ewt

Hi all,

I haven't posted to the Africa forum before, but some time I ago I used to Europe one. I'm also a frequent reader of the forums.

Anyway, a friend of mine and I are trying to plan a trip to Morocco. However, lately we have had some disagreements about the way in which we should travel. Namely, my friend now believes we should go with a tour group and I think we can go it on our own. In the past, I have enjoyed planning trips on my own- I think it grants you the freedom to do what you want for as long as you want. It's also nice to share a trip with people you know rather than having to deal with travelers who may not be your cup of tea.

My friend cites stories she's heard of women being harassed and that fact that it may be difficult to get around as the primary reasons not to go it alone. I have read some things about women being harassed, but most people say it isn't too bad as long as you ignore it and dress appropriately. I know some French (although, no Arabic) and she doesn't know either language, so that also makes me feel a little more secure.

What are your opinions? Should we take a tour? If so, which one? We looked at Intrepid, but haven't explored many other options. In general, we want to go to Casablanca (my friend's choice, but i could skip it), Marakkech, Fez, and on a camel excursion to the desert. Also, while we are not on a budget, we are definitely mid-range travelers, so an expensive personal tour guide may not work.

Thanks in advance for your help!

sandi

You can skip Casablanca... most tours only pass this way once they've arrived, heading elsewhere.

Marrakech, Fez and the desert can be arranged with a tour operator in your home country or one in-country. Do a search on this board, where some in-country tour operators have been mentioned.

Of course, you can arrange a group tour, but many of these same companies can arrange a private tour for the two of you. They'll provide a guide/driver and vehicle; locally you'll often have a guide specific for the site you're visiting.

This way, it's not like you're traveling alone, yet not with a group with set itinerary. You design the itinerary you want, #/days, where, select the hotels or riads you wish to stay (depending on budget). But know that some of the distances between where you wish to visit are quite long. You'll be spending lots of time in the car.

julia1

I agree with Sandi - skip Casablanca and arrange a private tour through one of the in-country operators. This will give you the flexibility of having time on your own but also the security of having a driver/guide when you want one. I'd encourage you to consider adding a few days in Essaouira, a small fishing town on the Atlantic. It's a lovely place to visit, you will feel very safe being on your own there, wandering and enjoying a low-key holiday from your holiday. I was in Morocco just over a week ago and Essaouira was my favorite. You can look at some of my photos at http://www.juliamaudlinphotography.com

tizi001

En reference to harassement issue, I think is good for you since you are traveling as 2 people rather than alone. You do not have to worry really. True, you might face some hassling instead... Merchants may invite you for tea, lunch.. hopefully to get some bucks from you, Just IGNORE them ....Be strict ,and whenever you want to ask for something ,ask the shop keepers or policemen on the roads as they gona provide you with as much info as possible, that's if you decide to make it on your own, which I fun it more fun. By the way you can rent a car (around350Dh a day) which is more comfortable I think!! you also can depends on trains and CTM buses, Money saving. In fact it all depends on your Pockets.
Have great time.

ewt

Thanks for the info, all. Does anyone have any recommendations for reasonably priced, yet good private tour guides? The only tour company we're really familiar with right now is Intrepid, but I don't think they have private tours. Anyone have a great recommendation?

tizi001

Did you check the fodor's forum? They are some endorsed private tour guides, atherwise email me with your stay dates in Morocco and itinerary and I might be able to put you in touch with someone! English-speaking and reliable, of course.
Cheers

welshwiz_carrentals

Just got back from morocco. Had an amazing time would definately go back.
I travelled with a female friend also, we didnt have any trouble or "harrassment". We did however meet up with a group of people we know, mostly males so this could be why. And also we stayed in the village of Taghazoute near Agidir. This is a very surf orientated village with many visiters from europe,USA and other western countries going there to surf.

ewt

Thanks for your response. That really is helpful.

Any suggestions for reasonably prices private tours? In searching around, I've seen Blue Men of Morocco come up a lot, but even their group tours border on expensive, so I can't imagine what their private tours cost. If anyone has suggestions... even suggestions of people in different cities so we can meet a tour guide in each place we stop, it would be appreciated.

ewt

Sorry for double posting... from another board, I found the name of Moha, a private guide for Morocco. Does anyone know anything about him? Or the name of other fairly inexpensive guides?

Thanks in advance!

