Anyone know of any smart things to do and see, towns to visit, or places to stay, in Morocco in April? Small treks, desert trips and off-the-beaten-track stuff would be particularly cool. No bikes involved. Ta v much.

My friend owns and runs this place Morocco Blue she has loads of local knowledge and awesome cave house and a great sense of humour.

I went in October quite a few years ago.

The Atlantic coast will have good surf.
Marrakesh central square night market had great atmosphere and cheap food.
Hire a car and drive over the Atlas mountains but watch out for snow — seriously, there is a ski resort up there. The Tiz n Test pass tops out at 8000ft.
Take a good map. Exploring random dirt tracks is likely to end up with dead ends at a small collection of houses in the middle of nowhere.
Stop at a hotel in the middle of nowhere, you'll never see the stars shine so bright in the UK.
Take cheap watches and T-shirts to swap with the locals.

Dont eat ANYTHING!

Fez is much nicer than Marrakesh. Take a day to get lost and wander round the souk. Marrakesh at night is not all that great unless you are there on the right nights, it was fairly empty the first time we went, except for the food places and annoying women who attacked you with henna and then demanded money. Go out for the evening, find a bar and chat to the locals, had a great night in Fez doing that.

Eat lots, at some point you'll be ill and the weight falls off. Although the options are pretty much tagine or Cous cous unless there is something local.

Essoaira is nice.

The town at the "entrance" to the sahara is full of knobs in 4x4s.

Country side is very nice. Generally the further away from the tourist places we got the nicer the atmosphere was, less pushy more friendly. Some tourist places are touristy for a reason so are worth going to.

Don't buy a carpet and lots of things are over priced for tourists – don't buy things from shops that don't haggle as they were the worst.

Buy some yellow shoes.

Cheers – all useful stuff so keep it coming.

Seriously, the food is amazing, I just got really ill from it, and it kind of ruined my time there. The tagines are lovely. I went to a morocan resturant in covent garden and it was a bit dissapointing to be honest. I agree that Essoaira is nice.

I wish when I went i had spent my time differently though, so to be honest i wont be much help, but i'd take alchohol hand rub stuff, and be careful about what you eat. We had some fish from a grill at the seafront in Essoaira, and although it was possibly the best fish i have ever eaten, I think that was what resulted in me feeling like i was dieing for a week.

Andy

For a different kind of trip try northern Morocco. Assilah, Chefchaouen, Fez and Tanger make a different trip and are easy to get between using trains and buses. Great deserted beaches, cool mountains and laid back towns (well maybe not Tanger!)
Steer well clear of obviously tourist stuff and make friends with genuine locals (not always easy to tell from those wanting to purely releave you of your dirhams but you will get a proper Morocco if you try)
Dress well (ie no wifebeaters and shorts etc), speak to people and enjoy the market experience rather than getting aggressive if people try to sell you stuff in the shops and on the street corners (weirdly thats what they do there…)
Try to get a few words of Moroccan – even a hello, thanks (shukran) and white coffee (ness-ness?) make you more than welcome. Otherwise, speak Spanish rather than French and that will help – most people I spoke with don't like the French after the French Collonial Occupation and prefer the Mediterranean Europeans. Even more hated are the Americans (probably deservedly…) so keep those Stars and Stripes at home.

Cheers, more useful stuff. My girlfriend's already been to some of the country before, but we're up for suggestions and tips like these.

Looks like I was lucky to get away with only a very minor dose of the trots and that was in the first couple of days when all our meals had been at our hotel in Agadir.

The 'camel hair' blanket I bought from a beach trader ranks as my best holiday souvenir ever, fifteen years on it's still on the sofa to be snuggled under on a cold evening.

Moving around I enjoyed – flew into Marrakesh, a few days there then onces the mass of humanity got annoying took a taxi upto the Atlas Mountains. A bit of walking and quiet hill village life then headed over to Essaouira – we arrived just after the music festival= it was great to be beside the sea in a much more chill town.

if you're hiking in the mountains, take loads of pens and sweets – jelly babies was the most requested sweet whilst I was there!!

i got really stoned and kinda stuck on a roof in Chefchaouen for a couple of weeks, i'd light up in the morning and before i knew it it was all cold and dark so i'd go to bed and start again in the morning

you could go to Ketama and haggle for a large quantity of dope from the mafia who may (for an additional cost) smuggle it to the destination of your choice by submarine

a local bus ride through the mountains will leave you with vivid memories

play russian roulette with the menu and order from the one written in Arabic

DO NOT wear a short skirt

pack your own luggage on the train/plain/automobile and then charge THEM for your services

go to prayer with a local