Discovering...
A complete GBP budget breakdown — flights, accommodation, food, intercity transport and guided tours — across three spending tiers, so you know exactly what to plan for.
Amelia Hart· Itineraries & Trip Planning Editor
British writer who has built and road-tested Morocco itineraries for everyone from honeymooners to families. She covers multi-day routes, costs, the best time to visit and how to plan a first trip. Casablanca · 9+ years covering Morocco
Published 10 April 2025 Last updated 22 March 2026
A Morocco holiday from the UK costs roughly £600–£2,200 per person all-in for a 7–10 day trip, depending on how you travel. That range sounds wide, but once you pin down flights, accommodation style and whether you want a private guide, the number sharpens quickly. The dirham trades at around 13–15 to the pound, which means Morocco feels generous to British wallets — a tajine and mint tea at a local restaurant typically costs under £4.
The UK is Morocco’s largest single Western source market, and the competition between Ryanair, easyJet and Royal Air Maroc on the London–Marrakech route keeps base fares impressively low. Flights from £60 return do exist, though the sweet spot for good timing and reasonable seats is £100–£180 return from London. From Manchester, Birmingham or Bristol add £20–£40 and expect a slightly smaller choice of dates.
What follows is a full breakdown by cost category, three budget tiers, and a cost comparison table — so you can build your own estimate before booking anything.
Most UK visitors land somewhere in the mid-range, but all three approaches yield a genuine Morocco experience — the gap is in comfort and flexibility, not enjoyment.
Budget
£35–£55 / day
~£600–£900 for 10 days (excl. flights)
Mid-range
£75–£130 / day
~£1,100–£1,800 for 10 days (excl. flights)
Luxury
£200–£400+ / day
£2,500–£5,000+ for 10 days (excl. flights)
All figures are indicative ranges for 2025–2026. Prices in Morocco are quoted in MAD; conversions assume £1 = 14 MAD.
| Cost category | Budget | Mid-range | Luxury |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return flights (London → Marrakech) | £60–£150 | £120–£250 | £350–£900+ |
| Accommodation per night | £10–£18 | £35–£65 | £120–£350 |
| Food per day | £8–£14 | £20–£35 | £50–£90 |
| Intercity transport | £5–£15 (bus) | £20–£50 (private) | £50–£100+ (private) |
| 3-day Sahara tour (pp) | £80–£130 (shared) | £180–£280 (private) | £350–£600 (luxury camp) |
| Entrance fees & activities | £3–£8/day | £10–£20/day | £30–£60/day |
| Souvenirs & shopping | £20–£50 (trip total) | £80–£200 | £200–£500+ |
* All prices indicative. Flight prices vary significantly by season, departure airport and booking window.
Direct flights make Morocco one of the easiest North African destinations to reach from Britain — the journey from Gatwick to Marrakech is shorter than flying to many European cities.
Ryanair (Luton/Stansted), easyJet (Gatwick/Luton), Royal Air Maroc (Heathrow). Direct. ~3 h 30 min. Fares from £60 return on budget dates, typically £100–£200 return for flexible dates.
easyJet and TUI fly direct to Agadir (Al Massira airport). Useful if your itinerary is Atlantic coast or Souss Valley focused. ~3 h 45 min from Gatwick.
Jet2 and easyJet fly Manchester–Marrakech and Manchester–Agadir. Birmingham has direct services to Marrakech. Add £20–£60 vs London on average, but saves the train south.
Ryanair operates London Stansted–Fes and Manchester–Fes routes. Useful for starting a circuit in the north. ~3 h 15 min.
Booking tip: Budget airlines to Morocco often have low headline fares but charge for hold luggage (£15–£30 each way) and seat selection. Factor these in before assuming the fare is cheaper than a scheduled alternative.
Staying in a riad — a traditional courtyard house — is the most distinctively Moroccan experience and costs roughly the same as a mid-tier European hotel. A well-reviewed riad in the Marrakech or Fes medina runs £35–£80 per night for a double room with breakfast. Budget guesthouses start around £12–£20. Luxury boutique riads with plunge pools and rooftop terraces reach £150–£350.
Morocco is cheap to eat in. A bowl of harira soup at a market stall costs 8–12 MAD (under £1). A sit-down tajine with bread and mint tea at a decent local restaurant runs 60–100 MAD (£4–£7). Tourist-facing rooftop restaurants near Jemaa el-Fna charge 150–250 MAD (£10–£18) for similar food. Alcohol is available at licensed bars and some riads but carries a premium — budget another £3–£5 per drink.
