Is Morocco Safe for Solo Female Travelers?
Is Morocco safe for solo female travelers?
Here’s everything you need to know about safety and solo travel in Morocco!
As someone who has traveled solo to more than 60 countries around the world, including almost every country in Latin America, I was a little apprehensive about visiting Morocco on my own.
Because of the horror stories I had heard from many female travelers about Morocco, I decided to book a two-week tour with G Adventures to ease myself into traveling around the country. This is not my usual travel style, but I think group tours are great for more challenging destinations like Morocco.
However, I later spent some time on my own in Marrakech. Overall, I really enjoyed Morocco as a destination and I had a great experience there. There are tons of positives — amazing scenery, fascinating cities, unique culture, and more. But it’s also undeniably a tough destination for solo female travelers.
Based on my experience, here’s what I think you should know about solo female travel in Morocco.
Is Morocco Safe?
First things first, let’s talk about whether Morocco is safe in general.
According to the Global Peace Index, Morocco ranks 79th in the world, which puts it slightly ahead of the middle of the pack. The US State Department gives Morocco a “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution” advisory, which is less severe than the “Level 3: Reconsider Travel” or “Level 4: Do Not Travel” warnings.
The US State Department cites a risk of “terrorist threats” as the reason for the elevated warning, but the likelihood of a terrorist attack in Morocco isn’t significantly higher than in Europe or North America.
In general, Morocco is safe for travelers. You aren’t very likely to run into any major trouble while traveling in Morocco or become the victim of violent crime or a terrorist attack.
That being said, the two biggest concerns for travelers in Morocco are harassment and scams. These two things can affect all travelers, but especially solo female travelers in Morocco.
Because of this, I hesitate to recommend Morocco to most solo female travelers. Let’s go more in depth…
Harassment in Morocco
The harassment towards women from men in Morocco is extremely bad. It’s not just foreign women either, local women in Morocco deal with aggressive harassment from men on a daily basis.
This is the worst thing about Morocco and even if you’re prepared for it like I was, it can still take a toll on you when you have to deal with it throughout your whole trip. Morocco is a conservative Muslim country, and many of the men have very negative and disrespectful attitudes towards women.
After traveling to more than 60 countries, the only country I’ve been to where the harassment is worse is Egypt. But harassment from men is pervasive and inescapable in Morocco too.
This happens regardless of how you’re dressed. It’s highly recommended that you dress conservatively in Morocco, and while I imagine the harassment would be even worse if you didn’t dress conservatively, covering up certainly doesn’t help you escape the constant harassment from men in Morocco.
I noticed the most harassment when I was walking around with a group of other girls. I got less of it when I was on my own, mainly because I put up walls, have a very closed-off demeanor, and don’t engage at all. However, I didn’t experience any harassment when I was walking around with guys from my tour.
Scams in Morocco
Another thing that’s extremely common in Morocco is scams.
People (almost always men) will be constantly approaching you in Morocco and any time someone approaches you, you need to be wary. Are a few of them acting in good faith and wanting to have a genuine encounter with you? Maybe. But I can assure you that the majority of them are not.
Common scams include overcharging you in the markets or in taxis, faux “guides” offering their services, people offering to “help you” or give you directions and then demanding money, people telling you an attraction you’re trying to visit is closed and offering to show you a “secret local spot” instead, anyone offering to take a photo of you or with you and then demanding money for it… the list goes on.
This is something you can avoid as long as you know what to look out for, but again, it can be taxing when you have to deal with people hassling you or trying to rip you off all the time.
All tourists are a target for scams, regardless of gender, but this is something that you might experience more of as a solo female traveler because it makes you seem like an easy target to them.
How I Deal with Harassment and Scams
Personally, the harassment and scams in Morocco didn’t bother me too much because I knew to expect it (especially after traveling to Egypt, where both things are even worse) and because I didn’t have to deal with it that much being on a group tour. If I had been dealing with it alone every single day of my trip, I’m sure I would have had a much worse impression of Morocco and snapped at some point.
My strategy for dealing with harassment and scams while traveling is to just completely ignore the perpetrator. I have no issue being “rude” and ignoring someone who is trying to speak to me and continuing to walk past them as if they don’t exist. Most of the time, this is a good enough deterrent.
If things escalate (i.e. they won’t leave me alone or start following me) I will just repeat no over and over.
