Traveling to Marrakech was a dream come true! It’s an exciting vacation for lovers of color, architecture, food, shopping, and a bit of chaos. You could easily get lost and lose track of time, spending your whole time in the city navigating the souks, but you don’t want to miss the Medina’s historic sites. If you are only in Marrakech for a short time, here are the 4 Must Visit Sites in the Historic Marrakech Medina.
We recently returned from Morocco, and while we loved the excitement of Marrakech, we can’t get the tranquility of the Atlas Mountains off our mind. Less than 2 hours from Marrakech, the Imlil Valley is home to the most unique lodge we have ever had the opportunity to visit. We stayed only 2 nights at the Kasbah du Toubkal, but now we’re dreaming of going back for more.
The Kasbah du Toubkal is truly a special place. After all, it has been chosen as a National Geographic Unique Lodge of the World. Its uniqueness is evident as soon as you arrive in Imlil. At the small office in town, you are met by your host and a mule that will carry your luggage up the path to the Kasbah. It’s a rambling fortress of a lodge perched on a hilltop overlooking the Imlil Valley while Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, rises behind it at 13,671 feet.
If the view and the hike don’t take your breath away, the story of the Kasbah will! The land and a kasbah in ruin were purchased in 1989 by Discover Ltd, a family affair, and after years of traditional methods of construction by local laborers with local materials, the Kasbah du Toubkal opened in 1995. Since then, it has impacted the Imlil Valley through sustainable and responsible tourism.
A view of the gardens and lodging from the rooftop where we spent our afternoons lounging under Jbel Toubkal to the sound of birds and the waterfall.
Spring has sprung, and it’s time to get outside and explore on the weekends! We love living in Atlanta because Georgia just has so much to offer! Head north, and you’ll reach the Blue Ridge Mountains. Head southeast, and you’ll hit beautiful beaches and barrier islands. There’s something for everyone! Here are a few of our favorite Georgia getaways along with our favorite places to stay and things to do.
We are excited to announce that we’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award by Jess at Jetsetting Spirit. Thanks so much for this nomination, Jess! We appreciate it!
You might be asking, what is the Liebster Award? It’s a tool used to recognize new bloggers for their hard work and dedication to blogging. It is passed down from blogger to blogger and just goes to show how supportive the blogging community is! Once nominated, the blogger must answer 10 questions they are given. They then must nominate 5 new blogs and write 10 new questions for them. We thought this would be a fun way for our readers to check out some other travel bloggers and get to know us better, too!
Those are our fun facts! Do you have any more questions for us? Ask us in the comments!
We’ve been on a mission lately to find great weekend getaways from Atlanta for you. Recently, we visited the Beechwood Inn in the North Georgia Mountains, the Chanticleer Inn in Lookout Mountain, the Historic Spencer House Inn in St. Marys, and the Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island. We traveled from the mountains to the sea, just one of the reasons we love Georgia, and now we’re taking you just two hours south of Atlanta to the 1842 Inn for a historic Macon Bed & Breakfast.
The magnificent Greyfield Inn on Cumberland Island is more than a romantic coastal getaway. It’s a classic Southern destination. It’s an opportunity to enjoy Georgia’s coast at a slower pace. And it’s a chance to take a step back into another era.
Cumberland Island overflows with natural history as well as stories of America’s past, and those continue at The Greyfield Inn. As soon as you step off the boat and are guided toward the old Carnegie home, you’ll feel as though you’ve stepped into a Southern Living magazine. You’ll find yourself wondering how long you can possibly stay before you really have to return home, and you’ll be in good company – everyone else is wondering the same thing. There are few inns that offer such an exceptional experience. This, friends, is how you vacation.
For more on visiting Cumberland Island National Seashore, you can see our full guide here.
Cumberland Island National Seashore is one of our absolute favorite places in Georgia! Pristine beaches, wild horses, and a mansion in ruin are a few highlights of why we love this place! If you’re a nature lover like we are, look no further for your next unique beach destination.
There’s a whole lot of the natural world to see on Cumberland Island. It’s Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier Island; in fact, it’s almost twice the size of the island of Manhattan! Cumberland Island hosts a variety of wildlife, and you’ll see numerous species even on a short day trip. The island is famous for its wild horse population. They tend to congregate in areas where there’s grass, so it’s not unusual to see them near the ruins and houses. The population of horses is usually between 150 and 200, so it’s very likely you’ll also see them along paths or in the sand dunes. You might also run into armadillos, rattlesnakes, white-tailed deer, wild boars and turkeys, and even the occasional alligator, not to mention all of the birds! We’ve even seen dolphins on the ferry ride over there, so don’t forget your camera! [Note: Keep a healthy distance from the wild horses. The photos below are an exception as this young horse near Greyfield Inn came up to us! We let her nibble on our sleeves a bit, but then we gave her some space.]
For the first trip of my #Take12Trips Challenge, my husband Ryan and I wanted an easy getaway from Atlanta. As is most often the case with us, we decided to head to the mountains and check out some vineyards. This time, we made our way up to Clayton, Georgia to try out Tiger Mountain Vineyards and Stonewall Creek Vineyards. Wineries? In Georgia? Yes, and you can check out reviews for the other vineyards we’ve visited here. The vineyards were great, but our favorite part of our weekend ended up being where we stayed – The Beechwood Inn, a luxurious Georgia mountain bed & breakfast with the most amazing chefs!
We tried so hard to narrow down our top travel experiences of 2015 to a Top 10 list, but it was just too hard! So many wonderfully exciting things happened! We eventually narrowed it down to our Top 15, our #Top15of2015, and we’ve been sharing them on Instagram for the past few days. These are, of course, in no particular order – how could we decide?!
Meagan couldn’t believe her luck when she visited the most picturesque lavender fields in Provence. Every stop along the drive was like a photo from a book! All of the flowers were blooming brightly!
In January, Stephanie traveled with her husband to Thailand to show him where she studied abroad.
Our second photo for our top 15 experiences in 2015 comes from my trip to Thailand in January. It was my first time back since studying abroad there & I had so much fun watching my husband take in a country that will always hold a special place in my heart. One quintessential Bangkok experience we had was riding in a tuktuk, weaving in & out of traffic. What a rush!
A photo posted by A Friend Afar Blog (@afriendafar) on
Meagan had the most amazing experiences in France, and cycling through Burgundy with Beaune as a home base blew her away! She wants to go back again right now! It probably isn’t on your travel list yet, but is should be! Continue reading
Since the end of year is quickly approaching, we thought it would be fun to do a roundup of some of our most popular blog posts since launching A Friend Afar earlier this year! They include content from some of our big trips abroad to Cuba, Greece & France as well as a day trip closer to home. It also includes packing tips, bag reviews, planning tips, and a guest post about family travel! Check out our top posts of 2015 below.
