Kimkim Trip Reviews for Morocco

booking process was easy, feel fees are a bit high could consider flat fees rather than a percentage of total costs.

Experience Morocco provided a great itinerary and their service was impeccable. Our driver, Amin, was courteous, knowledgeable and spoke very well english.

the local guides were amazing providing a broad range of information as well as local culture and spots.

Trip to morocco was packed with adventure and can’t wait to take more trips with Kim Kim would highly recommend to any traveler

Our trip was great and well planned by Yassine. Our driver Nabil was wonderful and very responsive. He gave us a little phone that allowed us to easily contact him when we needed. We couldn't have asked for better help in a land that we were unfamiliar with.

Our trip was seven days and packed, we were in Tangier, Chefchaouen, Fez, Casablanca and Marrakesh. Admittedly, we should have narrowed down the places we went to, to allow for our type of travel which is a little more leisurely.

We stayed at 3 star locations and most were great! Riad RK in Marrakesh was great, the fact that they had a Hammam in the location made unwinding much easier. Our Riad in Chefchauouen was also very beautiful and the staff there were very helpful.

On the downside, our riad in Fez (Dar Malika) was nice enough and in a central location but we had a less than ideal situation while there. They are admittedly under transition and do not have a person who works there that stays overnight. This makes it very difficult to talk to someone when the water isn't working (which it didn't for us). The house was very cold outside of the room we stayed in and the second day the groceries went on strike so our breakfast was only a little bread and yogurt. Going to the tannery and not being able to shower was a huge miss. This is the one place I would not stay at again.

The tours that Yassine booked and the guide in Fez was also wonderful. The only downside is that we started to feel like we were only being taken places to spend money instead of simply to admire the culture and choose to buy things if we wanted. We started to feel like the tour was very planned to only go to places that would eagerly show us things only to get us to buy very expensive items. I could do without all the shopping that seemed to be most of the tour, it was very repetitive and didn't allow for much downtime or peace.

There were so many good things and a lot of lessons learned. I will vocalize more about what I'd like in the future and also be sure to know that less is more when booking. Thank you Kimkim, Yassine, Nabil and all of the staff at Morocco off the Beaten Path, you were wonderful!

Communication was great. Every question answered promptly. Everything planned was delivered as promised.

First of all, a big thank you to Yassine and the other members of his team: Hassan, Mohammed & Nabil as well as Chris and Kellie from Kimkim who all worked together to arrange this trip for us. A special thank you to Mohammed, our driver, who drove us all over Morocco, covering great distances. He was an extremely safe and responsible driver who knows the roads and traffic conditions of his country very well.

Ever since I saw the BBC documentary " Sahara" presented by British Actor Michael Palin, many years ago, I wanted to visit Morocco and the Sahara desert. And in January 2019, the day finally came. Before our Morocco tour started, my husband and I have been travelling in Southern Spain for a week. On 11 January, we took the FRS ferry from Tarifa in Spain across the Straits of Gibraltar to Tangier. We spent one night in Tangier and our driver, Mohammed, met us the next morning on 12 January to start our Morocco of the Beaten Track tour.

Our first stop on the tour was Chefchaouen. The winding road from Tangier to Chefchaouen through the Rif Mountains was very picturesque and a great way to see the greener countryside of Morocco. People often think of Morocco as mostly a dry desert landscape, but the route from Tangier to Chefchaouen is very green and beautiful. Chefchaouen was one of the highlights of our trip. The accomodation at La petite Chefchaouen in the heart of the old town on the hill was great. This small boutique hotel is run by two young brothers who were always extremely kind and professional. The decorations were modern and stylish and practical, similar to small boutique hotels in Australia and Europe. The breakfast was great and the wifi always reliable. The town itself was lovely and the locals very friendly. We always felt really safe walking around on our own. A shop keeper invited us up to his roof terrace to show us the spectacular view and meet his ginger kitten. It was great that he genuinly just wanted to show us the view and was not trying to sell us something. In Chefchaouen in general, we felt more relaxed and not so hassled by every second person as in Fes or Marrakech. When you walk around the Medinas of Fes and Marrakech, everybody wants to sell you something or be your guide. The Moroccans are great sales people, but not all toursits want to constantly buy things, so it can be quite exhausting to keep saying no. If you do not want to buy something, the 2 most useful phrases to learn and to say firmly but always with a smile are: La Shukran or Non Merci!