I fortunately didn’t experience too much harassment in Morocco, since like I said, I was in a group setting for much of my trip. However, I did still have a few negative experiences that left a bad taste in my mouth.
So Is Solo Travel in Morocco Worth It?
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend solo travel in Morocco to most women.
It’s definitely not a good destination for first-time solo travelers. Morocco is challenging, even if you’re an experienced solo traveler, so I would proceed with caution if you do decide to go alone. The harassment and scams can be really taxing if you have to deal with it all the time on your own.
In addition to the harassment and scams, I just don’t think Morocco has the greatest infrastructure for solo travelers. It’s certainly better than somewhere like Egypt, but unless you stick to cities only, getting to some of the more remote destinations in Morocco would be very difficult to arrange yourself.
I also noticed that there isn’t as much of a backpacker scene or solo travel scene in Morocco compared to somewhere like Latin America. This can make it harder to meet other travelers.
While I wouldn’t rule out solo travel in Morocco entirely, I wouldn’t recommend it strongly either.
Should You Do a Tour in Morocco?
Honestly, I think doing a tour is a great way to experience Morocco if you’re a solo female traveler, especially if you don’t have much experience traveling on your own yet. As I said earlier, this isn’t my preferred travel style and I usually travel independently, but in Morocco, a tour was the best option.
I felt like I got to experience a lot more than I would have on my own. We had a local guide accompanying our group and a lot of the biggest “friction points” I would have encountered on my own, like transportation between destinations or touring certain areas, I didn’t have to worry about.
For example, touring the Fes Medina, visiting the Todra Gorge, or going to the desert town of Ouarzazate are all things that would have been really challenging and stressful to do on my own.
This is the two-week tour I did with G Adventures. It’s specifically targeted to travelers in their twenties and thirties, and it was very affordable. G Adventures has other tours to Morocco for travelers of other ages or budgets (for example, they have more luxurious tours available — this one was basic.)
I’m really glad I did a group tour in Morocco rather than traveling independently the whole time, and this is the option I would recommend to the majority of solo female travelers interested in Morocco.
Food Safety in Morocco
Now let’s move on to another area of safety that you shouldn’t overlook: food safety.
Food hygiene standards are not always what you might be used to at home, which can lead to stomach problems while traveling in Morocco. Always travel with some Pepto Bismol tablets.
Honestly, I didn’t have any issues with the food in Morocco and I’m someone who often does get sick from the food I eat while traveling in developing countries. If you’re worried about getting sick, just avoid raw fruits and vegetables, or eating a camel burger from a random street food cart.
Can You Drink the Water in Morocco?
A girl on my group tour got really sick one day on our tour and didn’t have any medicine with her, so I was giving her Pepto Bismol. She admitted to me that she drank the tap water.
HUGE mistake! Morocco is not a country where you can drink the tap water. Rather than constantly buying bottled water to drink, I highly recommend traveling with a LifeStraw water bottle.
This water bottle automatically filters any water you put in it to make it drinkable. I’ve used my LifeStraw water bottle in some sketchy places around the world and never had any problems with it. Not only is it cheaper than buying bottled water everywhere you go, it’s also better for the environment.
Natural Disasters in Morocco
You might remember the devastating 2023 earthquake in Morocco that killed more than 3,000 people near Marrakech. Natural disasters like earthquakes are a threat in Morocco.
Droughts, floods, and landslides are other potential natural disasters that can occur.
However, it’s pretty unlikely that any of these natural disasters will affect you while traveling to Morocco, and I certainly wouldn’t let the fear of natural disasters put you off from visiting.
Is Morocco Safe for Solo Female Travelers?
Is Morocco safe for solo female travelers?
As you can probably tell from everything I’ve talked about, the answer is it’s complicated. While Morocco is overall pretty safe, it can be a very difficult destination for female travelers due to harassment.
It’s also not the easiest country to travel around solo when it comes to logistics, especially if you want to visit some of the most beautiful destinations in Morocco which are located in remote areas.
For this reason, I recommend a tour if you’re a solo female traveler. G Adventures and Intrepid Travel are two great companies to look at for affordable group tours in Morocco and elsewhere in the world.
I don’t want to scare you off from visiting Morocco at all — it’s a beautiful country that is worth visiting. But I do think it’s one place where solo travel might not be the best option for women.
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