paradise4two

I'd like to go on 12-day tour of Morocco, but it has been extremely difficult finding a reputable tour operator to work with. Since I have specific dates in mind, a customized tour will be the way to go. Unfortunately, I have found very few recommendations for such customized tours on the travel forums. These tours are usually put together for 2-6 people and are accompanied by a driver/guide. So far we have only been able to find a tour package for not less than $2000 (Yikes!) We don’t require extravagant accomodations, so this particular tour would include mainly small family-run ryads. If you have taken such a trip (customized) with an itinerary similar to the one shown below, I would love to know: 1) what company you went with, 2) the number of days, 3) how much it cost per person and your overall assessment of your trip.

Desired Itinerary: Casablanca-Rabat-Meknes-Mildet-Fes-Erfoud-Merzouga-Rissani-Tinghir-Ouarzazate-Zagora-Ait Ben Haddou-Marrakech-Essaouira-Casablanca (As always, the first and last days are consumed by air travel.)

BTW, if anyone would be interested in joining my wife and me on such a trip, please email me at [email protected] A minimum of six people is often required for the lowest rates, so four more would be perfect!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bob

Cheweyhead

Call Yvette at African Portfolio 800700-3677. She has put together our two Africa trips and has spoken about Morrocco trips for other travellers/clients.

jgg

We used Blue Men of Morocco (www.bluemeofmorocco.com) for an 8 day trip to Morocco this past March. There were 4 of us and we had everything customized for us. Elena was very helpful in planning out the details and Zaid our driver was excellent. We stayed in wonderful small riads. We stayed 3 nights in Marakkech, one night in Ouzarzate, one night in the desert in a berber tent (after our camel ride), one night in Merzouga and two nights in Fez.

I would suggest that your itinerary is a bit ambitious for 12 days. Some of your stops are easily done on the way to other places (such as Rissani and Ait Ben Haddou), but I would probably skip Zagora. I haven't been, but the consensus here seems to be that the dunes in Merzouga are MUCH better than those in Zagora, so would probably skip it.

I am out of town and don't remember the cost per person off the top of my head, but it also definitely depends on which riads you stay in. We were travelling with our kids (ages 14 and 11) so stayed in nicer riads.

oceania

You don't mention when you will be travelling.

I'm planning a similar trip to Morocco (minus Rabat and Essaouira) for mid October. However, I'm only looking for a tour/group to join for the desert leg of my trip...if our dates coincide maybe I can meet up with you guys. My plan is to leave Fes October 16th and be in Marrakech October 20th.

Here are some companies I came across while researching but I don't know anyone who has used them - they might be of some interest:

http://www.moroccoexplored.com
http://www.experienceittours.com/

iepurasu

I have been recently in Marocco with my wife (25 Aug- 3 Sept). I attended a confference in Marachesh, where I spent 4 nights and tryed to use the opportunity to see something of Marroco.We reached the conclusion that Marroco can be divided from our tourist point of view in two parts: 1. civilised (imperial cities Rabat, Fes,.., seaside resorts Essauria, Agadar,..that can be easily done by your own using a hired car and 2 a savage part: high Atlas on ”piste”, and of course the desert that can not be imagined without a guided tour in a 4x4. As we had only 5 days to spend outside Maraches we chosed the savage part and we do not regret it. We were confronted by the same problem of chosing a tour operator and only by luck, we found on internet a tour operator that proved to be 100% satisfactory. We payed 1220 euro for 2 persons for a 4 nights, 5 days tour. The car was 1 year old Land Cruiser with AC, all the hotels were 3 stars with swiming pool - some of them very good - sirocco kasbath Zagora and most of all we didn-t feel any moment to be in danger! They have a web site www.marrakechexpedition4x4.com and can be reched by e mail at [email protected]