From Chefchaouen we drove to Fes, again with spectacular views over the Rif and Middle Atlas Mountains and rows and rows of olive plantations. En route we stopped near Moulay Idriss to see the Roman Ruins of Volubilis. For people with an interest in history and museums and archaeology, these ruins are a must see. The views over the surrounding countryside and Moulay Idriss from the ruins are great. Since the trip involves a lot of time on the road, it can sometimes be hard to find a clean restroom, so even if you are not that much into ancient ruins, I would highly recommend a stop at Volubilis, to stretch your legs and walk among the ruins and it also has very clean toilets. Just make sure you have enough coins to tip the cleaning ladies.

We then stayed in Fes for 2 nights at a beautifully old renovated 300 year old house in the Medina, called Dar Mallika, owned by an Australian writer, Susanna Clarke. In winter it is quite cold in Fes and the house was very cold, but the room had heating and airconditioning and the electric blankets on the beds were great. It was also good to have a choice of different high quality English Breakfast and other Teas as well as several international News Channels in any language of your choice, to stay up to date with what's going on in the world while on holiday. There was also a selection of music to listen to while having breakfast, from classical, jazz to Arabian pop! Si Mohammed, the Riad manager was also a great host, very well organised, helpful and professional. Fes was a fascinating city and a journey back in time. It was great to see the intricate hard work and centuries of tradition at the pottery workshop and handmade carpets. The guided tour of Fes was great, however a bit too long for me. I would have preferred a half day tour, but that depends on the type of traveller you are. I think some people will enjoy having a guide all day and don't feel comfortable exploring on their own and prefer the guide to make restaurants recommendations or shopping recommendations for them. I personally am very independent and like to explore on my own and make my own restaurant choices, so for people like me, a half day tour would be better. Nevertheless, the guide was excellent and we learnt a lot from him about the history of Fes.

The drive to Merzouga from Fes takes about 8 hours, so if you want to do the camel ride around 5pm in order to reach the desert tented camp by sunset, you really need to leave Fes no later than 8 am and it is not practical to have too many stops. We left at 8 am and since it was only my husband and I and our driver, we told Mohammed we don't want to make many stops, we prefer to get to the desert early. But for older travellers who may need more stops and rests, I think it may be a good idea to rather stay 2 days in the desert, first night in the desert hotel, and then do the camel ride the next day without having to rush. We had limited time in Morocco and only 1 night in the desert, so for us, leaving Fes early and driving without many stops worked well. That said, it is important to make a few short stops to give the driver a break. It's such a great distance to travel and the roads are not easy, I think all people doing a tour should be considerate towards the driver, as he has a massive task to drive everyone from point A to B safely and deserves to have lunch and tea breaks too. We had a late lunch in Erfoud at a cafe I would like to recommend. It's not that easy to know which restaurant or cafe to pick on the road in this remote part of Morocco, but we were lucky to find the Cafe Restaurant Dakar Erfoud. The cafe had seating outside on a terrace and inside. It was very clean and the young men who ran the cafe spoke very good French and made us feel at home. We didn't want to have a big sit down meal. Just a quick sandwich or pizza, and since they are a pizza place, they made us a Moroccan flavoured pizza from scratch and within 35 min, we were on our way to the desert. The pizza was delicious and the cafe also had wifi and even features in a French Spy novel (we found out later when we did some research about the cafe). Here is their website, have a look.
https://www.restaurantdakarerfoud.com

