Product Description

Discover Morocco

Take in the spectacle of Marrakesh's Djemaa el-Fna then dive into the drama of the city's labyrinthine souqs
Scrunch your toes into the Sahara while the sun sets over the Erg Chigaga dunes
Aspire to having the steady hands of a maalem as you weave your own Moroccan carpet
Witness flamingos take flight as a local guide navigates your boat around Merdja Zerga lake

In This Guide:

Four authors, 136 days of in-country research, 98 detailed maps, six camel rides
Color arts and crafts chapter with shopping tips and an index of traveler workshops
A former Moroccan tour guide heads up our team of expert authors in revealing the true Morocco
Content updated daily - visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21408 in Books
• Brand: Lonely Planet
• Published on: 2009-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781741049718
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
…Lonely Planet, the intrepid traveler's bible...' --Los Angeles Times, April 2005

From the Publisher
Who We Are
At Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do
* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.
* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.
* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time.
* We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.
* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.
* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We Believe
We believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
For centuries, Morocco has been drawing poets, artists, writers and travellers in search of adventure and the exotic. For many travellers Morocco provides the first taste of Africa, Islam and the developing world. It can be quite a shock, as Morocco is, and always has been, a fascinating and often bewildering place - full of contrasting images, colorful sights, strange smells and wild experiences. For those wanting a different sort of trip, full of variety and life, Morocco provides a stimulating assault on the senses.

Morocco was known to the ancient Arabs as Al-Maghreb al-Aqsa, the Farthest Land of the Setting Sun, and stands at the western extremity of the Arab and Muslim world. On a good day you can see Spain from Tangier; Morocco has long been a gateway for Europeans into Africa and for Africans and Arabs into Europe. Today the pull in both directions is as strong as ever - economic opportunity lures ever-increasing numbers of Africans into the European Union countries, while a new generation of travellers is discovering Morocco, which has again become a very popular and hip travel destination.

However, Morocco's image is changing. The old romantic notions of a conservative nation steeped in Islamic and feudal history now jars with the contemporary reality. The medieval labyrinthine medinas of Marrakesh, Fes and Meknes are what Morocco is all about for many, but don't be surprised to hear the shrill ring of a mobile phone or a sign pointing down some darkened alley to the nearest Internet cafe. The young King Mohammed VI may be a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed and wield absolute power, but he's also president of Oudayas Surf Club in Rabat.

Morocco has a wealth of experiences to offer, starting with an astonishingly rich architectural tradition and deep cultural history, Medieval cities, Roman ruins, Berber kasbahs and beautiful Islamic monuments await. The country's numerous mountain ranges exert an enormous pull over trekkers, climbers and adventure-sports freaks, whether they be after the icy, snow-covered ridges of the High Atlas Mountains in winter or the rocky semidesert of Jebel Sarhro.

Huge sections of Morocco's isolated mountain regions still remain the sole preserve of the Berber tribespeople and their animals. Whatever hassles may be thrown at you in the hectic towns and cities, you will never doubt the legendary genuine hospitality of these gracious people.

The Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines illustrate brilliantly the tumultuous history of Morocco, with fortified cities constructed by a host of nationalities and dynasties waiting to be explored. The coast also offers fine sandy beaches (some developed, some not), numerous surf breaks and windsurfing spots, while the estuaries and lagoons support a tremendous diversity of wildlife - and they're just one piece in the jigsaw of habitats that makes Morocco such a great bird-watching destination.

Dropping off the back of the vast High Atlas (which lie across the heart of the country) and sweeping towards the vast Saharan emptiness of Algeria, are some of the most stunning arid and desert landscapes in North Africa. Among them are the kasbahs of the Draa Valley, the classic rolling sand dunes at Merzouga and the endless beauty of the coastal drive into the Western Sahara. Get off the beaten track and out into these places - they can be explored on foot, by 4WD or on the back of a camel.

Once off the beaten track Morocco can arguably become a warmer, more welcoming place. Get out into the unknown because for many, encounters with local communities form the most enduring memories of all.

