just got back from 10 days in Morocco and I genuinely cannot stop thinking about it so figured I'd write the trip report I wish I had when I was planning this
background: my wife and I are late 30s, Texas, done group tours before and absolutely hated them. never doing that again. spent probably three weeks comparing operators before we landed on MoroccoPrivate.Tours. came out to $4,800 per person covering everything on the ground, transport, hotels, guide, all activities. no surprise charges after. here's exactly how it went:
Day 1 flew into Casablanca, private car straight to Marrakech. checked into a riad in the medina, an actual 16th century merchant house with a courtyard, incredible tilework, rooftop with Atlas Mountain views.
Days 2-3 Marrakech our guide had us in the souks before 9am. completely different experience from anything I'd seen online. quiet, beautiful morning light, no one hustling us when he is with us. did a leather tannery visit with a local family, not the tourist version, like actually met the people who do this for a living. rooftop lunch overlooking Jemaa el-Fna, cooking class that evening where we made bastilla from scratch. day 3 Majorelle Garden early, Bahia Palace. no itinerary to keep up with, no headcount, just us.
Days 4-5 Atlas Mountains and Ait Benhaddou private 4x4 over the Tizi n'Tichka pass. our guide stopped at a Berber village that doesnt appear in any itinerary I came across, basically just knew someone there. Ait Benhaddou we hit right after sunrise and had the upper ksar stayed in a kasbah hotel built into the hillside, woke up to complete silence.
Days 6-8 Sahara, Merzouga and Erg Chebbi I'll be honest I was skeptical about this part. glamping in the desert always sounds better in the brochure. I was completely wrong. camel trek in at sunset, camp had proper beds with real linens, a private bathroom tent, Berber musicians by the fire. woke up at 4:30am and climbed the tallest dune alone to watch the sunrise with literally no one else around. day 7 was a full desert day, sandboarding, visiting nomadic families, watching the dune shapes shift as the light changed.
Days 9-10 Draa Valley and Ouarzazate: 150km of palmeries and kasbahs and old fortified villages and almost no tourists. stopped at an argan cooperative run entirely by women from the area. Ouarzazate had the Atlas Film Studios which my husband was obsessed with, Game of Thrones, Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia all shot there.
total was $9,600 for two people. private vehicle the entire time, all accommodation, every meal, all entrance fees, one guide from day one to day ten.
At Ait Benhaddou we spent almost two hours on the upper ksar with basically no one else up there while tour groups cycled through below us. in the medina we could just wander without feeling like we were holding anyone up.
Morocco is incredible but it will eat you alive if you're not prepared. having someone handle every single logistical detail meant we just got to be there. best money we've spent on travel, not even close. happy to answer anything.