Luxury Morocco Tours: What You Get and What It Costs

What does luxury change on a Morocco tour?

It changes where you sleep and how fast you travel. The vehicle is private, the driver stays with you and the route can be customised at every level, so those are not luxury extras.

The desert camp is where the upgrade is most noticeable, because a private bathroom matters more in the dunes than in a city. We describe it in detail in luxury desert camp in Merzouga.

What do the three accommodation levels mean in practice?

Standard, comfort and luxury describe the places you sleep, and nothing else. Every route can be quoted at whichever level you ask for, and you can mix them within one trip.

• Standard. Simple, clean riads and hotels, and a basic desert camp where bathrooms may be shared. You get the same route, driver and stops for the lowest price in the range.
• Comfort. Mid-range riads and hotels and a better camp. This is where most travellers land. Ask what the tent includes for your dates.
• Luxury. The best riads and hotels available on your dates in each stop, and a camp with larger tents, proper beds and a private bathroom.

In practice the gap between levels is widest in Marrakech and Fes, where the range of places to stay is enormous, and at Merzouga, where the bathroom is the dividing line. It is narrowest in the Dades Valley, Midelt and other rural stops, where every level draws on a small number of family-run hotels.

What does a day on a luxury tour look like?

The day follows the same road as any other tour, at a slower pace and with a better room at each end. Here is how the desert day might run on a luxury quote for the 10-day tour, the second day at Merzouga.

1. Sunrise. A short walk up the dune behind camp, then breakfast.
2. Morning. A drive around the dune field to the village of Khamlia and a nomad family, with your driver, at whatever pace you like.
3. Midday. Lunch, then the hot hours off: shade, a book, a sleep.
4. Late afternoon. An optional extra if you want one, such as a 4x4 outing or quad bikes, or a walk on the sand.
5. Evening. Sunset from a dune, a shower in your own bathroom, and dinner.

A city day is simpler still. Breakfast in the riad courtyard, a walk through the medina with a local guide in the morning, lunch where the guide or the riad suggests, and an afternoon that is yours. Hammams, cooking classes and restaurant bookings can be arranged for those hours and are priced in your quote.

How much does a luxury Morocco tour cost?

Plan for the upper end of our published range for your tour length. The top figure in each range applies to luxury hotels and camps or to a solo traveller, so a couple at luxury level should expect a quote close to it.

Lunches, drinks, entrance fees, tips and flights are extra at every level. Spa treatments, hammams, cooking classes, a hot-air balloon or a 4x4 in the dunes can be added and are priced in your quote.

Two things keep the figure below the top of the range. A group of four or six shares one vehicle and driver, so each person pays less. And mixing levels, with luxury in the cities and the desert and comfort in the rural stops where the difference is small, takes cost out without changing much of what you notice.

Which published tours suit a luxury trip best?

Tours of seven days or more suit it best, because they include several city nights where the hotel level makes a difference, and those with two nights at Merzouga get the most from a luxury camp. On a 3-day desert trip you spend most waking hours on the road, and the upgrade buys less.

Best Morocco Travel also plans honeymoon, family and seniors tours at this level. The simplest luxury upgrade to any route is an added night, in Fes, Marrakech or the desert. Ask us and we will price it. To see every route, go to Morocco tours.

What we cannot promise

We would sooner state the limits now than have you find them on the road.

• Named hotels in advance of a quote. Properties depend on your dates and availability, so we do not list them here. Your quote names each one. Look them up before you agree.
• Short drives. Morocco is large. Fes to Merzouga is about 450 km whatever you pay. Luxury can add nights. It cannot move the desert.
• City-standard hotels everywhere. In the Dades Valley and other rural stops the best available places are small and simple compared with Marrakech.
• Uniform star ratings. A riad is a converted house with a handful of rooms. Character and service vary more than a rating suggests.
• Quiet at the dunes in peak season. Merzouga is busy in spring, autumn and at New Year.

Questions to ask any luxury tour operator

Ask for specifics, because the word luxury has no fixed meaning. These questions work for us and for any other company you are comparing.

1. Which properties, by name, on each night? Then look each one up yourself.
2. Is the desert tent private, and is the bathroom inside it? Ask about hot water and about heating in winter or cooling in summer.
3. Is the tour private or small-group? A luxury price on a shared vehicle is a different product.
4. How many guided city days are included, and are the guide fees and monument entries in the price?
5. Which meals are included? With us, breakfast daily and some dinners on tours of 6 days or more, listed in the quote.
6. What is the longest driving day, in kilometres and hours?
7. Is the price per person or per group, and for how many travellers?
8. What happens if a named property is full? Ask what it would be replaced with.
9. What are the payment and cancellation terms? Get them in writing before you pay anything.

Few operators publish prices, which makes comparison harder. Our guide to the best Morocco tour companies sets out what the main ones show on their websites.