zbjoon

Hi,

I would like to travel to Morocco end of August, beginning of Sept. I am a female travelling alone and I have been advised to look into joining a tour.

I do not like to travel with tours and have always travelled on my own.

I have contacted one tour company, Cosmos.
Has any of you had travelled with Cosmos?

Can you please recommend any other tour company?

Any tips and info is appreciated.

Lia

I have not been to Morocco yet but have been looking at several tour companies. I'm a fairly experienced traveller and prefer to go on my own as well, but have been told that it's probably not a great idea for a woman to travel solo in Morocco. I would recommend that you look at tour companies who specialize in Morocco such as Isram (went to Turkey with them and it was great!), Heritage Tours, Sunnyland Tours or Y'alla. Most tour operators offer an "Imperial Cities" package for the major cities - Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat, Casablanca - plus more extensive tours into the Atlas mountains, Todra Gorge or coastal region - Essouria, Safi, Agadir. If you find something, please do post it!

Lia

I forgot to add a few others!

Homeric Tours
General Tours (has some interesting independent tours)

Look at www.affordabletours.com for more information on these.

zbjoon

Hi Lia,

Thanks for the pointers. I will do a research on them. I am hoping to find a tour company that operates smaller groups and I do not end up with a rushed trip through sites and else.

Will post when I decided on one.

Lia

Also take a look at Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). I think they guarantee no more than 16 in a group:
http://www.oattravel.com/gcc/general...aspx?oid=48221

kcapuani

I took a tour of Morocco through Globus (also owns Cosmos). I debated over which tour to take because both are basically the same although I chose Globus because the hotel selections were more upscale. The trip was somewhat rushed but, at the same time, I am the type of traveler that likes to see as much as possible in each country I visit. There were approximately 30 people on the tour with me. We had ample free time in Marrakesh and Fez. My only disappointment was that we did not stop at the film studio outside of Ouazarzate. Also, we rushed through Meknes and Rabat, but I knew very little about these cities and didn't mind. In the end, I was glad that I went with a tour company. I normally plan my trips on my own, but Morocco was one country were I felt "safer" with a group.

zbjoon

I am interested in land only.

I called both gap and oattravel today. Oattravel does not have land-only. It is a combination of land and air.

I also called gap and they offer 3 tours to Morocco. They have 15 and 8 day tours and they said they do not put more than 16 people in a tour which suits me.

I also called Heritage tours and they offer customized tours. In the case of a solo traveller, you travel with a guide. I am not sure if I am comfortable to travel alone with a guide. That is just me but I might end up doing that if cannot find a tour I like.

I also called Cosmos and looked over their tour. My impression was the same that it might be a bit rushed. I am finding out so far that all the tour companies go through Rabat, Casablance, Fez, Marrakesh and some locations in between within 13-15 days including the flying time from USA in my case. This seems awful lot to cover for the amount of time.

Lia

Try these - each offers a land only tour:

http://www.generaltours.com/display_...i?tour_seq=721

http://www.marrakeshvoyage.com/Trips.html

http://www.djoserusa.com/www/bestemm...estemming=0007

zbjoon

kcapuani, thanks for the input on Cosmos/Globus. I somehow did not notice your post earlier. I have looked into these tour companies as well. The Globus tours for Morocco seemed to have been cancelled and Cosmos is available.

I am having a hard time find a tour company that I like fully. After looking ath their itenaries, it seems that each one of them lacks some aspect and I need to compromise.

Has anyone heard of a company named General Tours out of NH?

ChristineC

Hi zbjoon,
We took general Tours 10 Day Egypt tour March 19-28. Since my husband and I were the only ones who signed up for this time frame we had our own guide in Cairo for 2 days.
When we boarded our Nile cruise ship. we were in a group of 14 English speaking people.
We were very pleased with General. The guides throughout Egypt were great.
Christine

zbjoon

ChristineC - This is a good sign. Also the travel agent who recommended them pointed to some excellent approval ratings General Tours have.

I am somehow having a hard time nailing down a tour company for Morocco. I know of many companies thanks to this forum but have not come across anyone that has taken the tours I am considering.

travelaw

I took a Morocco tour in April with a friend (both of us are women) with Cosmos -- and I highly recommend it. We had a great group -- mostly Brits, a few Aussies, a Kiwi and a few Americans. If you go with Cosmos you should check to see when Graham (Aziz is his MoOroccan name -- he is British, but lives in Marrakech) is the tour director -- he is absolutely fabulous -- his balance is perfect -- talks enough to give you a thorough history, but doesn't overwhelm you -- has fun stories and a great personality. All our needs met beyond expectations. The hotels were fine -- one or two could have been classier -- but most were terrific -- you spend little time in the hotels anyway. We did most of the optional tours -- and thought each one was worth the money. Overall, I would say that the Cosmos tour is an excellent value. You won't regret taking it.