Morocco - private tour operators
 

We are spending 8 days in Morocco in August (4 adults). We are looking for a tour operator that will take us to a Berber camp and we also interested in riding camels and doing some hiking. We don't want to be with a big group and prefer to have our own tour guide. Any recommendations? Also, we are looking for some unique places to stay in Fez, Marrakesh and Rabat if anyone has any riad recommendations. Thanks!

Thank you for the links and recommendations. I look forward to reading your report on your trip! Much obliged!

I have always found Infohub http://www.infohub.com/ to be a good source for private tours. I have arranged tours for my mother and myself to India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Jordan and Tunisia through this site. The operators I have used are quite open to customizing to your desires / needs and I have found them to be very reliable.

I forgot to mention August will be Ramadan (July 9 - August 7) followed by 3 days more or less of Eid celebrations. Difficult to say what will or will not be open.

We did a tour with Blue Men of Morocco (www.bluemenofmorocco.com) There were four of us (2 adults/2 kids). It was just the four of us, we had our own guide and did ride camels and spent a night in the desert. Can highly recommend them. Here is a link to my trip report: http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...frica/morocco/

Hi Sandeak,
Just happened to be looking at the Africa Forum as I am planning a trip and saw your post.
We did a private tour of Morocco in 2011 with "Your Morocco Tour " http://www.your-morocco-tour.com/
and we very much enjoyed the trip.
Our guide was Brahim Babbaia who was excellent. He is a Berber and specializes in camel tours. I recommend him.
For contact you can try [email protected] or phone 00212 677 805 323 He does freelancing as well as working with companies.

We stayed in Riads in those cities:
Rabat - Riad Kalaa http://riadkalaa.com/en/ excellent.
Fez - Riad Tafilalet http://www.tafilalettours.com/en/riad-fes-morocco/ very good to excellent.
Marrakech- Riad Reves d'Orient http://riad-reves-orient.com/
excellent, they offer dance shows & massage too.
all have roof top lounges, are central & have good food.

Bon Voyage,
Christo

If you read through some of the posts that are about a year old there are two or three that pop up regularly that seem to be good. There are probably more good ones than bad ones, but definitely get a real reference or two from someone in another country. Some of the vehicles I saw were horrific, and without A/C! My choices came down to two based on price -- I can't remember the name of the one I didn't use, but if you search for Lahcen you should find it. Their price was originally higher, but when I told them the other price I got, they agreed to meet it. I think they are probably quite good. I used desert majesty. Having mentioned this name some self-appointed G*d here will probably flag my post, saying that they are toutes -- all I can tell you is that I was a woman traveling alone and my experience was fabulous. As I mentioned in another post I got hurt my first day, and everyone there did everything they could to change my itinerary and tours etc to accommodate my injury. They also willingly changed my itinerary to accommodate some of my changed interests. My meeting with Bedoins was personal and fascinating (I brought balls and pens and nice smelling soap for the women). The guide personally supervised the places we ate to make sure that food was the freshest and safe. If I ever were lucky enough to go back, I would definitely use them again.

Fez was wonderful, and a better shopping stop than Marrakech ended up being. The desert and camels in Merzouga were a real high point. The sand dunes really look just like in the movies, and as soon as you go beyond one, the world is essentially as it was in the time of Moses. Even the sand storm was a fabulous experience. (Camels don't get lost lol)

Having lived in Colorado, the High Atlas was less of a big deal for me, but staying in an old kasbah was also a great experience.

Please remember that people like the driver and the receptionists and waiters make around $400 a MONTH. They depend on your tips to live. If the driver takes you to his home, which many do, it will open your eyes to their life.

I also found that learning just to say good morning and good evening in Darija (moroccan arabic -- you can find it on youtube) brought broad smiles and a personalization to experiences with everyone from shopkeepers to people waiting for a bus.

You're not going someplace with fancy Western comforts, but you are going someplace exotic and remarkably safe and welcoming.

This is so much Confusing.

We went with Experience it tours. 4 adults private car and driver. Had a good time. Really enjoyed the camels.

http://www.experienceittours.com/

About tipping. Ask about appropriate amounts as overtipping doesn't help anyone.

Thank you for sharing your advice and experiences. For those of you who went on camel treks in the Sahara, how many nights did you stay out? I've read that it is a long drive from either Fez or Marrakesh to do this.

We drove from Marrakech, spent one night in Ouazarzate on our way. Arrived in Merzouga mid afternoon and went on the camel ride and spent that night in the desert. We then spent another night in Merzouga before leaving the next morning for Fez.

We did 1 night on the camel trek.
From Fez it was a half day drive to where we started in Merzouga. To Marrakech it is further, about 1.5 days drive.
I am sure there are other places where you might do a camel trek, suggest you contact the companies above.
Christo

I just finished planning a trip to Morocco with Adventures-Abroad out of Canada and I want to pass this along because it has been a very lovely experience. They are efficient and knowledgeable and were able to give me just what I wanted at a reasonable price. I will go in November so I will let you know then if it all went well...............so far, it has been very good. Losey

We used Hassan Mouhou from Morocco Excursions Company - www.Morococ-Excursion.com for our Morocco tour, our trip includs the imperial cities and sahara desert .

We used Hassan Mouhou from Morocco Excursions Company - www.Morocco-Excursion.com for our Morocco tour, our trip includs the imperial cities and sahara desert .