We arrived at the Hotel on the edge of the desert around 4:30pm, and reached our tented camp after a 1 and a half hour camel ride on two camels called Aslan & Anlal, lead by their master Yussuf who only spoke Arabic, Berber and a few words in Spanish! Yussuf was great, he knows the camels and the desert very well and he was very friendly and an enthusiastic photographer. He took many photos of us on our camels. We watched the sun set over the dunes and reached the camp just after sunset. The dinner at the camp was nice, although a bit cold. One thing I would say about doing a desert safari in winter, is be aware that it gets very cold in the desert at night. It was -1 degrees celcius. So if you travel in winter, or if you are an older traveller with health issues or not the outdoor camping type, make sure to pack enough warm clothes, the kind of clothes you would pack if you go camping on an alpine mountain hike in cold weather!

We left the desert the next morning on the same camels with Yussuf leading the way. This time we saw the sunrise. We met our driver back at the main desert hotel and started our drive to Ait Ben Haddou through many dusty little mud brick . We stopped to see some fossils as well as stops in the Todra & Dades Gorges. We had a great walk through the Todra Gorge, took some great photo and had lunch in a town on the edge of the Gorge, called Tinghir. This town was really pretty and a great tourist stop with many hotels and good restaurants. Since it is such a long drive, I would suggest especially for older travellers to stop in this town for lunch or even one night, before continuing the journey to Ouarzazate or Ait Ben Haddou as it is a very tourist friendly town, you can take beautiful pictures of the gorge and do some shopping. I saw some great inexpensive rugs and clothes and other souvenirs in this town, much better value that what I saw in Marrakech. We ate at a restaurant called Inass, popular with tourists. The food was good and they also have an indoor and outdoor seating area and very clean toilets. Again, run by a group of young Moroccans. I really enjoyed seeing the young moroccans running B&B's and restaurants. They seem to know what tourists want and these guys could also speak very good English and French.

After a quick stop in Ouarzazate, the film studio town of Morocco, we arrived in Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a famous movie setting: Gladiator, The Mummy, Laurence of Arabia and many more were filmed here. We stayed at the beautiful Riad Caravane, owned by a French artist who bought a ruined Kasbah and after 5 years of renovations and art collected from all over Africa & Asia, turned it into a 1st class small boutique hotel with very professional staff and fine dining. The Riad also has a rooftop and small splash pool with panoramic views over Ait Ben Haddou. Although we only stayed 1 night in Ait Ben Haddou, I think it is a town where one could spend more time, especially after travelling such long distances.

On Day 6 of our trip we left Ait Ben Haddou for Marrakech. Although Marrakech is not really that far from Ouarzazate or Ait Ben Haddou, the journey takes a long time due to unfinished road works on the Atlas Mountains. We saw some spectacular scenery driving through the Atlas mountains, but the road is quite scary and unfortunately the only way to get to Marrakech by road from the desert. However Mohammed did an excellent job always driving slowly and very carefully.

We arrived late in the afternoon in Marrakech and that is where we spent out last 2 nights in Morocco. I liked Marrakech, the red (dark pink) city . The Riad in Marrakech was nice, again very friendly helpful staff. This one was very traditionally decorated and also had a spa & hamman. Marrakech highlights for me were the Marjorelle Gardens, Bahia Palace and Koutoubia Mosque. The Jemma al Fna square was interesting to see and a must see especially on a first visit, but too many people. The Marrakech Medina is good for restaurants and shopping but I found it hard to walk there with vespas and motorcycles coming from all directions and also too many people for me. By this time we also did not want to buy anything else as we’ve already done all our shopping. I think staying in the Medina is interesting and gives you a true feel for the place, but it is also quite exhausting to keep saying no to everyone who wants to sell you something and if you don't like crowds, like me staying outside the medina might be more peaceful.

