Destinations

Morocco

Tailor-made
Morocco
Holidays

Our truly bespoke trips are created especially for you by Emma and Rebecca, our passionate, well-travelled Morocco experts with first-hand knowledge and real experience.

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Overview

Morocco might be just a short hop from Europe, but it feels a world away. From the sense assault of Marrakesh’s souks to the stillness of the Sahara, our Morocco experts know just how to piece it all together. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all holiday, so we’ll get to know what matters most to you before designing something completely personal. Whether it’s cooking with locals, trekking with Berbers or soaking up the chaos of the medina, we’ll help you experience Morocco in a way that’s tailored for you.

Quirky Excursions

All Excursions In Morocco

Excursion

Exploring Chefchaouen

Ideas for your free time The small medina of Chefchaouen is great for wondering around and provides endless photo opportunities, with the surrounding mountains forming the perfect backdrop to the white-washed and blue-trimmed houses; it’s also a compact medina and there’s little chance of getting lost! Those mountains are also great for walks and treks: at the very least the short climb to the Spanish Mosque provides great views over the town. After exerting yourself, retire to the Plaza Uta al-Hammam to take a coffee and a pastry, and watch the world go by.

Excursion

Arabian Pastry Workshop

This one and a half hour workshop is perfect for foodies who have a sweet tooth. Enjoy a traditional mint tea ceremony and learn all about the well-kept secrets of Moroccan pastry and sweet making. This class will teach you how to cook or prepare an array of delicacies such as gazelle horns, ghoriba, crepe baghrir and msemen - some of which you may not be familiar with now but you'll certainly be finding yourself craving when you're in Morocco! Please note that this workshop starts at 15:30 and finishes around 17:00. We believe it is the perfect way to follow our traditional Essaouira cooking class.

Excursion

Dades Valley & Todra Gorge

Carving away from the main road and up into the mountains of the High Atlas, the Dades Gorge runs through knobbly, striated bands of rock that have been carved and smoothed by centuries of wind and water. Villages cling to steep hillsides, usually presided over by a crumbling kasbah, and palm plantations and orchards tenaciously colonise any flat space. As you press deeper into the gorge you reach the most famous section, a furiously zigzagging stretch of hairpins. For those with the time and a love of dramatic scenery, heading over here and linking up with the Todra Gorge to drive back down to the main road is incredibly rewarding. Rising in a similar part of the Atlas to the Dades, the Todra river carves its way out of the mountains via a spectacular gorge and then flows eastwards towards the Sahara. Near the Todra Gorge, the village of Tineghir is sculpted along the edge of the valley with views out over the plantations and fields of the valley floor; it’s a mixture of more modern buildings (still to an identifiably traditional design) and older kasbahs, a pleasing prospect. Tineghir is one of the better options for exploring the region and breaking the journey to and from the sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi.

Excursion

Jebel Toubkal Ascent (3 days)

Bagging Toubkal, the highest mountain in north Africa, is within the reach of most people of a reasonable level of fitness and with some experience of hiking and mountains. At 4,167m it is high enough that altitude sickness can be an issue for some, but for the majority it is still manageable as a 3-day trek. Your first day begins in Imlil, where you meet your guide, porters and mules. Setting off up towards the distantly-visible Toubkal, the road takes you to the village of Armoud, after which you take a zig-zagging mule path that hugs the side of a small, forested river valley up to Sidi Chamharouch. Here you’ll see the shrine of the eponymous saint, and shortly beyond the village is a small set of waterfalls, the ideal spot for your picnic lunch. You then follow another river valley for most of the afternoon, just beneath the ridgeline, before the outline of the Neltner Refuge becomes visible on the skyline. It takes another hour to reach it, where you’ll be glad to eat the great trail supper prepared by the cook and fall into your tent. Day two begins with an early start and you head out of camp to tackle the steep climb over streams and scrambling up rock faces into one of the cwms on the southern side of the summit. Depending on the time of year, it’s about now you’ll begin to encounter snow. You trek along the base of the cwm before putting in one last big effort to zigzag your way up the scree slope to the summit ridge. From here it’s a relatively short hike to the summit cone, from where your view stretches way across the desert valleys of the south almost towards the Sahara, and looking northwards over the High Atlas and the route you’ve just come. After enjoying the views and a restorative snack and drink, you begin the descent, covering the same trail to the village of Armoud, where you spend your second night camping. Your last day is a short one, requiring just a one hour walk back to Imlil where you meet your vehicle. Total 15hrs walk over the three days at a demanding level with fitness and mountain experience required.

