asalamy

I'm interested to make my first trip to Morocco, and as a solo traveller I think I would feel more comfortable in a group tour rather than going solo.

Has anyone done th Amazing Morocco trip with Insight Tours? If so, did you feel it was worth the money? What is typically the average profile of Insight Tour participants ... families, retired, solo travellers, combinations?

Many thanks -

asalamy

ttt - any comments?

DaveJJ

I have not done the Amazing Morocco trip with Insight Tours but I have done 3 tours with Insight Vacations.

We did the Best of Ireland and Scotland (2002), Splendours of Egypt (2008) and Grecian Dreams (2009). We had a wonderful time during each and would hightly recommend Insight Vacations.

Insight Vacations uses local tour companies for the actual tours. For 'Splendours' they used Spring Tours and for 'Grecians' they used Siwa Travel. I will assume for a second that Insight Tours is the local company Insight Vacations has contracted to do the local touring. If I am correct then I would suggest you will have a wonderful time.

My wife and I are now 57 years of age. On each of our tours the majority of people were between 50 and 70 years old. On 'Splendours' there was one family with 3 children 13 years and younger.

When I am planning trips with Insight Vacations I use there bulletin board to read trip reports and ask questions. I recomend you do the same as there are some great contributors to the board. Go to Insightvacations.com, go to the 'Commnity' tab then go to the Bulletin Board. You will then go to the applicable subsection....in this case Ancient Civilizations to post questions or scroll a little further down to the 'Tour Tales' to access trip reports.

I have posted trip reports on Fodors for both the Egypt and Greece trips. Click on my name to get to my profile page.

asalamy

Thank you DaveJJ - appreciate your comments.

Leslie_S

asalamy - my husband & I are planning a trip for next spring - April or May. We're looking at either an escorted tour with Compass Odyssey or traveling by ourselves but with a guide/driver for part of the trip provided by Authentic-Morocco. Looks like the price of the Insight tour is a bit less than what we'll be doing but just more food for thought for your planning phase...they both look like good companies altho' I haven't traveled yet with either.

We want to stay in riads in Fez and Marrakesh rather than hotels and also want to spend one night in a Berber camp in the desert. Looks like those elements might not be included on the tour you mentioned.

turaj

Personally I agree with Leslie but for a solo traveler not the best option cost wise and sort of boring with just private guide...however I would try to find a small group tour (not 35-40 people) that either uses the riads in Fes and Marrakech or would let you pay extra to do so...this is the essence of staying in these cities and you miss alot in some big hotel..my guess is some tour operators will use riads but has to be small group...also agree one night in Berber camp in the desert a highlight...I would keep looking. Insight is fine but not the type of tour where you really get close with the culture...might also depend on your travel preferences...some people prefer western style and not so intense...good luck....

asalamy

Thank you - if anyone has suggestions about companies that would run smaller tours, they would be welcomed!

NoFlyZone

Intrepid Adventures, Imaginative Traveller, GAP Adventures, Peregrine, etc.

four_maccas

We went to Morocco for two weeks with Peregine who subcontract their trips to a local operator. We liked the fact that there is a maximum group number (around 15 or less) and on our trip we had 7 people. Average age of participants was mid 40's. They were flexible with the itinerary when the group decided we didn't want to do one of the activities scheduled.

thursdaysd

See http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...-medley.cfm?91 for my Intrepid tour in Morocco. I would suggest considering the "Original" level tour rather than the "Comfort", which was very sedate, and ditching the guide in the medina in Fez and wandering around on your own.

My tour stayed in a riad in Fez, but it's very quiet there at night. In Marrakesh we stayed in the new town, but you could easily stay on for a night or two on your own.