Our guide in Marrakech, Nabil was great. He has a lot of knowledge about the city and showed us some interesting places. He was also easy going and flexible, so when we were tired, we could take a break. I would definitely visit Marrakech again, 2 nights and 1 and a half day was not enough to properly explore the city and I can see there is a lot more to Marrakech than the historic medina. Now that I know the medina, next time I would prefer to stay in the area near the Marjorelle Gardens outside the medina, where it is a bit calmer, less motorcycles and people and more open spaces. But that is just my personal taste. If you like staying in the buzz of everything, a road in the medina is definitely for you!

Now that I know the country a bit better, I think 7/8 days is not enough to see all the things we wanted to see and next time I would make it at least 10 days and spend more time in the smaller towns like Thingir, Ait Ben Haddou and Chefchaouen and also try to see more of the coast.

All in all it was a great first visit to Morocco and we are very grateful to Yassine and his team for this excellent introduction to Morocco. The tour was very well organised and they always took such good care of us. It was always easy to communicate with Yassine and his team and they were there to help 24/7! I would recommend them to anyone who would like to to visit Morocco! Just be clear about what you want and what you like and they can arrange it for you!

Jan 19: Marrakech, Skoura, Merzouga, (with overnight stay in desert via Camel Ride), Ouarzazate.
Thank you so much Kim Kim for assessing my family group needs and linking me with such a wonderful travel consultant: Brahim (from Orion Trek Voyages) who worked closely with me via email/message frequently to ensure we had a plan for our holiday that met the needs for all of our group. He arranged wonderful accommodation in each place we stayed (especially Riad Villa el Arsa in Marrakech medina and Chez Talout in Skoura) and provided us with the best driver (Rashid from EMS - Essaouira Multiservice) who was so much more than a driver. He had completed a degree in tourism and made the 4 day trip out to Erg Chebbi and back such a memorable experience. He went out of his way to show us sites not on our itinerary, took many photos of our group and sent them to us and ensured we were all safe and well cared for whilst travelling and at each stop. Travelling with my grown up children and parents could have been a challenge but Rashid was continually happy, polite and accommodating. It felt as if he was part of the family and it was a sad farewell on return to Marrakech. A truly fantastic holiday, thanks so much to all involved. A very memorable experience. Would highly recommend all mentioned to ensure a wonderful holiday. Michele and John Gambrill (John & Robyn Gambrill, Jade Gambrill & Antony Dickenson)

We booked Amizmis valley 3 dazs tour and it was verg nice. Great walk through the day, perfect nature, nice people all around. The only thing that was not perfect was accommodation in first house. When they say "simple accommodation" nowdays people think about bed and shower without aditional fascilities. It was without bed, but that was probably our fault for not reading it carefully. At the other house was much better because of the family that has been so nice to us. Fatima and her family were very welcoming, trying to teach us how to make bread and cuscus. Although they do not speak english they were trying to explain us everything. Our guide Mohamed was perfect. On this trip we made one friend more

This trip to Morocco was an absolute dream!!! I’m never going back to planning my own trips again. Every detail was thought through, and I was prepared for everything.

Brahim was absolutely incredible, from planning the trip together all the way to when we had an issue getting to our last bus and he sent someone to find us and make sure we made it okay.

We loved every hotel, and the recommendations for restaurants that were given to us were always incredible.

Our driver and tour guide from Marrakesh to Fez, Rashid, was a god send. He showed us so many things we never would have known to see, and even took us to the place where we ended up buying our rug. He took photos of us the entire time and made us feel safe and taught us so much.

Overall, we can’t stop raving about our trip and about KimKim and about Brahim. We will definitely be using the service again.