Excursion

Ouirgane Valley Hike

On the fringes of the Toubkal National Park, the Valley of Ouirgane is a place of farmland and dramatic mountain backdrops, threaded through with the Ouirgane Dam reservoir. Your walk will take in all of these sights, including seeing traditional Berber farmers at work in this remarkably fertile hideaway. After a picnic lunch, as you make your way back downhill, you’ll also see an unusual piece of history, a Jewish quarter in the village of Anraz. 5hrs walking in total at easy / moderate grade.

Where You'll Stay

View all accommodation in Morocco

Accommodation

Desert Luxury Camp Chebbi

Away from the more frequented areas of the Erg Chebbi, our Sahara desert camp...

Accommodation

Inara Camp

Located in the Agafay Desert (not the sandy dunes you would imagine but a r...

Accommodation

Scarabeo Camp

Scarabeo was the very first camp to set up in the Agafay Stone Desert, making...

Accommodation

Oxygen Lodge

Nestled amidst the rugged beauty of the Agafay Stone Desert, 45 minutes outsi...

Accommodation

Les Deux Tours

Les Deux Tours takes the riad concept and resets it in a rural setting, with ...

Accommodation

Les Jardins De La Medina

Larger than a typical riad hotel, the garden that fills the central ...

Meet our Morocco experts

We offer tailor-made holidays to suit a wide range of tastes. Our experts Emma and Rebecca are dedicated to all things Morocco and are here to help you plan your perfect trip.

Emma Higgins

Destination Manager

Our Emma’s been exploring Morocco since 2010 and still finds something new every time. She’s equally at home hiking in the mountains or bargaining in the souks and knows exactly how to balance it all in one holiday.

Rebecca Dodds

Destination Manager

Rebecca’s spent years really getting to know Morocco, from trekking in the High Atlas to wandering Chefchaouen’s blue-washed lanes. And always making friends everywhere she goes. Your Morocco holiday is in safe hands with our Rebecca.

Where to visit in Morocco

Erfoud & The Erg Chebbi

Taghazout Bay

Agafay Stone Desert

Meknes

Asilah

Marrakesh Palmeraie

Marrakesh Medina

Zagora & The Draa Valley

Tangier

Ouarzazate & The Dades Valley

Taroudant & The Souss Valley

The High Atlas

Essaouira

El Jadida & Oualidia

Chefchaouen

Rabat

Fez

About Morocco

It’s safe to say you won’t find anywhere more exotic, exciting or alluring within a 4 hour flight from the UK than Morocco, and thanks to the proliferation of low-cost flights to destinations across Morocco, it’s becoming ever easier to explore this fascinating country.

Frequently Asked Questions

Geographically Morocco is defined by the Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas and Anti-Atlas Mountains that spread across the country like fingers of a giant hand. Historically they provided refuge for the indigenous Berber people in the face of numerous foreign invasions, and remain Berber heartlands to this day. The mountains divide the country climatically as well as culturally, preventing rainfall from Europe and the Atlantic reaching inland and south; so the south and east are generally dry and hot, with the north and west being a little cooler and wetter.

Any trip to the country is likely to involve a mixture of city experiences and more rural experiences, a contrast that Morocco does very well. Her greatest cities, like Fez and Marrakesh are maelstroms of intoxicating sights, sounds and smells, very medieval in feel, whilst once you get out into the more remote oases, valleys and mountains, houses hunker down against the weather and invaders, clustered in ksour (fortified villages) overlooking by kasbahs whose mud-brick walls are covered in intricate decoration. Along the coast, fortified ports boast battlements designed by French and Portuguese invaders, whilst much more modern constructions, like the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca are no less inspiring or photogenic because of their modernity.

Morocco is such a diverse country that it’s almost impossible to convey the breadth of experiences on offer, but we hope this website gives you some idea of why we think it’s such an incredible country, and well worth a week or two of your precious holiday time!

