Signature Tour of Morocco: Adventure, Luxury and History

My Zicasso inquiry generated two tour company bids that offered competing itineraries for a tour of Morocco as a graduation present for our daughter.  We were all vaxed so I saw this as an opportunity to travel with no tourists in a country that was one of the best in the world at managing Covid.  The tour and descriptions I received from our travel planner at the tour company were very detailed and following conversations on the phone with both tour groups my decision to choose my planner was an easy one.  The call was passionate and personal and he understood our extremely high expectations.  We had no expectations going in other than we were seeking adventure and wanted to get out of our comfort zones.  My planner was always punctual in responding to inquiries and offering insights from his personal experiences with our tour.  Reading reviews on Trip Advisor and making suggestions is something I do.  Trust me.  Just let the travel planner handle everything.  He personally has been to  every accommodation, tourist site and restaurant.  Don't stray in Morocco.  Just follow his plan and you will leave with life memories.  Our tour began in Casablanca where we were advised to not spend much time except to see the Hassan Mosque.  Sites were sporadically open and closed throughout our stay with no advance notification.  The mosque was closed to us but it is certainly worth visiting.  We spent a perfect 1st night in Rabat in a very comfortable riad.  Eat at the riad at least once as the food was extraordinary and relatively inexpensive.  There were usually Moroccan menus and French menus.  We dined like kings and queens.  We then made our way to Fes with requested stops at a winery and olive oil mill.  The wine tasting lunch was a Relais and Chateaux that was every bit as good as Napa.  Fes was another elaborate palace with planned guided excursions to the sights as well as a ceramics workshop and the Medina and its world famous tannery.  We had time to rest at the property pool sipping on Spritz's and Casablanca beer.  We headed next to the desert on a long 7 hour drive up over and through the Atlas mountains ending in a transfer to 4x4's and then camels for a one hour ride to a carpet atop a sand dune to view the setting sun.  Along the way there were fresh cherries, wild monkeys, gorges, mountains, high altitude desert and canyons that reminded us of Arizona and Utah.  We spent an unforgettable night in luxury tents under the stars.  It was magic.  We sand boarded some dunes near the tents in the morning and departed after breakfast.  A childhood dream realized.  Next we drove to an area where there were homes built of mud.  Our accommodations were adjacent to a melting mud castle built centuries ago.  We explored the area in 4 wheel ATV's with our hosts.  Throughout the trip there were only 2 or 3 other rooms occupied.  We were the only Americans and the tourist sights were EMPTY!  Our next stop was the high Atlas mountains outside of Marrakesh to a Kasbah formerly owned by Richard Branson.  It was a great rest stop for 2 nights as we were moving pretty fast.  After breakfast on our first day I asked the GM if he could bring a camel to my daughter's room.  15 minutes later there was a camel outside her room.  Baths and massages at the Kasbah were delightful.  At every property the GM introduced themselves and rolled out the red carpet to us.  Next was Marrakesh with tours of the YSL gardens, Secret Garden, lunches on rooftops, tours of spectacular hotel properties, food tour of the Medina, eating snails from a street cart, buying rugs, clothes, spices, souvenirs and feasting on beautiful food in beautiful places.  Our 2 nights were unforgettable.  5 sense sensory overload 24/7.  Our last night was back to the coast at the hotel south of Casablanca.  I was advised by our planner to enjoy the best oysters I've ever eaten.  Again, his advice was spot on.  We feasted on oysters, clams, razor clams, spider crab and the sweetest sea urchin I've ever eaten.  The chefs specialty of home made linguine with Moroccan spices and local blue lobster was one of the best meals of our lives.  The Moroccan wines were enjoyable every night and every bit as good as American and French wines with much better value.  The baked Alaska was flambe table side to end a most incredible journey.  The GM approached us at dinner and offered a complimentary boat tour of the tidal salt water lagoon with breakfast on the boat prior to our departure.  It was a great way to end a breath taking tour of an amazing country and amazing people.  Our guides and driver became family.  The Moroccan people were so friendly.  We never felt we were in danger.  We certainly felt uncomfortable at times especially around great poverty but that was expected.  The travel planner was in touch with our guides on an almost daily basis.  We experienced a family event during our tour and our planner was all over it making adjustments and notifying everyone in advance of the situation.  I feel like I've become my planners' new friend and I cant wait for him to plan our tour of Turkey!  I can't say enough good things about our experience! 

Our trip to Morocco was incredible! Thanks to the expert planning and guidance of Marcus from the travel agency, we explored Marrakech, Berber villages in the High Atlas Mountains and the dunes of the desert. Marcus was super friendly, communicative and was incredibly knowledgeable about the country, culture and logistics of travel in Morocco. Our guide and now friend made an already amazing trip even better. He was  informative, flexible and very fun. We had a fantastic driver in Foued, super nice and a very professional. Amazing experience overall!!

Working with this travel agency was the most pleasant experience I've ever had in travel. He was knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating.

The trip was amazing. We had stops in: 

Festhe Sahara - Desert Luxury CampSkoura the High Atlas mountains MarrakeshCasablanca

Each location was better than the next.

And we received free upgrades in most locations.

Thank you for everything! I will look forward to using you again on another trip

Marrakesh is such a beautiful and fascinating city and surrounding area, and we felt safe and supported by our driver and guide throughout our visit. We loved our hotel in Marrakesh, a charming mid-size hotel with gorgeous grounds and attentive, friendly service. The food at this hotel was also delicious. Our in-country lead contact, Leila, was always available and was especially helpful when our luggage lagged our arrival in Morocco by two days! So was Marcus from the US-based travel company.Our driver was a special highlight. He was charming, genuine, and always available to adapt to our dynamic agenda. With his language skill and personality, we hope he becomes a lead tour guide at some point.Our tour guide excelled as an escort and facilitator; he knew someone everywhere we went and always new how to finesse things on our behalf. We wish he had stronger English knowledge (admittedly his 4th-best among his impressive multilingual portfolio), and that he were better equipped to teach us about the destinations he toured us through and answer our many questions about culture, history, economy, and specific sites. Finally, we wished he'd done a better job of avoiding discussion of gender, sexuality and religion or demonstrating more sensitivity to his traveling audience on those topics. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed our time with him and quickly adopted the name Omar Family for our group.Thank you for helping us have such a great trip!