Highlights of Morocco - In Comfort

Most Inspirational Moment

The highlight was the variety of the itinerary rather than anyone specific item. The addition of trips such as the visit/walk to the Berber family and the visit to the village Haman showed what Moroccan life is actually like, an experience you don't get by just visiting the tourist sites.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Khaled was an excellent tour leader, very helpful, knowledgable and would go out of his way to help. On these trips the capability of the tour leader makes these trips and i can say that Khaled certainly made this trip for us. If i was recommending this trip for any friends i would also recommend them asking for Khaled as their tour leader.

Most Inspirational Moment

Everyday had something exceptional

Thoughts on Group Leader

Fantastic

Advice for Potential Travellers

Book this trip - it is a great experience

Most Inspirational Moment

Visiting the village hammam was a fun experience and rounded off a day spent walking in the mountains with amazing views and including a visit to the infant school where we started to understand a little of daily life for the children that live in this mountain area. We also enjoyed the camel ride into the desert to see the sunset. Tariq took some amazing photos of the group in the Sahara that will bring back happy memories (yes, the camels were well-behaved!) for years to come. And buying a mini packed lunch to take on our walk around a Berber village where we saw inhabitants renewing the walls of their houses with mud while donkeys walked by piled high with produce from the plots that families cultivated in the valley.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Tariq was diligent and thoughtful. He shared his knowledge generously and was also keen to learn from us. He found many different places for us to eat and planned our days well. Once he was in charge, things went smoothly. He obviously gets on well with people, not just the tour group. Everywhere we went he knew someone who greeted him and often who could help out with things locally. He gave us suggestions for our free time and his sense of humour was delightful!

Advice for Potential Travellers

You are going to enjoy exploring Morocco. Money: There are quite a lot of ATMs where you are charged about £2 to withdraw money, but at a better rate than at the exchange at the airport. If you find a post office ATM machine (there is one in the arrivals hall at the airport and in the main square in Marrakech) then you don't get charged, but there can be long queues. Weather: We were there for the last 2 weeks of May and there had been temperatures of 37degC in the weeks before we arrived. We had much lower temperatures during our fortnight (up to late 20s), which included 4degC overnight when in the mountain hotel. It also rained while we were sightseeing in Fez and on our way into the desert, which was a bit unexpected, by the Moroccans as well as us! Take layers and a showerproof coat.

Most Inspirational Moment

There wasn't ONE ...... there were many inspirational MOMENTS - experiencing first hand both Arab and Berber cultures - the amazing diversity of habitats through the Country (especially the scenery around Kasbah Oliver) - the diversity of architecture - from the huge Casablanca Mosque to deserted mud-brick Kasbahs - the (general) friendliness of people - a 'picnic' dinner on the terrace of our Fes Riad watching the City and Mosques light-up and the sounds of many Calls to Prayer.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Sayeed - personable, helpful, efficient and informative. Note It is regretful that some adverse and totally unfair comments have been made about Sayeed. Such comments are totally unfounded and unreasonable. We would welcome another Tour lead by him.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be accepting of a different culture, the different habits and the different standards. Don't consider Morocco to be all sun and heat - it can be cold at night.

Most Inspirational Moment

Simply just seeing such a variety of scenery in Morocco

Thoughts on Group Leader

Both group leader and bus driver were very good

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take extra warm clothing for trips run at that time of the year

Thoughts on Group Leader

Not great. He didn’t seem to care that we were there.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Maybe book a different trip.

Most Inspirational Moment

Riding camels in desert, walking in Atlas Mountains, souks in Fez, visiting local families, local hamman in mountains.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very good, but could have given more information on long drives even about the country.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Even though it is a Premium trip, places to stay where not special but ok for our needs. Minibus for 15/16 people far too small and on the very long journeys it was pretty uncomfortable but we survived!

Most Inspirational Moment

It has to be the desert - the camel ride through the sand dunes to the Bedouin tent was magical and a great experience. Loved the High Atlas mountain stay meeting the locals and being invited in a home for a simple meal - the berbers were so friendly and welcoming. Really enjoyed the hike through the High Atlas mountains with great views. Enjoyed free time by the sea in Essaouira - a chance to relax and wander the souks which were a lot more peaceful than busy Marrakech.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Abdullah was a great guide - competent and knowledgeable with a great love of his Berber heritage and culture which he shared with us. He kept us safe and took us to lots of different places to eat, recommending what we should eat and avoid. A lovely man who encouraged us to ask questions about life in Morocco, it's people, culture and religion. He knew everyone. Thanks Abdullah.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Do some reading and preparation before you go especially if you haven't travelled much outside of Europe. This 'premier' tour is not premier by British standards. The accommodation whilst reflecting the Moroccan experience of riads and kasbahs looks lovely and exotic, in practice they are often very basic with hard beds, faulty equipment, poor plumbing and not cleaned to the standard you might expect. Once you accept this - immerse yourself in its difference as they are beautiful. The people on the whole are very welcoming and friendly especially in the rural areas but you will experience poverty and sights that you may find uncomfortable - but this is Morroco - prepare to experience all it has and you will have a great time. '

Most Inspirational Moment

The desert sky at night – wow! No light pollution, and a wonderful view. The camel ride to get there was great too.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our Guide Mohamed was very good – informative, polite, considerate and with a sense of humour. And thank you very much for the cake on my birthday – a lovely surprise!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Be aware that hotel gradings in Morocco may not equate to the same in the UK. When it says Premium, the hotel won’t necessarily be 4*! The standards (eg. maintenance of buildings - dodgy sockets / broken mirrors etc) may not be what you would expect. The travel times given in the trip notes might be misleading – when there are lots of stops for breaks en-route, the journey will (obviously) take longer. So to manage expectations, the travel times are probably just road travel times, and participants should be prepared for late arrival at some destinations. I didn’t feel it was a problem, as I was happy to have the breaks and enjoy the journey, and don’t understand what the rush to get to destination was. Top tip: Don’t wear your good mesh-top walking shoes/boots in the sand dunes! The beautiful sand is like powder, and your shoes will fill with sand in the structure of the shoe, which then squeezes your toes – and is almost impossible to get it all out.

Most Inspirational Moment

We walked to the top of the Todrha Gorge and a nomad family were camped there. The group were invited to share tea in their tent and we were able to ask questions about their lifestyle. I found this quite special. There were lots of highlights - I loved walking around the medina in Fez, walking on our own in the Sahara, the sheer variety of all the sights we saw. There were a few more demanding days in the Todrha Gorge and High Atlas, where it was pretty cold and windy, so having a full day in Essouria with no planned activities was much needed by the time we got to it.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Lachsen was an absolute 100% star. Everything perfectly organised and he made sure we were all aware of what we would be doing every day, start times, when luggage needed to be out. He told us so much about what it was like to live in Morocco, as well as information on the history and geography of the country. Special mention too for Ibrahim, our driver, who had long days and some tricky driving conditions (flooded roads!) to contend with. The local guides were also very good and had great senses of humour.

Advice for Potential Travellers

We went late October/early November and I don't know if our weather was typical - it was never what I would call really hot - very warm and pleasant certainly - but once you got to altitude at the Todrha Gorge and High Atlas it got very cold and sometimes windy. The accommodation there is also more basic than elsewhere, so I wished I had packed more cold weather gear.