Long-distance travel between cities is where costs diverge most sharply. CTM buses are comfortable and cheap — Marrakech to Fes is around £10–£14 on a direct coach. Trains (ONCF) connect Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Tangier reliably; Marrakech–Casablanca 1st class costs roughly £12–£18. Private transfers, which put you in a vehicle with a guide and no schedule, run £60–£120 for city-to-city hops and are the most efficient way to reach the Sahara.
A half-day medina walking tour with a licensed guide costs £15–£30 per person. The big-ticket item for most UK visitors is a Sahara desert trip: a 2-night shared group tour from Marrakech to Merzouga runs £80–£130 per person; a private 3-day crossing from Marrakech to Fes with your own vehicle and guide is typically £180–£280 per person. Cooking classes, hammam experiences and day trips from Marrakech add £15–£50 each.
Flights on Tuesday–Thursday departures can be £40–£80 cheaper than Friday–Sunday. Morocco is not on the UK school holiday radar in the way that Spain is, so October half-term fares are often lower than you expect.
The best weather and the lowest riad prices often coincide in these months. Marrakech gets warm autumn and spring days without the summer heat that drives people away, and accommodation demand is softer.
The gradient between a tourist tajine (150–200 MAD) and an identical dish two streets away (50–80 MAD) is steep. Ask your riad host where they go for lunch — they will always point you somewhere honest.
CTM bus tickets sell out on popular routes. Book online at ctm.ma or at the terminal a day ahead. The Marrakech–Fes sleeper bus saves one night's accommodation if you are budget-conscious.
Initial souk prices are typically 2–4 times the expected final price. Counter-offering at 50–60% and working to a middle is normal. Waving your phone's calculator helps avoid language barriers. Walking away when you reach your price almost always results in a follow-up offer.
For a 7–10 day trip, budget travellers typically spend £600–£900 (excluding flights), mid-range tourists £1,100–£1,800, and those going fully private or luxury £2,500–£5,000 or more. Add return flights — anything from £60 on Ryanair or easyJet to £250+ for better timing or direct routes — and the all-in cost for a comfortable, mid-range Morocco holiday sits around £1,400–£2,200 per person.
Direct flights from London Gatwick, Luton or Stansted to Marrakech take roughly 3 hours 30 minutes. Manchester and Birmingham also have direct routes to Marrakech and Agadir, typically 3 hours 45 minutes. Fes (Saiss airport) is served from several UK airports with direct times of around 3 hours 15 minutes. Casablanca is a longer hop at 3 hours 45–4 hours from London.
Yes — Morocco is one of the best-value destinations accessible from the UK. The dirham trades at roughly 13–15 MAD to the pound (indicative; check xe.com before you travel), meaning a sit-down restaurant meal costs £3–£8, a riad room £20–£60, and a grand taxi ride £1–£4. Even mid-range UK budgets stretch far. The main variable is flights: booking 8–12 weeks ahead on budget carriers cuts costs dramatically.
As a rough planning guide, £1 buys approximately 13–15 MAD (Moroccan dirham), though the rate fluctuates. Always verify on xe.com or Google before your trip. Airport exchange bureaux in Morocco charge poor rates; withdraw dirhams from an ATM once you land (BMCE, Attijariwafa and CIH Bank machines are reliable). Notify your bank before travel and avoid airport kiosks on the UK side entirely.
January, February and early November tend to have the lowest airfares from the UK — budget carriers drop fares to under £80 return during these windows. The flip side is November–February is also the coldest period in inland cities like Fes or Marrakech (evenings can dip to 5–8°C). If you want warm weather and cheaper flights, aim for late October or early March, when fares are still reasonable and temperatures are ideal.
DIY gives you more flexibility and is usually cheaper for accommodation and transport, but the real risk is losing days to poor logistics in a country where buses are slow and the medinas are genuinely confusing. A private guided tour sits between the two extremes: you keep your own schedule and itinerary, get a local driver-guide who sorts navigation, and pay per day rather than per tourist-board margin. For first-time visitors, private tours tend to deliver better experiences per pound spent than all-inclusive packages, which often use budget buses and tourist-trap restaurants.
No. UK passport holders can enter Morocco visa-free for up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay — there is no strict six-month rule for Morocco, though airlines may require it. There is no e-visa or pre-registration required. At the border you will receive an entry stamp; keep your passport with you, as some riads and hotels require it for check-in.
Plan it with a local expert
Crafting extraordinary journeys through Morocco's timeless landscapes. 100% private journeys, handcrafted around you.
from $2,054Essential Morocco: Imperial Cities Circuit
from $5,978Sahara to Sea: Morocco Complete