conclusions

TransportWe were unsure about using public or our own transport. We prefer to use public transport wherever possible, enjoying the opportunity to meet local people and the comraderie  of fellow travellers. However we decided to rent a car and having your own transport here is definitely a good idea. Some of the best experiences we have had would not have happened if we had been restricted to public transport.
A 2WD is fine here. Unless you are really into serious off roading you don't need a 4WD.
We didn't need any assistance, but listening to other peoples stories it's a good idea to hire from a larger company with a good track record if you want to avoid the possibility of losing some of your precious holiday time waiting for repair/recovery work.
A Dacia Logan is an ideal car for these conditions, it's a sturdy little beast and did everything we asked of it, including the desert piste and the terrible surfaces on the white roads between Ouzoud and Oualodia. It is the national car and spares and repairs are available almost everywhere.
Driving in Morocco has a really bad reputation, it was much better than anticipated. As with everywhere, including Europe, you just need to drive sensibly and with regard for the environment, the conditions and with the awareness that on occasions there are some very stupid people on the roads.
Road signs were excellent, we didn't get lost on regular roads at all. Any times when we did lose the way it was exploring in very rural areas where there weren't any road signs anyway, or of we tried to take 'short' cuts! Carriage ways were often narrow, but this was usually where traffic was light, so without rushing it was possible to average 50mph with no trouble. Even on remoter areas there were always plenty of fuel stations.
We noticed that in some places the old French rule of giving way to traffic coming from the right was still practised.

Best time to visitWe did a lot of research before coming from 25th March to 25th of April. It depends of course on what you want to do, obviously if you want to trek or climb snow covered mountains you need to come when there is snow. We were a couple of weeks too early for the sort of trip we wanted to do, this year. Another year and it might be fine, it's a weather rather than climate issue. I don't think it would be too hot in the desert early to mid April and maybe the nights wouldn't be so bitterly cold at altitude. There were a couple of times when I had so many blankets on my bed I had problems turning over.

Illness
Neither of us has had any gastric upsets or diarrhoea. We've drunk tap water on occasions although not all the time. We've eaten a lot of salads, which would all have been washed in tap water. We've eaten frequently from street stalls and barrows, some of the tastiest food, we tended to pick busy ones assuming they have more of a turnover and the food is fresh.

Safety
Moroccan people are in the most part very friendly, welcoming and helpful. There are a few hustlers around at tourists sites and in the big cities, but not too many and none were ever over-persistent or aggressive.
We have always felt safe, no threat to us or our property, even in large cities.
We don't think we have been 'ripped off' on any occasion. There might have been a couple of times when we felt we could have been charged too much for something, but if so a really small amount, peanuts, and nothing we weren't prepared to pay, considering the average wage here.
We haven't done a lot of souvenir shopping, not our thing, just a djellabah each as warm UK dressing gowns, babouche for the grandchildren and some tiny bottles of Argan oil and Amlou (from a women's co-operative. outlet. We negotiated what we considered to be a cheap price for the djellabahs if they had been bought in the UK, and for the bulk purchase of babouche. I'm sure it was much more than a local would pay, but we are not locals, we are tourists with much more disposable income enjoying their hospitality. All the bargaining was humorous and friendly.

Money
ATMs are readily available and although on a couple of occasions one would not accept our particular card (pre-loaded cash card) another one soon did. We had no problems with them at all.
Large supermarkets (for the sale of alcohol) are few and far between, usually on the outskirts of most large towns. Many places also have a discrete alcohol outlet, known to and patronised by local people, if you are able to tap into the bush telegraph and find one. We were very careful about being seen with alcohol, and at first restricted ourselves to drinking a glass or two of wine clandestinely in our bedroom. However whenever we asked the people where we were staying if they would mind if we drank a beer or a glass of wine, we were never refused, and indeed it was just accepted as the norm. We never drank in public or on public view unless it was in a restaurant offering wine with the meal.

Gender Issues
There was not a single occasion when I felt threatened or uncomfortable as a woman, unlike in Egypt for example. As a woman of a certain age I would always dress conservatively when travelling, long skirts and long sleeved tops in light but not transparent cotton are the coolest and most comfortable clothing in hot climates anyway. I always carried a light scarf I could throw over my hair if I felt it necessary, but apart from remote rural areas where some women were veiled, I rarely used it.

Commucations
Wifi was readily available and it was free. Most hotels even in rural areas provided a connection. Even if the hotel didn't there was usually a cafe nearby which did. The only places we didn't get it were the remote hotels we chose close to the desert which only had satellite phones.
We purchased a Maroc Telecom SIM and got phone coverage everywhere.

Police
They have been kind and helpful on all occasions. We were rarely stopped in our car and when we were they were polite. There was no suggestion of corruption or bribery. This is unique in our experiences of travelling in all other African countries, including Central and sub-Saharan, and in Central America.

Other things Morocco was no exception to most other places we have travelled, including the U.K., an essential travel companion is a handy little multi-tool, (loose plugs, dripping taps, toilets that don't flush etc)

Conclusions
We have enjoyed this trip. As we get older travelling seems to get easier. Maybe we are slower, more tolerant and accommodating. In all the countries we have visited in the past ten years our age seems to have been an advantage, particularly in the atitudes of other people towards us.