In 1983, I was recovering from a broken heart and keen for adventure. Yet I had a phobia of flying and hadn’t travelled widely. However, I was taken by the idea of teaching in Morocco, which meant I could venture beyond Europe without stepping on a plane.
Rail journeys stood out in Penny’s memories of Morocco (Photo: Getty)There wasn’t a café on board, and I had failed to pack any food. But my travel companions took pity on me and shared their bread, cheese and water.
I didn’t see another woman for the 24 hours to the port city of Algeciras, in Andalucia. It was there that I caught a ferry to Morocco. Mothers carrying babies and shopping bags joined the queue. On board, it was noisy and the air smelt of cannabis.
Rabat was once Penny’s home (Photo: Sergio Formoso/Getty)
I arrived exhausted and unwashed in Rabat, after a 48-hour journey. The director of the school where I would be working met me at the station.
But organising tickets for a multi-leg, multi-country journey can be complicated. With that in mind, Andy and I rely on travel company Byway to organise our no-fly return trip to Rabat. Rail travel has enjoyed a resurgence: the number of people taking flight-free trips with Byway grew by 66 per cent in 2024, for example. I may be seeking nostalgia, but our journey is right on trend.
In Tangier, the border police are stony-faced, but gone are the hashish sellers, the touters of crafts, and hustlers. It’s surprisingly quiet once we’re through customs. We find a “grand taxi” (like minibuses, they take passengers between cities). The driver charges us £20 for the 150-mile ride to Chefchaouen.
Rabat’s winding alleyways add to its charm (Photo: A Tamboly/Getty)We stay two nights in the blue hill-top town of Chefchaouen, the muezzin’s call waking us at 5am each morning. We get lost in the medina and watch the sunset from the hill outside the “Spanish mosque”.
We take our only other bus ride for three hours to Fez, now a sprawling, modern city. Our hotel is a traditional riad with tinkling fountains and palm trees in the courtyard.
Fez had transformed since Penny’s last visit (Photo: Getty)We spend two days exploring the ancient medina set in the steep valley. I first came to Fez in 1984. Back then, I remember the smells of cedar wood and baking bread.
From Fez station, glorious with its arched entrance, tiled façade and wooden lattice work ticket hall, the train to Rabat takes three hours. There, we find my old flat, and memories surface. I recall Mohammed, our concierge, losing his front teeth in an unprovoked attack. I gave him money to replace them, but he decided to spend it on a suit. All teachers had maids in those days. Ours introduced me to harrira, the chickpea soup still eaten all over Morocco.
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When we leave Rabat, our high-speed train whisking us back to Tangier, Andy admits Morocco’s “the most different place” he’s been to. He’s enjoyed the bartering, the mint tea, the call to prayer, the mysterious alleyways of the medinas and our beautiful riad.
Best of all, Andy got to know my former home, so my Moroccan year no longer feels like a surreal dream, but a fascinating and formative experience.
Byway has a no-fly return trip to Rabat from £2,355pp, including accommodation and transport, byway.travel.
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