This is a slightly tricky question, as any trip covering more than just a couple of places is going to involve compromising on the weather somewhere. As a general rule, the coast and High Atlas Mountains are best in the summer: the coast because it will be warm enough to swim in the sea, and the High Atlas because the winters get remarkably cold and snowy. The far south, along the great oasis valleys to the Sahara, gets very hot in summer, so is really an autumn/winter/spring destination, whilst the north of the country is a little more year-round and moderate in its climate.

Given these contrasting weather patterns, most people opt for a spring or autumn trip, missing the worst of the summer heat where it’s an issue, but also avoiding the colder, wetter winters where they occur. However, that being said, Morocco can be remarkably romantic during the winter months. With cosy riads, roaring fireplaces and snow-capped mountains. So, as always, chat to us about when you’re thinking of travelling and we’ll help make sure you choose the best time for you.

Over the last decade or so, Moroccan cuisine has become more familiar to us here in Europe, and most people are familiar with its staples: the tajine, couscous and perhaps pastilla. Tajines, the classic one-pot stews that marry chicken and lamb with soft fruit (dates, apricots and prunes), and pastilla (a slightly more unusual sounding dish of pigeon in layers of filo pastry dusted with cinnamon and sugar) exhibit one of the defining features of Moroccan food, the marriage of sweet and savoury in one dish. The standard accompaniment of couscous is to Moroccans what rice is to the Chinese!

Tajines, couscous and pastilla are “special” meals, ones that Moroccans would normally have on feast days, or public holidays. The more day-to-day food is actually just as tasty and is best exemplified by the street vendors of the Jemaa El Fna square in Marrakesh: brochettes (kebabs, barbequed) with fresh bread and salad (although if you want something more “challenging”, like whole sheep’s head, that’s on offer too!). Perhaps one of the most pleasing dishes, certainly for freshness, is to be had in places like Essaouira, where fish, straight off the boats moored next to your harbour-side food stall, is paired with a simple salad of tomato, onion, cucumber and coriander – one of our personal favourites!

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the lengthy French presence in Morocco, there is a long-established wine industry. Granted, for most of its history, the industry has produced little of note, but that is changing, and vineyards, notably near Essaouira in the south and Meknes in the north, are producing better and better wines. They are certainly a cheaper accompaniment to your meals than imported wines, and increasingly, just as tasty too.

Our holidays are inclusive of flights to Morocco with scheduled carriers such as BA or Royal Air Maroc and will include full ATOL bonding. There are also a large number of low-cost flights operating from various UK airports to various cities in Morocco, including EasyJet and Ryanair. We can assist with booking scheduled carrier flights and some low-cost carriers, however for some routes and flight options these may be best booked directly with the airline. As always, we're here to offer the best advice to suit your requirements.

UK passport holders aren’t required to obtain a visa in advance for entry into Morocco for the purposes of tourism for up to three months – you’ll be granted a free visa on arrival.

To enter Morocco, your passport must have an ‘expiry date’ at least 3 months after the date you arrive, and please do make sure your passport isn’t damaged before travel.

Non-UK passport holders should check with their local Moroccan embassy or consulate.

As we’re not medical experts, we feel it's essential you contact your G.P. regarding vaccinations and the like for travel to Morocco. What follows are some suggestions, but they must be verified by a medical professional. In addition to such vaccinations as you’d routinely have for living in the UK, further boosters are recommended for Hepatitis A, Tetanus and Typhoid.

For more information, The Travel Doctor, is a great interactive website providing specialist health information for travellers plus customised lists of travel medicines, vaccines and malaria tablets for holiday makers, global adventure travellers and expeditions. However, as always, this is no match for the first-hand advice of a trained professional!

Perhaps more than almost any other country, your accommodation will be a defining feature of your trip, largely down to the phenomenon of riads. These are traditional townhouses, built around one or more internal courtyards, that have been converted into guesthouses and hotels. They are prolific in Marrakesh (there are 1,800 registered riads in Marrakesh and any number of unregistered ones), and increasingly numerous in other major cities.

As a rule, riads are superb and match nicely with our preference for smaller, owner-run and managed hotels, which tend to have more character and better service than larger, chain hotels. Needless to say with so many of them about it’s important to choose the right one, for quality and for the security of your money: that’s where we come in! If we choose to feature a riad or hotel, then we’ve visited it, we know exactly what it’s like and we know it’s a legit, trustworthy operation!

