Morocco with Kids: A Family Travel Guide
Morocco is a genuinely good family destination — children are welcomed everywhere — but the itinerary needs building differently. Here is how, age by age.
Morocco is a genuinely good family destination — children are welcomed everywhere — but the itinerary needs building differently. Here is how, age by age.
Morocco is one of the most child-friendly countries we know, in the sense that matters: children are welcomed, fussed over and included everywhere, by everyone, without any sense of inconvenience. Restaurant staff will hold your baby. Shopkeepers will give your five-year-old a sweet. Nobody minds noise.
What Morocco is not is easy to do badly with children. The standard adult itinerary — nine-hour drives, crowded souks, 40°C afternoons — is a recipe for misery. Build it differently and it is exceptional.
Children find the medina either thrilling or overwhelming, and often both in one hour. It works if you go early, keep visits short, and hold hands in the souks, which are crowded and full of mopeds.
What works well: Jemaa el-Fnaa in the early evening (drummers, acrobats, snake charmers from a distance, orange juice), the Menara Gardens (huge, free, space to run), Le Jardin Secret with its tower, a calèche ride around the walls, and camel rides in the Palmeraie. A riad with a plunge pool makes the afternoons.
What to skip or shorten: long palace visits, the tanneries, and anything at 2pm in July.
Forty-five minutes from Marrakech, an empty stone-desert landscape with camel rides, quad buggies for older children, camps with pools, dinner under the stars and no long drive. For families with children under about eight, this is a far better idea than the Sahara. See our Agafay guide.
Ourika and Imlil are 60 to 90 minutes from Marrakech, 10–15°C cooler, and offer rivers to paddle in, easy village walks, mule rides and lunch on a terrace. Mules are a genuine asset: a child who will not walk will happily ride. Our Ourika Valley experience and Imlil day adventure both work well with children.
If we could recommend one place in Morocco for a family week, it is Essaouira. It is cool when the interior is unbearable, the medina is a navigable grid rather than a maze, the beach is enormous, there are camel and horse rides along the sand, the fishing port is fascinating for children, and the hassle level is low. Two or three nights minimum.
Proper resort infrastructure, warm sea, surf schools for teenagers, and the warmest winter weather in Morocco. Less “Moroccan” in feel, and very easy.
Erg Chebbi is 9 to 10 hours from Marrakech. With children under eight, do not. With children over about ten, it is a fantastic experience, but take the 4-day version rather than the 3-day, break the drive at Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades, and use the 4x4 transfer to camp instead of the camel trek if anyone is small or nervous. Sandboarding down dunes is the single biggest hit of any family trip we run.
Fes el-Bali is steep, crowded, roofed and confusing, with handcarts and mules coming through narrow lanes. Fascinating for teenagers, difficult with a pushchair or a toddler. One guided half-day is plenty.
Longest drive: three hours. No repeated roads. Two pools. If your children are over ten and you want the Sahara, swap days 6–9 for a 4-day desert trip instead.
Easier than most destinations. Moroccan food is not spicy-hot — it is aromatic — so children generally take to it.
We plan family trips with short driving days, pools, car seats and activities matched to your children’s ages — and we will tell you honestly if the Sahara is too far for a four-year-old. Tell us your children’s ages and dates, or browse our multi-day Morocco tours.
Yes, and children are welcomed everywhere with genuine warmth. The catch is that the standard adult itinerary does not work: cap driving at four hours a day, stay three nights per base, book accommodation with a pool and plan one activity per day.
Not under about eight, because Erg Chebbi is nine to ten hours from Marrakech each way. With children over ten it is excellent, but take the 4-day version rather than the 3-day and use the 4x4 transfer to camp instead of the camel trek. Under eight, the Agafay desert 45 minutes from Marrakech is the better option.
Essaouira. It is cool when the interior is unbearable, the medina is a navigable grid rather than a maze, there is an enormous beach with camel and horse rides, the fishing port fascinates children, and hassle levels are low.
Not as standard, and rental firms often cannot supply them. Bring your own or request them explicitly and in writing well in advance with your tour operator. We arrange them, but they have to be booked ahead.
Usually yes, because Moroccan food is aromatic rather than spicy-hot. Reliable choices are chicken tagine, plain couscous, brochettes, msemen and baghrir pancakes with honey, bread, fresh orange juice and dates. Pizza and pasta are also widely available in cities and resorts.
