesh + atlas
- Desert trip with mules or camels and hiking for older children
We've used it as inspiration.
We'll never have more than 17days in the coming 15 years because of the children's school situation (and summer is not an option due to heat). Which is why it's now or .. probably never (with the children).
