How Much We Spent During Two Weeks in Morocco
Morocco was a country we both have dreamed of visiting for some time now, so in 2017 we made it a priority. Our wish was to see and experience as much possible in 2 weeks and to do that we needed a car. Public transport is not so bad between the cities, however, it wouldn’t allow us to make as many stops as we wished to do and it would have been quite time-consuming too.
Before I share the prices we paid, I would also like to point out we were spoiling ourselves almost on daily basis. Anyway, below you can find information on how much the whole trip cost us. Please note that I first write down the price we paid together and then calculate how much it was per person.
CAR and TRANSPORT
Rent for 9 days: €262
Insurance: €180
Parking: €9 (100 MAD)
Fuel: €88.04 (978 MAD)
Highway: €4.27 (47 MAD)
Speeding ticket: €13.50 (150 MAD)
Bus: €32.42 (MAD 360) – including the luggage
Taxi: €5.40 (60 MAD)
Private transfer to the airport: €6 (67.5 MAD)
Expenses per person: €300.32
Car expenses where what made our trip a bit pricier than we expected. We first had problems getting a car because our card limit was not high enough (€2400!) and could not take it until we paid for a full insurance. The other reason our expenses were quite high is that the location we picked the car from (Fes airport) was different from the one where we returned it (Marrakech city centre).
Another unnecessary expense was the speeding ticket. Being well aware how Moroccan police strictly enforces the speed limit, we were really careful about following the rules. Except on that one day, when we were driving towards Dades Valley and had a great discussion about God-knows-what. The policemen were very nice, though, and spoke great English. We were driving 68 km/h, where the limit was 60 km/h.
The bus we took was from Marrakech to Essaouira – we had no complaints about the ride.
ENTRANCES
Dar Batha museum: €1.8 (20 MAD)
Cellah: €1.8 (20 MAD)
Volubilis: €1.8 (20 MAD)
Madrasa Bou Inania: €1.8 (20 MAD)
Le jardin Majorelle: €12.61 (140 MAD)
Essaouira Ramparts: €1.8 (20 MAD)
Bahia Palace: €3.6 (40 MAD)
Expenses per person: €12.61
Entrance fees in Morocco are a bargain. The most expensive one was Le jardin Majorelle and this was also my least liked attraction. It was way too crowded, hot and not even close to a place where you could zone out. You can tell Jacques Majorelle did a great job, but this is one sight everybody goes to see and it gets too busy (please note this is just my opinion and most would probably disagree – I highly recommend you go check it out yourself).
Cellah, a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis located in the metro area of Rabat, was the one I had the highest expectations for. And wow, it did not disappoint.
FOOD
Breakfast: €12.7 (95.5 MAD)
Groceries: €5.2 (58 MAD)
Water only: €7.56 (84 MAD)
Fresh orange juice stands: €1.53 (17 MAD)
Cane juice stand: €0.90 (10 MAD)
Bakery: €3.42 (38 MAD)
Dining out: €82.23 (913 MAD)
Expenses per person: €56.77
We were eating out at least once a day. In Merzouga desert we had all meals included. Elsewhere we mostly had breakfast included in our hotel rate and then ate one meal (either lunch or supper) out later in the day.
ACCOMODATION (14 NIGHTS, including the tourist taxes)
Fes (2 nights – airbnb): €28
Chefchaouen (1 night – booking.com): €31
Rabat (1 night – airbnb): €19
Zaida (1 night – booking.com): €18
Merzouga (2 nights – airbnb): €167
Dades Valley (1 night – booking.com): €34.40
Aït Benhaddou (1 night – airbnb): €24
Marrakech (4 nights – booking.com): €87.18 (1st and 2nd night), €49.28 (3rd night), €34 (4th night)
Essaouira (1 night – airbnb): €26
Expenses per person: €258.93
Most of the riads we stayed at were absolutely dreamy. We had everything booked in advance and I’d do it the same if I had to re-do our plan. We often only reached our destination at the sunset – I’m glad we didn’t have to spend an hour searching for a lodging. We were also lucky the majority of our riads were super cute and family-run.
EXTRA
Hamman and massage (2 hours): €72 (800 MAD)
SIM card + recharging: €4.05 (45 MAD)
Volubilis private tour: €9 (MAD 100)
Fes private tour: €3.87 (MAD 43)
Scarfs for the desert: €9 (MAD 100)
Dates: €3.6 (40 MAD)
Sun cream: €17.92 (199 MAD)
Medicine: €24.31
Tips: €10.8 (120 MAD)
Expenses per person: €77.28
Before going there, we had to buy some medicine (I recommend taking probiotics daily; I feel like this certainly helped us a bit) and we thought we had ran out of sun cream just before the desert (later it turned out we had been wrong). We also took some private tours, bought some gifts and had a relaxing morning in Marrakech, where we treated ourselves to 2 hours of hamman and massage.
ALTOGETHER PER PERSON: €705.91
Our only regrets are the car expenses, which could easily be at least €100 lower. If on a budget, we could probably save additional €100 per person, but as pointed out before, we didn’t really worry about that this time around.