There is more to Moroccan accommodation than riads, and another trend of recent years has been the conversion of old kasbahs (or the building of new hotels but in a kasbah style). These are particularly numerous around Ouarzazate and Skoura in the Dades Valley. More simple, as a rule, than riads, they none-the-less have bags of character and are something to elevate a trip from the ordinary to the truly memorable.

The main languages of Morocco are Moroccan Arabic (which is quite distinctive from Classical Arabic and the Arabic spoken in much of the rest of the Arab world), Berber (there are a number of Berber dialects spoken, all being derived from the main Amazigh language), and French. English is not that widely spoken, certainly not outside of the cities, but most people will speak a few words; for getting along on a day-to-day basis, French is very helpful unless you happen to speak Moroccan Arabic or Amazigh!

We don’t recommend self-driving in Morocco, for a number of reasons. The first is that, when in the older cities, navigation through the medinas is extremely difficult, and driving conditions (very narrow streets clogged with pedestrians, donkey-carts, vendors) are tough. Outside the cities, driving standards are not especially high, and road conditions are difficult at times. For locals, who are used to driving in Morocco, it’s not a problem, but even pretty experienced drivers can find things very hard going – exactly the sort of stress you really don’t want on a holiday!

Morocco is a relatively conservative Islamic country, but is liberalising. If you’re visiting any religious monuments, it’s polite to cover arms and legs, especially for women, but almost everywhere else, shorts and t-shirts will be acceptable. Going topless, for men (except by the pool / beach) and women, would be considered very insensitive and should be avoided.

The currency in Morocco is the Moroccan Dirham (MAD). Credit and debit cards are accepted at most hotels, although not many restaurants or shops accept cards, so you’ll need to keep topped up with cash. ATMs are readily available in towns and cities of almost any size; sometimes they may not accept your card or be out of order, but there’s nearly always an alternative machine you can use – just ask your driver / guide to find one for you!

Haggling is an integral part of the shopping experience in Morocco, especially in the souqs. There’s no hard and fast rule as to what price you should eventually settle on given the initial price asked – but you should never accept that first price! Consider what it is you want to buy, decide how much you’d be happy to pay for it, and walk away if the vendor won’t come down to that price.

Tipping is ubiquitous and expected for almost any service rendered. As well as the usual 10-15% in restaurants and cafés, tips will be anticipated by porters, drivers, guides (official and unofficial), shoe shiners, vendors, and so on. Try to keep a stash of small Moroccan coins (exchange as many as you can early in the trip, enlist your driver / guide’s help in this) to give out for the inconsequential services. We’ll give you guidelines before you go on how much to tip drivers and guides before you go.

We believe travel should be a force for good. That means exploring with open eyes, treading lightly, and respecting the people and places that make the world so special. Our code of conduct isn’t about rules, it’s simply a guide to help you travel thoughtfully, ethically, and with care. Because every small choice makes a big difference.

If you choose to trust us with your holiday, we’ll send you a “Travel Facts” document when confirming your booking. This includes useful facts and travel advice, such as restaurant recommendations, reading tips, basic language information, cultural traditions, climate information, brief historical overviews, and more. We feel that this offers a useful insight and can help you interact with local residents in a more sensitive, well-informed manner. Please do try to take the time to read this information before your visit, it’s worth the time!
A number of the countries in which we operate holidays are religious societies with a widely observed set of customs. Always respect these norms, particularly when visiting religious buildings.
To the best of our knowledge, all hotels, lodges, and camps within our portfolio operate stringent measures to minimise water usage. All of our destinations have issues with water supplies to a certain extent, so feel free to raise any possible wastage should you encounter it during your stay, either with the accommodation or with us upon your return.
Please ask permission before taking photographs of people, and respect their wishes if they are not happy to be photographed. We find that friendly requests and a smile are usually met with a ‘yes!’
Strive, where possible, to make your own contribution to environmental practices as you travel. This might include minimising your electricity usage, not smoking in protected areas, avoiding coral while snorkelling, and safely disposing of all litter (recycling where possible).
Where possible, try to purchase from local suppliers. This includes shopping for souvenirs, dining out at restaurants, and booking additional excursions during your free time. In areas where haggling is an accepted part of daily life, don’t be offended if you’re unable to obtain what you perceive as a fair price for an item.
We emphasise to local suppliers that our clients should never be taken on unsolicited shopping trips, but if this does happen, try to retain your sense of humour, provide a firm refusal to participate and do let us know about it on your return. We pass on all feedback from every trip undertaken with us to our relevant local suppliers, who all share our commitment to travelling with sensitivity.
Please don’t remove any indigenous items from their natural habitat and attempt to bring them home as a souvenir. This particularly applies to everything from coral, shells, plants and food in the natural world, to cultural artefacts and antiques.

