Marrakech car hire - rent a car at Marrakech Airport, Morocco
Compare prices of car hire at Marrakech Airport online
Car hire is becoming growingly popular amongst millions of tourist visiting Morocco every year. Car rental companies operate in most major cities and on all of the international airports of Morocco. Find below a few tips on car hire from Marrakech Airport.
Dacia Sandero - cheap hire car in Marrakech Airport. © Photo: Find-cheap-car-hire.co.uk
Marrakech Airport location
Marrakech (or Marrakesh), the fourth largest city of Morocco is served by an international airport, located approx. 3 miles southwest of Marrakech historic centre, Medina..
The two terminals of Marrakech Airport - T1 and T2 - cater for the needs of over 3 million passengers per year, making it the country's second busiest airport.
The official name of Marrakech Airport - RAK is Marrakech Menara Airport.
Car hire companies at Marrakech Airport
In Marrakech, much like in other major cities of Morocco - Casablanca, Fez and Rabat - you will find a wide choice of car hire providers, including large international brands and local rent-a-car companies.
Amongst the most popular car hire companies at Marrakech Menara Airport are: Avis Rent A Car, Alamo, Sixt, Dollar, Budget Morocco, Thrifty, Europcar, National Car Rental, Hertz Morocco, as well as Locationauto, First Car Rental and Aircar.
Internet search engines of car hire, such as Cartrawler, are a quick and useful tool allowing you to compare prices from many suppliers and book the most advantageous Marrakech car rental deal, well ahead of your trip to Morocco.
Prices of Morocco car hire with the pick-up at Marrakech Airport usually start from around £85 per week for the smallest cars, typically Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto or similar.
Slightly larger models, for example a Renault Symbol, which is basically a Renault Clio with 4 doors and a boot, or a similar smaller of medium-size cars are usually a better deal.
Dacia Duster to rent in Morocco – recommendations for Marrakech car hire
If you are planning to visit Morocco outside of big city centres, consider hiring a little bit more versatile car, allowing you to drive in not always most favourable conditions.
In many locations in Morocco, 4-wheel drive Mitsubishi Pajero, equipped with modern technologies, is available to rent.
If you do not want to hire the most expensive 4 WD in Morocco, choose instead a Dacia Duster. This model, quite popular in many car hire companies in Morocco offers a very good price/quality ratio, is simple yet modern and fun to drive on the Moroccan roads.
Prices of Dacia Duster (or similar) usually start from around £ 280-320 for a week of Marrakech Airport car hire.
Below, Fifth Gear test of Dacia Duster in Marrakech:
Morocco road trip idea – N9 (Tizi n’Tichka)
With a Marrakech hire car at your disposal, do not miss on the opportunity to experience one of the most exciting roads in the world.
Tizi n’Tichka is the section of the N9 road, connecting Marrakech to Ouarzazate, through the Atlas Mountains. Its approx. 125 miles distance, should be covered preferably during daylight and outside of the winter season, when snow and ice make driving in the mountainous, winding roads of Morocco more of a dangerous, than thrilling experience.
The N9 road hardly complies with safety standards as understood in Europe, it is equipped however with guardrails in its most dangerous sections. Many vantage points, as well as cafés and restaurants are made available for the tourists to stop along the way.
Near Ouarzazate, you will find Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a group of old buildings, typical to traditional Moroccan arquitecture, surrounded by defensive walls. The fortified settlement of Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou lies on the former caravan route between Marrakech and the Sahara. The breathtaking scenery of Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou served as the filming set for numerous Hollywood movies, amongst them The Mummy, The Living Daylights (James Bond no 15) and Gladiator.
Marrakech weather - when is the best time to visit?
The climate of Morocco varies from mild Mediterranean in the north, to continental, with more extreme temperatures in the interior.
See map of Morocco.
In Marrakech, where the attenuating influence of the Atlantic Ocean is not felt, the difference between summer and winter temperatures is much more distinct than in Casablanca or Rabat on the coast. During the Moroccan warm season, lasting from late June to September, the average temperatures exceed 34 degrees Celsius, reaching in July and August the rather uncomfortable 40 degrees. In the cold season, from November to March, the average daily temperatures round 20 degrees.
While Marrakech, much like the rest of Morocco, sees most of the tourist traffic in the summer which corresponds to the European holiday season, for many, the best time to visit is in early autumn and spring.
Marrakech car hire price comparison
There seems not to be significant price fluctuation in Marrakech car hire throughout the year.
Usually the cheapest Marrakech Airport car rental deals can be found during most of the year with prices starting from approx. £85 for a week car hire of a small mini class car, often a Citroen C1, a Kia Picanto or similar.
When searching well in advance, you will sometimes be able to find on the internet, real bargains in higher classes of rental cars at Marrakech Airport, as for example compact vehicles (in Morocco often Peugeot 301, Citroen C3, Hyundai i20 or similar) for quite competitive prices, starting from approx. £140 for a week of Marrakech car hire.
If you are travelling in Marrakech in a larger group, use Cartrawler car hire comparison to decide whether it is more advantageous to rent two standard cars or one larger vehicle. Minivans and vans at Marrakech come in short supply and are usually quite expensive.
Morocco car hire - compare car rental conditions
An undeniable advantage of Cartrawler internet search engine of car hire is the possibility to compare rental conditions before booking.
Every offer returned by Cartrawler is accompanied by a detail description of all the relevant rental conditions, amongst them driver license requirements, insurance coverage, rules for fuel and mileage, etc.
Read rental conditions carefully, paying attention to some of the peculiar policies applied by Moroccan car hire companies, as for example the “pick-up quarter full/return quarter full” fuel policy. Whenever an offer is described this way, you will be handled a car with one quarter tank of gas and should make sure to return it with a similar amount of fuel in the tank, as no refund will be made for unused fuel. In order not to spoil your Morocco holiday worrying about how full/empty your tank is, from among many offers available on Cartrawler, choose the ones with much more transparent “pick-up full /return full” fuel policy.
Fly to Marrakech, Morocco - Marrakech Airport airlines
Marrakech is well connected to major European cities via both regular and low-cost airlines.
Amongst carriers operating at Marrakech Airport are: Air France, Air Méditerranée, Easyjet, Iberia, Norwegian, Vueling and the Moroccan flag carrier Royal Air Maroc. Flights from the UK to Marrakech are available with British Airways, Jet2, Royal Air Maroc, Ryanair and Thomson Airways.
The airport can be also accessed by domestic flights from Casablanca, Agadir and Errachidia. Frequent and short, (approx. 45 min) flights from Casablanca are the most convenient solution for passengers travelling to Marrakech from USA, Canada and Asia.
Topics: morocco, marrakech, menara-airport, marakesh-airport, tizi-n-tichka, aircar, royal-air-maroc