My mom and I did a custom 9-day tour of Morocco in December of 2018. Booking the tour, I communicated back and forth with Larbi - he was always very timely in his response and very professional.
Said, was our driver and guide for 6 days (no guide in Marrakesh) and he was wonderful! My mom and I had the best time. Said did above and beyond what he was supposed to do - even took us to some local places to eat and took me to Starbucks in Marrakech. "Thank you, Said. You are the best!"
Tour started in Casablanca (Day 1) - we did not really spend a lot of time there since our flight arrived pretty late but we were able to see the mosque the next morning.
Day 2 - Chefchaouen - we loved this place - it was charming! Great place for those eye-catching Instagram photos.
Day 3 - On the way to Fes but stopped off in Meknes - a smaller version of Fes. The shopkeepers were a little more forceful about selling so I did not enjoy this place as much. Volubilis - saw Roman ruins - nice place for photos as well. Arrived in Fes at night.
Day 4 - Fes all day with a different guide. Our guide was El Hadi - he was great too! Explained the different things we were seeing. Guided us through the medina (which was confusing). Got some awesome deals on Argan oil, some scarves and pottery. Opted out of the tanneries - I knew my nose would not be able to hack it. Went to different sights as well - old city, new city, viewpoints from old watchtowers, where you can see great views of the city.
Day 5 - En route to the Desert - stopped by Erfoud (where our guide Said - a resident of the city) - took us where we could purchase trilobites for my brother. Middle Atlas mountain - we stopped by and saw Barbary monkeys on the road - fed them peanuts and gave some stray dogs some of our leftovers from breakfast. At the end of this day - we arrived in the Sahara desert - took a camel ride for an hour (our guide was Mustafa) to our camp. Great place to watch the stars. It was really cold!!! But I would rather be cold than hot, so just be prepared if you are planning on going in the winter.
Day 6 - Breakfast in the camp. Cold morning but got up early to watch the sunrise, then another hour camel ride back to meet our guide Said. Saved some of the apples from dinner and fed it to our camels. We stopped by a local market (Rissani) then went to see Todra Gorge - were able to take nice photos here. We slept in Ouarzazate (nice sleepy town).
Day 7 - Hiked up Ait Benhaddou - great scenery. Stopped off in a few places as well while en route to Marrakech. Arrived in Marrakech late afternoon.
Day 8 and 9 - My mom and I did want we do best - SHOP. We also enjoyed watching the exciting shows in the Jemaa el Fna Square.
We met Larbi in Marrakech - "Thank you for meeting with us, Larbi!"
All in all, it was an awesome "once in a lifetime experience!" - Will we do it again? YES!!! Totally worth it.

Our driver, Driss, was fantastic. I can't say enough good things about him, however, since we did not use kimkim to book our accomodation, there were a few issues getting to our hostels. I sent our flight and accommodation itinerary for the entire trip to kimkim prior to our arrival but our driver was not given any of this information. I listed check in and out dates, addresses and phone numbers, so I assumed that directions to locations would be figured out in advance. Again, I do not believe this is the fault of our driver, but rather a miscommunication on kimkims part. I found the online itinerary a bit misleading. It says "explore the maze like city with a local guide" in Fes. Yet kimkim provided no guide so we used a guide from our hostel (that we had to pay for). We needed to be at our hostel in Merzouga by 4pm to start our camel trek yet this info wasn't sent to our driver so we didn't make it until 5. We were very lucky that our hostel waited for us but they weren't happy about it. It says that you'll visit Rissani for a local market and donkey parking lot, which we didn't see. It then says you'll take "a river walk through the Todra Gorge." Most of the things advertised are really just quick photo stops. There was a lot of driving and the majority of the day was spent in the car. I don't believe this was made clear through the itinerary. And I believe if we had known this we would have planned our days differently. We very much enjoyed all of the places we stayed but would have appreciated more communication/organization from kimkim. This was our first time using a tour company. We paid $800 for a driver. Having a driver was a huge advantage compared to taking the bus, but I felt like there was a bit of false advertising when it came to the rest of the itinerary. Overall I'm very happy we had Driss as our driver and that we used a tour service because we only had a short time in Morocco. After our trip I'm left with the question of whether or not hiring our own driver would have been a cheaper option since we didn't feel as fufilled by the other things kimkim advertised.

