Hire a private driver or autonomy?

When you plan a trip to Morocco, one of the important questions you need to ask is whether or not you want to self-control or hire a private driver. If you plan to see more than one city, you will spend a lot of time in the car.

Driving in Morocco is sure and not exceptionally difficult, but it is not easy either. The decision belongs to you, but when people ask me for my opinion after spending almost two weeks in Morocco, I do not hesitate to say “to hire a driver”.

I do not know how many times during our trip to Morocco, I turned to my husband and I said: “Are you not happy to have hired a driver?” Certainly when we traveled through mountain passes in darkness on our way to Chefchaouen after almost 24 hours of travel. Certainly during our trek of a day of Fes in Merzouga in the desert. And again, during navigation on the Tichka, go through the Atlas mountains.

Should you hire a private driver in Morocco? Yes, here are six reasons why.

There are many reasons why I think it is worth hiring a private driver in Morocco, which I will describe below. But whether you hire a driver or an autonomous, read this to know what to expect.

Road conditions

There are four mountain chains in Morocco: the High Atlas, the Middle Atlas, the Anti-Atlas and the Rif mountains. If you drive from Marrakech or Fes to the desert, or by heading north to Chefchaouen, you will have to go through these mountains.

The roads are narrow and very winding. There are steep drops along the edges of the mountain. There are a lot of laces. And you will certainly be stuck behind a bus, a truck or a cart drawn to the donkey, which has progressed very slow.

The construction of roads also left many of these roads to a single track to points or gravel in sections. It’s not fun to drive. It is even tiring to be a passenger, but imagine the quantity of driving with white handle that you may have as a foreigner who does not know these roads.

Share the road

You never know what you are going to find in the middle of the road or on the sides. You should monitor the herds of sheep, donkeys, dogs and cats. Sheep farmers will often have to cross to bring their herds to the water or take them for the night. But do not be surprised by sheep or the wandering goats that governed on the road.

You will also share the narrow road with more than cars. Many Moroccans must also walk on long distances to / from school or work, you will therefore share the road with groups of schoolchildren, bikes, scooters and donkey carts.

Do not be surprised by the children who are trying to report to you to take a tour of school. School attendance is now compulsory in Morocco, but the bus is often not provided. Many children need to travel miles in school every day and try to reach a turn when they can. The school is also coming out in the early afternoon, so that children can come back to help on the farm or help their parents, so you will see more children in the morning and midday.

When you travel to the North or between Chefchaouen and Fes, in the “bread basket” of Morocco, you will have farmers who will bring their field harvest or take them to the city for the market. This could be on a lady’s carriage, stacked super high on a van or truck, or sometimes using a motor cart.

Speed ​​traps

I have never seen speed traps as I did when we were in Morocco. The speed limits are very strictly applied. Fortunately, many Moroccan drivers will give you a head with a flash of the headlights like a warning, but honestly, that would shock me if you could drive in Morocco for two weeks without getting a speed ticket.

On some road sections, it seemed that there was a speed trap every five miles. I joked with our driver that Morocco must solve an unemployment problem by hiring more police. At least three police officers held each stop, with one with a radar weapon and at least two others pulling people. And it was certainly not only the inhabitants who stopped.

So, if you decide to hire a car in Morocco – be careful and pay attention to the cars you see on the side of the road, especially when approaching or leaving a city or a village.

During some stop or roundabout panels, you will also find police there, so don’t be surprised, keep your passport and your international driving license at hand and make sure your car rental work is in order.

Signs

Do you read and do you speak French or Arabic? If this is the case, you may feel more comfortable driving in Morocco, because at least you can read the signs. In and around large cities, the panels were in both languages ​​and even English speakers with a little French can navigate, especially with a little help from Google Maps.

However, in the countryside, you will only see panels in Arabic and if your GPS does not work at that time, you may have a little trouble. Honestly, it did not seem that navigation was too difficult, but it is something to think.

Parking and lead to cities

If you travel to a big city like Fes or Marrakech, you have to think about where you are going to park. Even small towns like chefchaouen have an old town without a car. If you stay within the walls of Medina, there is no parking. You will need to work with your riad or hotel to see what they would recommend.

In addition, when you are in a city, people walk everywhere … of all directions. Even while walking in the medina, I noticed that there are no social standards of walking on the left or right. It’s a free for everyone and would give me ulcers to cross. The streets near the Medina can be very, very narrow (our driver had to go back several times so that another driver can hurry with a betting between cars.)

When you don’t know where you are going and people seem to come to you from all directions (on foot, scooter, bike and car), it’s so stressful. Why face it?

Your driver can be your best friend

The best part of the hiring of a driver instead of driving you is that you will have hours spending someone in his country. Look for an English -speaking driver, or better still, a driver’s guide. They will be able to tell you about the landscape, history, culture, politics and much more.

In addition, if you have a driver for several days, you can know yourself and he will take care of you. Need a change for the toilet? He will get it for you. Do you have to find an automatic counter? He will go out of his way to find one for you. Do you want an unexpected bathroom break or a food stop? He will find a place suitable for stopping.

Our driver made sure that there was always bottled water in the car, as well as fruit and nuts for snacks. He provided the wifi in the car so that we can stay connected while he was dealing with driving. He took us to the “safe” restaurants and gave us parts for the toilet. He bought my chocolate daughter and called his princess. And he was happy to tell us about his country and answer our questions. Not to mention the language, I felt like it was a great way to find out more about the country, culture and people.

What costs a private driver in Morocco?

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It will certainly be cheaper to use public transport or rent a car and self-commissioner than to hire a private driver. However, because Morocco is not an expensive country, it does not cost as much as you might think.

There are two ways to proceed, you can either hire a driver to take point. For example, you fly in Marrakech and spend four days, then hire a driver to take you to the desert and return. Or, you hire a driver who stays with you throughout your trip, but it will be more expensive because it has to spend the night. The most expensive option is to hire a driver and a guide to stay with you throughout the trip, but it looks like an exaggeration.

I would try to hire an English -speaking driver who, although he is not a license guide, can always answer a lot of questions and talk to you throughout the trip and not just drive. For example, we spent a free day in Skoura and it was a market day in town. We asked our driver to take us to the market and he did not just drop us off, he went around the market and described things as he went.

We hired Epic journey To plan our trip and they organized our driver as well as for local guides. Our driver stayed with us during the first eight days of our trips (although his accommodation is generally different from ours.) Unfortunately, they only provide drivers as part of a complete package, but you can also find drivers for each city you visit.

A private driver will cost about $ 100-200 per day, depending on the options you choose. (Find out how much a trip to Morocco costs.) In my humble opinion, it was really worth it!

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