Morocco is not necessarily a country where you can gracefully glide through and see everything with the minimum of fuss. Sometimes it's a demanding, frustrating place that confronts you at every turn. But what it offers is a unique experience of totally differing cultures and wildly varied landscape. Take a deep breath and dive in.

Customer Reviews

Barely updated, limited coverage, and assumes the reader is wealthy
For a recent trip to Morocco, I bought the 2007 edition of Lonely Planet's MOROCCO guide alongside its major competitor, The Rough Guide to Morocco. While Lonely Planet's guide covers the major sights and will be just the thing for casual holiday makers, it unfortunately continues the publisher's trend of abandoning "travel as lifestyle" readers, once Lonely Planet's target demographic.

If you intend on slowly working your way through the whole of Morocco, seeking contact with the locals at all cost, and traveling cheaply, then Lonely Planet guide is not really worth it. LP seems to assume that the reader is rich: it recommends expensive hotels and suggests that one hire guides. It also doesn't push people to meet ordinary Moroccans. Hammams (Turkish-style baths) are a great way to enter into local custom, but instead of listing ones patronized by the locals, LP often lists expensive spa-type locations. Morocco is also a paradise for hitchhiking, where again one is brought directly into contact with people not in the tourist trade, but LP doesn't pitch it.

Comparing the LP to the Rough Guide to Morocco, the Rough Guide comes out on top. Sure, the presence of a few ads in the text, and the fact that the Rough Guide line is published by the faceless corporation Penguin, are annoying. Nonetheless, the Rough Guide caters to all audiences, both the wealthy and shoestring travelers. The Rough Guide also describes Morocco in considerably more detail than the Lonely Planet guide, gives substantial recommendations on music, books, and film from or about Morocco, and even includes a few tales by Moroccan traditional storytellers.

Ahough both publishers have put out 2007 editions, the Rough Guide is more up to date than the Lonely Planet. An increasing number of travelers are heading down through Western Sahara to Mauritania and beyond. This route has gotten easier, with transportation now easy available from Dakhla. But Lonely Planet's coverage of this entire area seems to have changed little since the 2005 guide, and the authors still claim you have to provide your own transportation.

I found really only two points in favour of purchasing the Lonely Planet guide. One is a large section dedicated to trekking, which the Rough Guide lacks (though here it again assumes that the readers are wealthy). The other is that LP's maps are slightly more detailed for some cities than those in the Rough Guide. All in all, if you are a wealthy traveler looking for a relaxing but exotic vacation, you can ignore all that I've written and buy LP's guide with confidence. If you are an independent traveler planning on trekking, get both the LP and the Rough Guide. But the backpacking and hitchhiking crowd can just get the Rough Guide and pass the LP by.

Just a little bit outdated
Despite all the bad things that people say about LP, they're still one of the best books out there. They're not totally full of glossy pictures, and not just a bland reem of text. The maps are very useful, and highly detailed, and the recommendations for restaurants help you weed through all the tourist traps. That said, I've often followed their suggestions to restuarants or cafes that don't exist anymore. If LP could find a way to update their books every year, I'd be a bigger fan than I am right now. In this book, for instance, they tell you that the Morora is the only train station in Tanier, when the new Tanger Ville station was just recently opened. It could be a confusing moment if a cabby were to refuse to take you to a station that you don't know is nonexistent. But they do cover almost everything that you could think of in terms of transportation and navigating your way around. I like that with each city they put the population, so that you know what kind of a place you're going to. The overview maps also give you a way of figuring out where you are in relation to other places. It has its faults for sure, but I've not been able to find a much better series.

This book does the job well...
Yet again, the Lonely Planet puts together a pretty thorough guidebook that helps in exploring this remarkable destination. My experience showed that some of the info was a bit dated and a comparison with a fellow traveller's 2004 LP revealed that the two editions don't differ all that much. In their defense, things in Morocco tend not to be all that structured or consistent and would be hard to keep on top of. All in all, the book served me quite well. I will write them with the corrections that I noticed and hopefully the guide will continue to improve.