First we were very pleased with our trip. This is our third one arranged by your company. We went to Croatia last summer and the last winter to Portugal. I'm going to divide my comments into two categories: The first will be the positives, the second will be some weaknesses.

Positives:
Everyone was punctual and right there to meet us and pick us up as scheduled.
Our driver, Nabil, who was with us the whole trip was exceptional. He was good humored and an exceptionally safe driver.
The cooking class that you scheduled us was terrific.
Our guide in Fez, Mohammed, was superb.
Our guide in Marrakech was very supportive and helpful, but he could have provided more information about what we were seeing. I did love that he added a trip to a Berber Village on our way to our hike.
We loved going to the desert. Riding a camel to the luxurious tent camp was a highlight of the trip.

Negatives:
The first night's accommodations in Fes were outstanding. The other riads were less pleasing due to the fact that we had signed up for four star accommodations. Since we one triple and one double room, we found them to be the same size with an extra bed thrown into the double which made it very tight. My understanding was that the Riads that we were booking would be giving us nicer than standard rooms when I questioned the travel agent about some of the very cheap prices which I saw online for the accommodations.
It would have been good to have received more information on the driving distances. Our third day was horrific and we were exhausted and irritable by the time we reached Fez. I wish the agent might have suggested that we skip Chefchalquin, although we loved it, as it was just too much driving.
I wish that we could have spent time in the Berber museum at Marjorelle Garden in Marrakech.
In retrospect, it would have been good to have more suggestions that would have made for a more relaxing trip. In the end, we canceled our accommodation in Eousoura (sorry for spelling) as it seemed to just far to go to the Casablanca Airport on the day that we would be leaving on an 8 hour flight home. We ended up going to Eousoura as a day trip from Marrakech. Our accommodations on our last night were paid for by us which was fine, but the riad, Riad Zanibar, was a bit rundown and it is a place that I would not have recommended. I understand that the last minute request probably had something to do with it.

We had a wonderful family trip to Morocco during December (9 days).
We explored the beautiful land full of culture and enchantment.
Everywhere we went we met great people who extended their warmth to us.
Brahim guided us along the way since the early planning stages till we left.
The trip was immaculately planned and we mostly stayed in Riad's (local boutique hotels) and travelled by road to explore the country. Our driver Rashid picked us up at the airport in Marrakech and stayed with us the entire almost 2000 kms we drove. He was extremely courteous and helpful even going the extra mile and taking photos and guiding us where necessary.

We thank Orion travels and Kimkim for creating wonderful memories on this trip.

Wish you a very Happy New Year!

Regards,
Upesh

Our trip to Morocco was absolutely one of the best experiences in our life! It took several tries to create the right itinerary for us as we had specific timelines and locations, but Brahim was very helpful in coordinating the agenda and is very knowledgeable on the best routes. We went Marrakech, Ourzazate, Erg Chebbi, Fez, Chefchouen, and Casablanca, and I would recommend to not miss any one of these cities because they each entrance you like no other. Along with many others we made stops at on the way, like the Berber Kasbah and the Todra Gordes. These are sights you cannot find anywhere else!
Our Driver Mohammed was fantastic. He spoke great English, was reliable, gave us good recommendations, shared the history about all the places we came across and ensured we felt safe at all times. We really liked our City guides in Marrakech and Fez. They were extremely knowledgeable about the rich history and present culture, helped us navigate through the city so well that the 6-8 hours we had felt like 2, and they led us to experience true life like the locals. They really listened to any of our requests and made it all happen. Our favorite was definitely the Erg Chebbi experience. The people there are so kind and so great! And knowing it was my birthday trip, Brahim and the team really made it an even better experience. I would absolutely request all these people again.
With that said, with the cost of the trip, although in good locations I thought the hotels in most locations could have been a lot better. We booked our own hotel in Marrakech and that was by far the best one we had. The ones booked by the agency were probably 2.5 stars, but service in each was very good. We barely stayed there, so it wasn’t terrible, but I would expect better knowing the conversion rate.
The other things we weren’t too fond of is the stops we would make that were represented as an experience, but really we were being coerced to buy things- Rugs, Leather, Art. Some folks might enjoy this, and we did enjoy some of the places for sure, but ended up spending way too much time on these.
Lastly, we changed our flight arrangements to leave out of Casablanca so we can visit Rick’s Café, but only found out there that they open in the evening, and our itinerary had us there only during the day, so we really never saw the city after making the changes, and that was a bit disappointing.
For food, we were taken to some nice restaurants, and made our own reservations in Marrakech but mainly followed our guides advice, and were not disappointed. But you have to be prepared to eat whatever is around at the time, or I would suggest to always get something for the road.
All in all, a great experience with everyone we met along the way! The service and hospitality is 5-stars!

