Morocco’s Ancient Cities & Kasbahs Reviews

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Well managed tour by Great Rail Journeys capturing the essence of Morocco in 10 days. Impossible to see everything but the trip was well organised and aimed to give us an insight into the history and culture of Morrocco and it's people.

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Very nice trip. Learned a lot about Morocco. Tipping for tours that are part of the trip should be paid by GRJ and not by whip round of the tour oarticipants.

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This is a full on tour on the go every day with a lot of walking on some days.It is a good way to see all aspects of Morocco with trips to 4 main cities.The highlight is staying in a tent in the Sahara and a camel ride in the dunes.Our local guide was difficult to understand so a lot of information was lost.Hotels were first class and our group of 24 was alot of fun

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It was a wonderful way to see a country so full of contrasts. From cities to mountain areas and the Sahara. An incredible experience in capable and well-organised hands.

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Great introduction to the country. Generally hotel standard was good. Local guide was a bit disorganised at times. Too many visits to local artisans where the pressure was to shop.

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In general this holiday offered an excellent insight into many parts of life in Morocco, and was an enjoyable experience. Comprehensive overview of Morocco, including cities and towns, and desert and Atlas Mountains. Not really a train holiday, involving only two shortish rail journeys, but use of coach for whole holiday was a more than adequate alternative, and the bus driver was brilliant and went well beyond his remit. Walking tours enabled an in-depth look at life in the country, though at times were a bit frantic. With a large group of mainly older people, it was sometimes difficult to stay together, and the group had to travel at the pace of the slowest person, in some cases leading to loss of contact with the local guide. The hotels were generally very good, and at the upper end of the market, except for one or two last minute alterations. The trip to the desert, including the customary camel ride over the dunes and accommodation in posh tents, was the highlight of my tour, together with the scenic rides through the Atlas Mountains. The tour leader, Paul was excellent, and coped with the problems highlighted below with sympathy and efficiency. The main reason why five stars were not awarded was that a large proportion of guests were struck down with food poisoning towards the end of the holiday, caused by exposure to infected food, probably salad washed in unclean water at midday meals. In some cases, and certainly in my case, this illness lasted longer than the duration of the holiday. This was not necessarily the fault of GRJ, though guests would have benefitted from a choice of menu, so as to avoid potentially infected food. GRJ have taken this issue seriously and are investigating the reasons for this problem (as yet unresolved). I would recommend this holiday, with the proviso that better attempts should be made to avoid the risk of substandard food preparation particularly at lunchtime venues, maybe by better inspection of relevant venues.

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This was an excellent holiday with a truly magical experience at the desert camp. It was an adventure seeing a different country and culture. The choice of October meant it was not too hot for us pale-skinned Europeans, except for one day at 37 C. The group leadership was excellent. A minus feature was that two of the days were over-extended and tiring, leading to late eating, but overall very good.

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Full on brilliant tour, well led by tour manager and guides. The night in the desert with 4*4's and camel rides to sunset in the dunes was especially freat

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2 hotels are very bad and cannot be classified as a 3 stars hotel.

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A well organised itinerary giving you experience of all aspects of Moroccan life, the hotels were great and the Tour Manager was very good. However, be prepared for long coach journeys!

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Great experience , saw a good bit of Morocco

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I had an amazing experience. The best moment was riding a camel in the Sahara Desert and camping (more like extreme glamping!) I loved visiting the Medinas and Kasbahs and of course riding the Marrakech Express to Casablanca! It can’t get much better than that. The journey through the High Atlas Mountains was jaw dropping. A busy and hectic trip so don’t expect too much downtime.

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Very disappointing

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Cities nice and clean, roads in good order, hotels good, food not that good, camel ride excellent. Down side two days we had 8 hour couch journey's and for those who had tummy trouble, about 9, there was no toilet on the coach. Tour manager and guide good

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The overall itinerary was fantastic but the ground arrangements were chaotic. Great Rail Journeys and their agents were not well organised, one hotel was sub-standard and we lost time because he wrong train times had been booked. Based on this experience, we wouldn’t recommend GRJ.

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Wonderfully planned and executed tour of a very fascinating country.

