How do I plan a Morocco trip from Canada?

Planning Morocco from Canada is very doable, the main variable being where in the country you're starting. Montreal has historically had the strongest links to Morocco thanks to the large Moroccan-Canadian community and Royal Air Maroc service, so eastern Canadians often have the smoothest connections. From Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary you'll be connecting through a European hub. Either way, my first job with Canadian clients is to map the realistic travel time so we build the itinerary around it rather than pretending it's a quick hop.

For getting there, the practical routings go via Europe — Paris, Lisbon, Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt — into Casablanca (CMN) or Marrakech (RAK), or via a Royal Air Maroc connection routing through Casablanca. From Montreal and Toronto, total door-to-door is often a long but single-connection day; from Western Canada you're looking at a longer haul with the transatlantic leg plus the onward flight, so I usually book an overnight first leg so clients sleep across the Atlantic. As with US trips, I love an open-jaw — into Marrakech, home from Casablanca — to avoid backtracking.

On the ground, the good news for Canadians: no visa needed for stays under 90 days, just a passport valid for your trip. For structure, seven days covers Marrakech, the desert and the Atlas; ten days adds Fes and the imperial cities without rushing. Given how far you've travelled, I gently push Canadian clients toward the longer end if they can — when you've crossed an ocean and changed planes, you want enough nights on the ground to make it worth it. And I always arrange a private driver for the inter-city and desert legs; the distances are big and the roads demand local knowledge.

Two Canada-specific things. First, the time difference is significant — Morocco is roughly five hours ahead of Toronto and Montreal and eight ahead of Vancouver — so jet lag is real on a westbound traveller; plan a gentle first day. Second, you can't buy dirhams at home (closed currency), so draw cash on arrival and carry small bills for tips, the medina and the desert camp. Decent travel insurance is essential too, since provincial health coverage won't help you in Morocco. Beyond that, it's a wonderfully rewarding trip to plan from Canada.