Marrakech takes more arrivals than any other Moroccan city, and for Gulf visitors it is where the holiday properly begins. Emirates and Royal Air Maroc connect Dubai to Casablanca, flydubai serves the route seasonally, and Qatar Airways and Etihad both feed in through their hubs. Seven hours out and three hours back on the clock, most people land wanting a car waiting rather than a counter to queue at.
Two things make Morocco unusually comfortable for travellers from the Emirates. Arabic is spoken everywhere, though the Moroccan dialect takes an ear to follow - our drivers move easily between Darija and Modern Standard Arabic, and most handle Gulf Arabic well. And the food is halal by default across the whole country, so there is nothing to check and nothing to arrange.
What no language solves is the medina. It is a sealed grid of one-way lanes that admits no vehicle at all, the ring road jams at peak hours, and parking near Jemaa el-Fna is negotiated with an informal attendant rather than paid at a machine. Every booking is private: the vehicle, the driver and the day belong to your party alone, at a price agreed before you travel that covers fuel, tolls and the driver.
Why hire a driver here
- No car enters the medina - your driver stops at the gate and carries the bags in
- Arabic-speaking drivers, comfortable in Darija and Modern Standard Arabic
- Tizi n Tichka to Ouarzazate is 30 km of switchbacks topping 2,260 m
- Riad addresses do not appear in GPS - our drivers know the derbs by name
- Large family groups are the norm here, and vans are priced for them
Included in every booking
- Fuel, tolls and the driver's fee for the agreed route
- Airport, riad, hotel or railway station pickup
- Arabic and English-speaking drivers as standard
- Bottled water and phone charging in the vehicle
- Child seats and extra luggage space on request, at no charge