MaeT

Hi ewt - I booked a tour with SaharaTrek. They offer transporation around Morocco and a private guide for 1 day in Marrakesh and 1 day in Fez. They also book your hotels (most of them nice looking riads), transfers and any internal flights. The package tours are customizable and I found them to be reasonably priced (lower in price than Blue Men). My friend and I are traveling in early May, so I can't tell you yet what the trip is like, but so far Sahara Trek has been very organized, responsive and good to work with. Good luck!

yalegirl

My husband and I recently returned from a 3 week trip to Morocco and Spain. We hired a private guide who also drove us around Morocco. He was English speaking. After proposing several itineraries, we settled on one that would fit our timeframe. We had several travel snafus getting to Morocco because our plane had to make an unexpected stop in Ireland to let off a sick passenger. The guide patiently waited over 5 hours for us at the Casablanca airport.
He assisted in speaking to the airport staff after we discovered my luggage was lost. He arranged to have my luggage sent to another airport along our trip itinerary. At 8 PM at night, he took me to a local grocery store so I could purchase some clothes and sundries to use until I was repatriated with my luggage.
We stayed in Meknes, Fes, Midelt and did an overnight in the desert in Merzouga- camle ride and all. The guide arranged local guides and all our accommodations which included breakfast and some dinners. We were very satisfied with his services. His name is Rachid Ouragag and his e-mail address is <[email protected]>.
He was very flexible with the schedule and stopped in local villages for us to see animal and produce markets.
I would recommend Rachid's services as my husband and I were very satisfied.

jlc78

hi ewt,

I'm in the middle of planning a similar trip with two female friends to Morocco in August/September. We're looking to do most of the cities and such on our own (we're all pretty well traveled and figure we can take any harassment in stride). However, we are pricing out doing a private or semi-private tour in the Dades Gorge area with an overnight in the Sahara (and the camel ride of course). Camel Treks (www.cameltrekking.com) seems to have reasonable prices and has been mentioned on the boards here before. Did you come across anyone else that seemed good?

Thanks!

abasketcase

Julia - Loved your pictures, thanks for sharing!

I am considering Insight's group tour, while wondering if I can pull this trip off independently, with local guides. That just seems a bit unnerving even as I type!

If I do enough research, I just may go for it. I have been studying Frommer's Morocco guidebook...it seems to have plenty of good information.

travelersusan

Hi ewt and jlc78,

It sounds like I am doing something similar to you both as well. 2 single women in our 30's traveling around Morocco in July/August. We decided to do a combination of going at it on our own, and having a car/guide already planned for the sahara portion of our trip. We are both well traveled as well, and didn't want to be stuck with a group or a guide the entire time that we didn't enjoy. If we need, we may hire a guide for a day when we first arrive in Marrakech and Fes, but will play that part by ear.

I looked into Camel Treks as well, but decided to book with Sahara Desert Dream. http://www.sahara-desert-dream.com

Through Sahara Desert Dream we booked 2 nights in the desert, a night in Toudra Gorge and a night in Quarzazate. It will be nice to have the car for this portion so that we can explore the area a bit. The rest of our trip we plan to do independently, mostly with public transportation.

Obviously, I can't give a review yet of this company, but will do so as soon as I return.

floydvic

I have been to Morocco twice on short trips. I recommend Rabat as a good and very interesting city to visit with a large medina with exellent shopping and a nice set of Roman ruins; I just loved Essaouira (very low keyed and even with many Moroccan women in veils no one seemed to look twice at some very skimpily dressed French female teenagers when I visited last year). Fez and Marrakech are awesome and either is most certainly worth seeing. Tangier is to be avoided as much as possible (in my opinion) and I understand the same is true of Casablanca.

I'm male so, except for the observation about Essaouira above, can't say much original about women travling in Muslim countries not better expressed by other women who have posted in Fodors. There has been quite a bit posted in the Europe section regarding Morocco in the past.

RosieinOz

Planning similar in November...great help thanks to all. Have a great trip ewt!
Rosie

clcs

traverlersusan-

How was your tour with Desert Dream (sahara-desert-dream.com)?

I am looking into using them & would love your opinion.

Thanks!

travelersusan

clcs,
we had a great time with Desert Dream. We never used any other guides in Morocco, so obviously I have no basis for comparison, but I thought Desert Dream was wonderful.

During the booking process, they were one of the few companies who always emailed me back right away, and answered every question I had. I think they were also the cheapest option.

Our guide Khalid and driver M'Barack (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly!) were wonderful. Not only were they great with Morocco info (history, info, etc.) but they were fun, and we had a great time hanging out with them for the 4 days.

Definitely recommend Desert Dream!