If you’re unsure about anything relating to the above, please feel free to chat to us. We’ve travelled extensively in the country and will be more than happy to offer our considered advice.

Key Information

Flight Time 3.5 hours from London

Currency Moroccan Dirham (MAD)

Language Arabic and Amazigh

Dialing Code +212

Capital City Rabat

Time Difference GMT or GMT+1

Meet our Morocco experts

We offer tailor-made holidays to suit a wide range of tastes. Our experts Emma and Rebecca are dedicated to all things Morocco and are here to help you plan your perfect trip.

Emma Higgins

Destination Manager

Rebecca Dodds

Destination Manager

What You're Saying

“

I would definitely use Holiday Architects again.Emma booked us an amazing holiday in Morocco, and really listened to what was important to us. We travelled extensively, staying in local riads to maximise the true feel of the country and what it has to offer. It was a fantastic trip. All the local staff were friendly and helpful. I would definitely use Holiday Architects again.

Caroline Wolfe Trustpilot

”

“

Rebecca at Holiday Architects really listened to me when I described the sort of holiday I wanted. It was truly tailor made for us. We had a fabulous time on our expertly planned multi-destination holiday to Morocco, and all the arrangements and transfers were seamless. Charming people too - I can't recommend this company highly enough and I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Charlotte Hope Trustpilot

”

“

Thank you to Holiday Architects for creating us an itinerary which enabled us to immerse ourselves within Moroccan culture. From the Atlas Mountains, to the Desert and finally to the city, the holiday exceeded our expectations and blew us away. Many thanks to Emma, you have been fantastic! From your quick responses to our questions and your knowledge of Morocco and the areas we were visiting was invaluable to us. We have no doubt that you helped make our holiday and memories of it, as fantastic as they are.. Having you plan our holiday was like a good friend planning our holiday for us.

Paul T Trustpilot

”

“

We recently returned from a holiday to Morocco, where we visited three different places in the country. Everything was organised meticulously by Rebecca, at very short notice. Whilst away the local team were excellent - friendly and efficient and all transfers and trips ran like clockwork. Would highly recommend both Holiday Architects and Morocco!

Greg Trustpilot

”

“

An amazing trip, brilliantly planned. Emma from HA was fantastic. She understood what we were looking for from the start and planned us an unforgettable trip which kept both adults and teenagers happy, as well as exposed us to a huge expanse of Morocco in just two weeks. The trip to the Sahara was the highlight, a memory which will last forever. Highly recommend HA and will definitely ask them to help with future trips.

Alexi Arlidge Trustpilot

”

“

From the moment I contacted Emma, I knew I was in good hands, she listened and delivered and exceptional holiday for the five of us. She could not have organised a better experience for us; we had the most fantastic holiday ever. Everything worked like magic and your travel partners in Morocco were exceptional and guided us. I can't thank you enough for curating such a perfect experience for us. I would not hesitate to recommend Holiday Architects to anyone planning a trip to Morocco.

Diane Tapner-Evans Trustpilot

”

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Tailor-made Morocco Holidays

Overview

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Quirky Excursions

Exploring Chefchaouen

Arabian Pastry Workshop

Dades Valley & Todra Gorge

Jebel Toubkal Ascent (3 days)

Ouirgane Valley Hike

Where You'll Stay

Desert Luxury Camp Chebbi

Inara Camp

Scarabeo Camp

Oxygen Lodge

Les Deux Tours

Les Jardins De La Medina

Tailor-made
Morocco
Holidays