4 Gays with 8 Days in Morocco

Morocco had long been a bucket-list destination for my husband and me (the food, the landscapes, the markets, the history and culture). So when we had a friend’s 40th birthday celebration in Paris — and with our ever-present itch for exploring — we knew exactly where we were going after the French fête. We cajoled two of our favorite travel companions into joining, so then the question was: how were four gay men going to navigate this vacation in a conservative country where homosexuality is actually illegal. The answer: good planning. Here’s what we did…

View from Cafe Hafa in Tangier

♦ Day 1: Exploring Tangier

After a late-night arrival into Tangier and some good rest at our hotel, we set out on foot to see the city. Tangier is a crossroads where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and where civilizations have traded, clashed, and just existed for thousands of years. It’s a fascinating mix of ancient and modern, with a lingering edginess from its status as an international zone in the early- to mid-20th century and its popularity with hippies in the 1960s.

We loved the architecture of the Kasbah Palace, which houses the Kasbah Museum of Mediterranean Cultures and the small but compelling Contemporary Art Space. Nearby, we took in in the views of the Strait of Gibraltar from an ancient Punic-Roman burial ground and popped into the buzzy Café Hafa (known to be frequented by everyone from William S. Burroughs to The Beatles), perched on the cliffs above the water.

For lunch we stumbled across a tiny Syrian restaurant Abou Tayssir, which epitomized home cooking (I’m actually pretty sure the chef was bringing the dishes down from her home kitchen upstairs) and dinner that night was an adventurous meal at a Le Saveur de Poisson, which Conde Nast Traveler notes is no-frills and doesn’t exactly follow stringent hygiene standards (but boy was it a delightful experience!).

View of Chefchouen, Morocco's "Blue City"

♦ Day 2: Chefchouen

If you’re in the north of Morocco, you HAVE to see the famed “blue city” — Chefchouen. We booked a private tour with transfer from Tangier and spent most of the day trying to keep up with our guide who was nearly twice our age. With its narrow alleyways and talcum blue painted everything, there’s an Instagram worthy moment around every turn.

Back in Tangier, we fed our appetite that evening with nearly the entire small plate menu at Alma Kitchen and some relaxation time by the pool at the Grand Hotel Villa de France.

Treats we savored on our Marrakech street food tour

♦ Day 3: Transfer to Marrakech

We were off to Marrakech via train — the high-speed TGV to Casablanca was a great trip (smooth, comfortable) but the local route from Casablanca to Marrakech, notsomuch (cramped, toilets that open to the tracks below, etc…. and this was in “first class”). But we made it to our Riad and settled in. That evening we had a fantastic a street food tour, a great way to get our bearings in a new city and literally get a flavor of the place. 

Jardins Majorelle

♦ Day 4: Marrakech Sights

We played tourist in the morning with the Majorelle Gardens (buying tickets ahead of time highly recommended) followed by the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, which was nice, but I’d skip it if you have limited time. After lunch at L’Mida (the first of a couple of meals there — soooooo good), the afternoon was spent lounging at our Riad’s pool and basking in the sun on the roof deck. Evening’s dinner was at Nomad, a modern Moroccan hotspot above the medina where we feasted on tagine and lamb chops to die for.

A quiet alley in Marrakech’s medina

♦ Day 5: Market Day

Morocco is a shopper’s paradise, especially if you like bargaining — next to nothing has a set price. We spent the day wandering the medina picking up gifts for family and friends (and ourselves of course) including wall sconces, a couple of rugs, an original painting, a backgammon set, a handbag, pottery, jewelry, spices… I could go on and on.

That evening we went to the New Town section of the city to see what the nightlife was like (on the recommendation of some new friends we met on gay social networking apps). While the bar was pleasant, one doesn’t necessarily go to Morocco for the scene and we ended up at the Riad in the hot tub to wind down the night before our two travel companions left the following morning.

Ait Ben Haddou

♦ Day 6: High Atlas

Not far from Marrakech, the Atlas Mountains rise up, transporting you to an immediately distinct experience. This was the start of a three-day private guided tour from Marrakech through the High and Middle Atlas on to the desert and ending in Fes. Our driver and guide Hassan was a delight who, with many long hours together in the car, became a friend. 

This first day we drove through the Tizi n'Tichka pass at more than 7,000 feet on to the village of Ait Ben Haddou, a 12,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site and location of filming for Lawrence of Arabia and Game of Thrones. After a personal tour with a local resident, we were back in the car to a Berber rug shop and on to a woman-owned rose oil cooperative, where we picked up some lotions as gifts for our nieces. We finished the day in the Dades Gorge (probably my favorite location on the tip), where twisting mountain roads lead to awe-inspiring vistas.

Camel trek at Erg Chebbi

♦ Day 7: Desert and Camel Ride

Waking to a marvelous sunrise, we headed out into the Merzouga desert, stopping for Hassan to teach us about the ancient irrigation systems used by Bedouins in the area (including stories of himself helping dig tunnels as a young person). We arrived at the Erg Chebbi Dunes and while Hassan transported our bags to our glamping site, we made our way through the sand via camel (talk about a bucket list experience!). But unmatched by anything was the stargazing we did that night. It was Steven and me, alone at the top of a dune on the edge of the Sahara, without a glimmer of human-made light to be seen. I had never experienced the night sky like that. It was a precious moment of wonder and serenity for which I will be forever grateful.

Dates drying in the sun

♦ Day 8: On to Fes

From the desert we saw another bit of Morocco’s biodiversity with a stop to feed some monkeys outside of Ifrane National Park. While this 3-day leg of the trip was a lot of driving, and a bit of a slog, I was amazed at how many varied landscapes we saw in such a short amount of time — mountains, desert, forest, rivers, canyons… definitely worth the time to get out of the city. We said our goodbyes to Hassan and checked in to the Fes Marriott Jnan Palace and headed into the medina for a bite to eat and some last-minute souvenirs before our journey home.

♦ Finally, a note on accommodations…

For gay travelers, this is always a point of concern and in Morocco, one has an extra level of alertness. Overall, our stays in hotels were fantastic, with not a batted eye at my husband and I sharing a room with one bed (though when we stayed one night in a rural area, we were happy to accept the 2-twin bedroom they offered without challenging it). In Marrakech, we rented an entire Riad which was absolutely stunning, but given it was a private rental, we were forced into some delicate conversations with hosts and had to submit some paperwork ahead of time. I’d recommend a higher-end hotel to save yourself the headache, and the potential for an unfriendly host!

A conversation with an Airbnb host I’d prefer not to have had