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A full-on tour around Morocco! Arriving in Marrakech we were met at the airport and driven to our hotel for the next two nights stay promptly and efficiently. Down-side was the hotel we had been changed to at the last minute. It was nowhere near the same standard as the one we were supposed to stay at, a direct comparison being possible as we stayed in the correct hotel for our last night, and the difference was marked. For the following 9 days we were taken by a combination of train and coach, (the bus plus driver being dedicated to us for the duration), and all travel passed without any hitches, one exception being stood around at a train staion, twice, for the convenience of being met by the coach at the end of the line. We could have done something else in the few hours we wasted in a sterile train shed. However, the coach was comfortable and the driver Hassan, was great. The standard of driving in Morocco leaves much to be desired, in fact, it's downright dangerous at times, but Hassan handle the coach with panache, leaving us all feeling safe in his capable hands, ( although we did get clipped joining a motorway and almost lost a wing mirror, but not his fault!) The places we visited were varied and all equally fascinating in their own individual ways, and there was never a dull moment on the whole trip. The tour group, consisting of circa 28 people was a good mix of personalities and everyone got on well. Our local tour guide, Hussain, was knowledgable being a Moroccan himself, and spoke excellent English as he now lives in the USA. He was also adept at sorting out any issues arising, as they inevitably do, on a day to day basis thus helping the flow of the whole trip. To mention a few negatives on the trip, one would be the night out to see the Belly Dancers in Marrakech. The food was not good, and the service wanting, but being a tourist trap personally I wasn't entirely surprised. We would have preferred a nice traditional meal out in a decent restaurant, and forget the Belly Dancers, (who weren't locals anyway!), and I believe most of the group would probably agree. Another negative for my Wife and I personally, besides the last minute hotel change in Marrakech. was the change of flight. We had specifically asked before we booked, if the flights would be on British Airways. This, we were assured by yourselves, was indeed the case and hence we went ahead and booked the holiday, only to be told shortly afterwards that the flights had changed and we were now travelling via Jet 2, not British Airways. After complaining to your office we were told we could still fly British airways, as long as WE paid the difference! Being our first time with your company this was not an endearing way to promote return business, and still leaves a sour taste in the mouth, to the point where my Wife was reticent to travel with you at all. We may well have had our first aand last trip with you due mainly to this issue. Having said that, the Jet 2 flight was comfortable and couldn't really be faulted, except for the inevitable time changes these budget airlines suffer from, on both outbound and inbound flights. Another negative affecting the whole group was the less than best standard of hotels in the interior of the country, with the night in "tents" in the desert being the standout exception, ( everyone said we should have staye two nights there, not just the one). However, both my Wife and I, having lived in the Middle East for 16+ years are all too familiar with the standards of hotels, indeed any type of service, once away from the more popular commercial centres and larger cities. On reflection we may well have had the best that was available in the places we stayed, the exception being in Quarzazate where the better hotel was across the street from us, and even had the same name! We had obviously been lodged in the second class section of that particular hotel. Other members of our group, not having had our experience of the Middle East, were anything but impressed, and some tempers flared on one or two ocassions. Your appointed tour Manager, Ian Fennel, was a polite and accomodating man, giving up his own room on more than one ocassion to placate a disgruntled couple who's rooms were not upto par, but he was definitely playing second fiddle to Hussain. This was in part due to his lack of Arabic, (although the language, when spoken by a local to a local, was anything but high Arabic, rather a mix of local slang, French and Arabic), and also perhaps his lack of understanding of the Arabic way of life? Unless you have lived in such countries, a lot that goes on is sometimes difficult to understand fully, and sometimes completely incomprehensible! Suffice to say he will probably improve with a few more trips under his belt, but I would recomend Arabic lessons to at least a rudementary level. When the locals realised you could speak a little Arabic, situations immediatley changed, usually for the better! On conclusion, I personally enjoyed the trip overall, my Wife did to a point, but, taking into consideration your selling point of 4 to 5 star Hotel accomodation throuughout, the trip was not as advertised. The first stop in Marrakech was blighted by a very large IT conference being hosted on the same two days we were there, which I'm sure was the reason for the change. My understanding is that the wholwe trip was sub-contracted to a local Morrocan company and that you may well have been mis-sold hotels and standards yourselves. To give control of a trip like this however, sold on your name, but execute by a company that well not be that well known to you is commercial suicide unless you send one of your own on a trip to sample it for yourselves. Due mainly to the standard of food and hotels we sampled, we were not impressed and would not do this trip again. Some of the group said this was the worst trip they had had with your company, having had several very good ones in the past. Unfortunately for you, this was our first. Regards, G & Y Pollard

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Having travelled with GRJ 9 times, this was our least rewarding trip. We felt there were far too many 'retail experiences' and the time spent travelling did not always merit the 'highlight' at the end. Having said that, we did enjoy the trip, especially the overnight stay at Sandy Tents in the Sahara.

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Excellent itinerary. Well organised. Very good value for money.. Contrasts within Morocco amazing.

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Fantastic ! The tour included many interesting aspects of Morocco from its cities with wonderful architecture ,lively souks, and then into the countryside . On one day we went from sunrise in the Sahara desert to snow on the high Atlas Mountains