Welcome to the Kingdom of Morocco! (Marrakech-Menara Airport (RAK))

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Marrakech-Menara Airport (RAK)
Date:	30/12/08 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not far from the centre, great view

Disadvantages: Annoying taxi drivers

I flew to and from Marrakech-Menara at the very beginning of this year. It's a wonderful feeling to land at Marrakech-Menara at the beginning of January, most Northern Europeans have come to accept a harsh to just bearable winter but it only hits you when you arrive in a warm climate after a few hours - how much more pleasant it is to be under the sun and 20 to 30 degrees more makes a big difference. No need for coats anymore!

The landing experience at this airport was nice, as you land in a seemingly flat plain with the Atlas mountains behind you - the brown terrain contrasted by the pinkish mountains and blue sky - it's a nice feeling! Immigration card filled out and it is time to pass through customs, only in our case - a group of elderly, seemingly drunk Imams arrived from their flight at the same time and didn't understand the queueing process just walking straight through in droves despite the protest of the border guards and guys with guns - loads of them made it through without any check! Crazy!

From the airport, there are lots of taxi drivers waiting outside - all of them will tell you that there is no bus and try it on with the price. Just keep on walking, on the main road there is a bus stop and bus 11 runs to the city centre - they go about every half an hour. The city centre is only about 6km away, so taking a taxi doesn't have to be particularly expensive either - you can get it for about 30 dirhams, obviously they will aim much higher like 100 or 200 and say you are crazy but as you keep on walking - someone will agree to do it.

As for departing, it was rather basic with not a huge choice of duty free but some all the same and a coffee shop or two.

Summary: Not bad