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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: stars 4 half
Total Number of reviews: 1,443

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Imperial Cities and Desert (MR)
Sand Sea Of Merzouga/peter EshelbyMore Photos
  • Comfort: Standard Tooltip
  • Tour Pace: Moderate Tooltip
  • Classic Explore
  • Discovery
15 days land only visiting Morocco
  • from CA$980 Land only *
  • * Prices based on 2013/14 Standard Itinerary.
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Reviews

What was the highlight or most memorable moment of your tour?

Aziz helped me make a Moroccan snowman using the snow we brought down in my cashmere shawl from the Atlas Mountains in Imlil. Very fun for a homesick Canadian, although the Brits were giving me some evils...

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How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Aziz was great. He couldn't do enough to make sure everyone was well cared for and having a good time. He was professional and caring - a great tour leader!

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Pack for extremes in temperature. A winter coat and wooly hat will not be out of place in the mountains!

Do you have anything else to add?

Thank you for a memorable, human experience.

Suzanne 07 Mar 2013 10

What was the highlight or most memorable moment of your tour?

The rich green farm land in the North, the Desert Camp and Camel ride, Todra Gorge and having Lunch in the Fish Market in Essaouira.

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How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Our Tour Leader was very good, there when needed but gave you enough idea's to go and explore.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

We did our own flights and had extra days in Marraketch to visit the sites not covered by Explore.Then took the Train up to Casablanca to join the Tour. This gave us a chance to visit Hassan 11 Mosque.

Do you have anything else to add?

To sum it up, we would have washed our clothes and gone back next  day!!

Julian Simmonds 01 Feb 2013 10

What was the highlight or most memorable moment of your tour?

The highlight would have to be the camel trek into the desert, whcih was an amazing experience.

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How was your Explore Tour Leader?

"Mohamed was a fantastic tour leader - knowlegable, calm and a good sense of humour!
He still took time to look after us even when his first baby was born on the last day of our trip."

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

"This is a wonderful varied trip but do be prepared for some long travelling days.
Also, pack plenty of immodium, as most of the group had troubles in that direction."

Do you have anything else to add?

"I thought about doing this trip for many years and I'm so pleased I finally did.
It was a wonderful trip with so much to see, and surpassed all my expectations."

Branwen 09 Nov 2012 10

What was the highlight or most memorable moment of your tour?

The hotel bar at Meknes

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How was your Explore Tour Leader?

Very impressive

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

Embrace the moments

Do you have anything else to add?

You done good.

John George 18 Jun 2012 10
An excellent tour; highly recommended. If possible arrive early enough to have time in Casablanca before the tour starts. We had 3 great days in Casablanca by ourselves (recommend the Hotel Amoud) before joining Explore. The Explore accommodations were good for a "budget" tour; had two "iffy" places but we changed rooms. Be prepared for gastro problems; most of our group came down with something. Although antibiotics can be purchased at Pharmacies in Morocco, we would recommend that you take some along with. Don't let this warning put you off taking the trip, just be prepared! Highlights were many: The Todra Gorge hike, the camel ride/Berber tent camp (excellent), Volubilis ruins, the granaries/stables at Meknes. the souks of Fes and Marrakech, wonderful Essaouira. The 4 wheel drive desert trip (optional) was OK but you don't really take on any sizeable dunes (as we had expected). The Explore leader Ali was excellent and the many local guides added that "local flavour" and knowledge to our experiences. Be prepared for a "busy" tour; fitting as much as possible into the day. Loved it! (MR - 27th March 2011)
R & P 14 Jun 2011
An amazing tour which covered so many aspects of Morocco.  The train trip was brilliant and very relaxed.  We were lucky in having lovely weather with only one morning of rain which didn't affect us at all.   However by the time we arrived in Marrakesch it was 42 degrees and very uncomfortable on the walking tour in the afternoon.   If you don't like too much heat then think carefully what time of year to visit.   When I was downloading my photographs it really made me stop and think how much we had seen and experienced.   Ali our guide was lovely and so helpful and knowledgable.   Some of the hotels could do with some refurbishment, particularly the one in Marrakesch.   The hotel in Essaouira was in a brilliant location but shame it didn't have a cool garden to escape the heat.  However, because we didn't stay anywhere very long it wasn't too much of a problem.   All in all a beautiful country with some amazing sights and sounds.  My highlight was the 4x4 desert drive in a Landrover, just brilliant.   My downside was 60% of the group, inluding me, suffered with a gastric problem at one time or another so do be really really careful with hygiene, etc, we all thought we had been, but still got caught out.   Did not spoil the trip.   Would thoroughly recommend but saddened to hear of the explosion in Marrakesch which will probably put some people off travelling to Morocco. (MR - 27th March 2011)
Gina 17 May 2011
Great overview of the entire Country. We saw the main cities, smaller towns & Desert. Being an adventuresome traveller, I thought this was a slow, too relaxed trip.  But everyone else seemed to be happy. I think that since its such an easy, quick flight from UK, many on this tour are happy to just relax and see whatever the guide tells them.  My favorite meals were ones that I did on my own, although most of the group meals were very delicious, but more touristy than I might have liked.  It was a great way to see the main sites of Morocco, but if you want get a bit off the beaten path, you will have to ditch the group. I skipped out on many of the organized visits to shops, which occured daily.  But Fes, Marrakesh, Ait ben Haddou, & Essouira, are amazing places, as were all the other stops in between. (MR - 23rd October 2010)
H 11 Feb 2011

There were so many highlights on our trip to Morocco and so much to do and take in. It was a great experience with a good group of fellow travellers. What ever our guide Ali suggested, we all said “yes”. He was an excellent guide with a great sense of humour and kept the show on the road without any hitches. We were impressed with our bus driver and his assistant as we travelled 2,600km over the two weeks.

