Winter sunning it up

Obviously we all love a summer holiday. But I have to say that a spot of winter sun might just be my favourite. When it's cold, dark and miserable at home, there's nothing better than jetting off for a bit of sun, sea and sangria. So that's exactly what me and Ollie have just done! It was kind of hard to pick a destination this time around, as we wanted to warmth without long haul (pretty tricky at the end of November). After assessing some options, it was down to either Sharm El Sheik in Egypt or Agadir in Morocco. Morocco cinched it in the end as I'd prefer to do Cairo when doing Egypt, and Ollie thought the hotels in Agadir looked nicer. So off we flew!

Well, I say Agadir but we actually ended up choosing the Riu Palace Taghazout, which was just up the coast a little. The hotel was the same price as the other options in Agadir but looked a lot bigger and more luxurious. They even had 9 swimming pools! The photos certainly dind't oversell it either. It was absolutely beautiful. Our room was amazing with a sea view and a more space than 2 people could possibly need for 6 days. The 6 days might seem random but having started a new job in October (with it, waving goodbye to my unlimited annual leave policy), I didn't quite have the allowance to go for a full week. Despite the luxury of the hotel, it was actually pretty reasonably priced. It was just over £800 for the 2 of us all inclusive for the 6 days. With easyjet flights at around £250 per person, the holiday was quite the steal.

We arrived at our hotel at about 3pm on the Tuesday, so we were straight round the pool. I mean, look how beautiful it is! It was massive too (the 9 pools were not an exaggeration) so it was always easy to get sunbeds where you wanted them, and a number of the pools were heated, which was fab as the weather wasn't warm enough to make the unheated pools anything other than freezing! It wasn't crazy hot in Morocco at the end of November, it was like early twenties. But compared to home it was pure bliss and it definitely qualified as sunbathing weather. The first port of call was naturally to get started on making the most of the all inclusive, so it was cocktail o'clock all day every day.

Our first night of the holiday and it just so happened to fall on the night of the England game. So after a little power nap, we got ready and headed out to see if they were showing it. We were in luck as it seemed most of the hotel guests were also British so they were showing the game in multiple places. There was a big screen in a conference room, but that was super sweaty and didn't have a bar, so we opted to watch it on one of the smaller screens in the main entertainment area instead. Since it was our first night in Morocco, I went full Moroccan with the outfit in this tile print playsuit. I love the fit of this one and I paired it with straw bag and wedge heels (which are easily the best purchase I've made this year).

It was a full day of drinking, eating and sunbathing the next day! Something I really loved about this hotel was the range of food and drink options. They had so many bars and restaurants and instead of stopping breakfast at 10-10:30 like most hotels, they then ran a brunch session from 10:30 until 12 in the snack restaurant. Which was amazing, as you don't want to have to get up and rush around for breakfast on holiday - I hadn't seen any hotels do that before and it was perfect. They also ran the snack bar restaurant from 3 until 6 so if you missed lunch or fancied a later bite in the afternoon you could do that too. They even ran late night food after dinner, along with a 24 hour bar so you could basically get whatever you wanted at any time of day. Which in our case, was a late brunch, and then lots and lots of cocktails. The sangria was my personal favourite, although I accidentally got Ollie to order me a woowoo which I'd thought was on the menu but wasn't, so he had to get them to look up a recipe (oops).

Most of my outfits for the evening were either midi length or longer. When I last went to Morocco, I was conscious to dress more modestly as I was in Marrakech. This time, I figured there'd be no issue since we'd be staying in the hotel, but I still felt more on brand to go with mostly longer, floatier options. Plus it was kind of chilly in the evenings! This time, I went with a draped green midi skirt and then this new top which is a Zara dupe from shein. I love the beaded straps and think it's a perfect holiday option.

When we woke up the next day, the weather was forecast to be cloudier and cooler than any of the other days we were set to be there. So we thought we'd take the opportunity to have a non-sunbathing day and explore a little. Even when I do this type of holiday (relax and stay at the hotel), I still don't like to feel like I've seen nothing of the local area or culture. So after a quick iced coffee (and cocktail, of course) pit stop, we took a taxi into the centre of Agadir to have a look around.

Agadir was pretty run down (and not really in the same old-world, charming way that Marrakech was), but there were plenty of pretty or interesting spots to see. We started at the Souk El Had which had amazing variety and I always love to explore the vibrant stands of spices and colours and cool pottery. We didn't actually buy anything (our case was already overweight on the way there), but it was nice to look around. Then we got our walking shoes on, as our finishing destination was about 45 minutes away, but we had some spots to see en route (including some pretty gardens and the main Mosque). Again, for my outfit of the day I'd gone with something long in the leg and this print felt very Morocco-appropriate. Although, I did feel pretty skimpy on the top half in this crochet white bandeau. I was a little cool and could've done with a shirt or something over the top (especially since everyone else in town was dressed a lot more conservatively).

And then it was time to catch the cable car! When researching things to do in Agadir, the Medina had come up as an option. But after a bit of research, it turns out that the Medina is a recreation of the original one, and was only built in the 1990s, plus it's miles away from anything else. But what I hadn't realised is that the cable car goes up to the site of the original medina, so that was cool to be able to read about that on various boards at the top. The view of the bay was also incredible from the top, so it was worth a trip even just for the view! And then we finished our day in Agadir by watching the Morocco football game. As we now know, they broke records with how well they did this time, so it was a really patriotic atmosphere and actually a much more exciting game than England's had been!

I originally bought this dress a while back with the specific idea of it being perfect for our safari holiday. Now that that's been cancelled for the fourth (and probably final) time, I knew this dress still needed its moment in the spotlight. And it felt to me that it suited Morocco pretty perfectly too! I'm obsessed with the fit and the one sleeve design, plus the print is so perfect for holidays. I added black and gold strappy heels (I took an insane number of shoes with me for only 6 days away), statement earrings and my hair in an up do.

As part of the many restaurants at our hotel, there were a number of a la carte options that you could book (still all inclusive). After a couple of nights in the main restaurant, we decided to give the Moroccan one a go. The food was simply amazing and I had a spiced chickpea soup, a lamb and apricot tagine and then a milk pastilla for dessert. The only thing that wasn't so great was the appetiser they brought everyone. I'm yet to be convinced on the carrot juice, which just tasted like grass. I'll stick to juice of the grape variety I think, as the red wine was going down a treat (both at dinner and then when we kept the party going at the jungle bar afterwards).

It was back to clear blue skies the next day so we were back round the pool to soak in some rays, to drink lots of cocktails and to read my book (while I did, the wording of that kind of weirdly implies we read it together). It was lovely weather as it was mostly burn proof but still really nice and warm. I say "mostly" burn proof as my scalp still looked a bit pink after a couple of days unprotected (I burn my scalp on every single holiday and it's so annoying). While I've been mostly rocking the headscarf or giant hat options for the last couple of years, I actually started liking the baseball cap look this year so invested in a couple. What do we think?

As you can see, I did still pack a couple of shorter outfits, including this bright colour pop option. I went with turquoise shorts (which I love but they're a nightmare because they crease again before you've even finished ironing them) and this statement sleeve top with cream bag and shoes. We were back at the buffet again on this night, where funnily enough, they were doing a Moroccan themed night. Although obviously since we were in Morocco, there were plenty of local options on every night anyway. Anyone who knows me or has read before will surely remember that I normally hate all inclusive food. I don't enjoy the buffet experience and I always prefer to go out to a restaurant than to simply grab and go. But I have to say, this hotel is the best I've been to in terms of the all inclusive food. The drinks were still table service so it lent itself to more of a restaurant experience, and the food was all amazing. There was so much choice at every single meal (regardless of which restaurant you were in), everything was hot and fresh and there were very limited beige British options (there's nothing worse than a hotel buffet piled high with chicken nuggets and claggy lasagne). I'd definitely recommend this hotel to anyone fancying some Moroccan sun!

It was our last day in the sunshine, and we were back round the pool again. Kudos to me for getting even my feet in for these photos, as this wasn't one of the heated pools so it was basically like getting in an outdoor pool in England right now.

You can hardly not associate Morocco with camel rides so when we saw they were available on our hotel's private stretch of beach, we figured it was a 'when in Rome' sort of situation. Although you definitely have to haggle, as they initially wanted us to pay the equivalent of £60 to walk us up and down the beach. Make sure you learn the currency conversion so you don't fall into the trap! It was the equivalent of £15-£20 in the end and a nice fun way to use up the rest of our dirham - although when they stand up and sit down, it's all fun and games trying not to fall off!

We'd saved another of the a la carte restaurants for our last night, and this one had more of an upmarket French vibe about it. Again, the appetiser was a little funny - see that tiny white dot? Apparently that was chicken mousse but why they'd even mention it with such a small amount was beyond me. The food was lovely though and my main course was insane in portion size. We had a lovely fancy night with lots of wine, and I'd kept one of my fancier outfits to match. This satin dress was a favourite for me in Singapore and it's definitely still a favourite now.

And then it was time to say au revoir to Morocco and head back to the freezing cold (seriously, stepping off the plane in London was like being plunged into an ice bath). We'd timed the flights pretty perfectly though as we didn't have too much of an early start, and yet we were home just in time for the England game. We couldn't have planned it better if we'd tried! For anyone considering some winter sun, I'd say do it! Our October/November holidays the last couple of years have been some of my favourites, and I'm keeping a spot free for next November to do the same again. It's a seriously lovely way to round off the year.