We had lovely weather without a cloud in the sky, which enabled us to see all the sights in their full glory. Stunning sun sets in the desert at Merzouga and from the fortified Berber village restored by UNESCO at Ait Benhaddou. We loved the food and Ali arranged a first EXPLORE visit to a Berber family house for a lunch of beef and vegetable tajines with whey as an accompaniment. We really enjoyed our free day in Essaouira spending nearly all morning watching the fishing boats and fish being landed and loaded into lorries with local ladies carrying baskets to gather up the fish that escaped the fish boxes. (MR - 24th October 2010)

Jane and Martin Eshelby 01 Dec 2010

Trip highlights were the camel ride to watch the sunset (very uncomfortable and a bit scary but magical and serene at the same time!) and the option of camping out in a Berber-style tent in the desert where we enjoyed local singing accompanied by a variety of drums (including our guide who had a hidden talent!) by the campfire and watched shooting stars in the night sky.

Watching the fishermen land their catches in the port of Essaouira (and smelling how fresh it was!) and then eating the best seafood in Morocco was another great experience.  Unexpectedly on arrival in Casablanca we had 3 days of torrential rain (the guidebooks didn't mention that!) - it felt at bit like home from home and not what you expect in a desert country!

This trip was a great way to experience a culture that was completely different to my own.  I only wish I'd brushed up on my French prior to departure as I hadn't appreciated that it was the language spoken most after Arabic - however its amazing how much you can remember from school (no matter how long ago that was!) and how you can still manage to communicate. (MR -10th October 2010)

Jennifer Martin 18 Nov 2010
This was an incredibly varied trip - from ornately carved mosques, to flying goats, to a desert sandstorm. We had a series of excellent local guides and a brilliant tour leader from whom we learned so much about Islam and Berber culture. Towards the end of the trip it was good to have a break from the hurley burley of travelling by spending two nights in Essouira where five of us went to a hammam in the suburbs used by local people (including our shy driver) - then on to Marrakesh for full-on markets, monkeys and minarets. (MR -16th May 2010)
R&J C 12 Nov 2010
The enormous variety of cultural experiences on offer was wonderful, from the  visits to  cities such as Fes, Marrakech and  the Roman city of  Volubilis, to a Hamman, the Kasbahs and  Medinas . All were very well supported by keen ,informative guides. Particularly memorable elements were the desert experiences (camel ride, camping)  and theTodra gorge walk (and meeting with a Berber family) , the Hammam and the fish lunch in  the Essaouira  market organised by Ali, our very helpful and friendly tour leader. It was good to experience  a range of transport ( train, tour bus, - and camel !). and the  scenery (mountains, deserts and oases was a constant delight. The possibilitiies for eating were varied and all was very reasonably priced. The co-existence of the modern and the traditional, the Islamic and the French colonial elements was fascinating as was evidence of the colonial past. If you are in two minds about taking up any of the extra trips, my advice would be to go for them: they all proved very memorable aspects of the trip. (MR - 16th May 2010)
R.F.C 14 Oct 2010

First time we had been on an organised tour with other people and first time for me out of Europe. Brilliant. Excellent tour guide- Youssef and excellent local guides driver and assistant. Highlights include Fes,, sunset in Sahara, "Berber barbecue", agricultural market, visiting places like women's argon cooperative and sheltered workshop for disabled, going walkabout with guide in places we would not have ventured on our own. Group generally worked very well with good mix of nationalities and ages couples/ singles.  Advice-ask for mint tea without sugar! Glad we read up a bit before and during the trip- Rough Guide to Morocco as recommended by Explore but also read and watched "Sheltering Sky" and read some other Moroccan based or written books.  So good -off on another Explore trip in 3 weeks. (MR- 31st May 2009)

H.M.C 22 Sep 2010
A very good trip to do if you are going to Morocco for the first time - it covers all the obvious cities plus the desert, Atlas Mountains and kasbars. The weather was nice at that time (late March/early April) and the accommodation was generally good. We also had a lovely guide. I can't think of anything special you need to take - just pack all the usual things you would for a hot Explore trip. (MR- 28th March 2010)
Patrick Norwood 21 Sep 2010
The night and days spent in the desert - 4x4 ride into the desert and visiting a Berber home, communicating with a Berber mother and her children; the camel ride into the high dunes to watch the sunset;  the night spent in the desert with a meal, singing and dancing around the campfire with Berber musicians and then rising to watch sunrise.  The visits to many cities - Fez sticks in the mind (keep within sight of your guide  because one alleyway looks like any other!) Don't forget the imodium and DO look after your passport - one of our group thought it was safely stored but it wasn't beyond being stolen in an open air town market. Travel lightly so you have room for all those silk scarves you will be tempted to purchase. (MR- 1st November 2009)
Ann & Roland Masset 20 Sep 2010
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