I was so delighted with this amazing trip to Morocco with my parents. I normally do all of my own travel planning and have never used a service like this so initially I was hesistant. So glad I took a risk and went with KimKim. From the beginning Brahim was very attentive to every detail and took time to understand our needs so that he could plan the perfect customized itinerary. He made sure that all of the hotels would be good for my retired parents as well as for me. Getting picked up from the airport and to our first Riad was very easy. I’m glad we had a guide because navigating Moroccan Medina’s can be tricky. Overall the trip logistics went very smoothly and it was so nice not having to worry or stress over things. When we did have a few small mishaps, Brahim immediately contacted me to rectify the situation. Really amazing customer service.

I was SUPER impressed by our driver Mohammed as well. He was kind, patient, and flexible. He also was a very safe driver, who followed the speed limit, used caution on difficult roads, and kept us safe from some crazy cars on the road. My parents fell in love with him and have even invited him to come visit them in California.

I also really enjoyed our private Fes tour guide Hafid. Not only was he hilarious and entertaining but he had a deep k owl edge of the town’s history.

In terms of memorable cities, I think Chefchouen and the Fes Medina are a tie. Both so unique- like nothing I’ve experienced before. But really, every city we visited was beautiful. The mosaics, fountains, and ever changing landscapes were awesome. I was surprised too by how many small towns and villages we crossed along the way. Stopping for lunch or to explore them as we drove between major cities was one of my favorite things about the trip.

We had a fantastic time in Morocco. We visited seven cities in a span of 12 days, accompanied by our Morocco Off the Beaten Track driver, Mohammed. We began our tour in Chefchaouen, then Fes, Merzouga, Ouarzazate, Marrakech, Essaouira, and ended in Casablanca. Each city was uniquely different from the last and we were greatly pleased with the beautiful accommodations secured for us by the MOTB team. We met some wonderful locals while we were there, and felt so welcomed in a place so far away from home.

Our driver, Rachid, was excellent in every way, very helpful in organizing porters, restaurant reservations and a good guide in Chefchaouen . Moncef, our guide in Rabat, was excellent and quite a character. Sayeed in Fes was the best guide we had: he spoke excellent English as he had lived in the US and had the best perspective on the good and bad sides of life in Morocco. Our guide in Marrakech, Mohammed, was very personable but not very informative. He showed us Le Jardin Majorelle, Le Palais de la Bahia and several shops of quite high quality, but we left feeling there was much more to see, which was not the case in Fes or Rabat. Our favorite places were Chefchaouen, Chellah Necropolis (especially the storks), our two Riads in Fes (Le Calife) and Marrakech (Kaiss), Volubilis and Lixus. The Ouzud waterfalls and the Barbary Macaques there were also memorable.

Most amazing trip! So many memories made that we will have forever. This touring company Kim Kim was amazing to work with. They tailored our trip so we could see and do all we wanted to see and do. Kind hearted people with much integrity. The guide we had in Marakesh--- Kahil was so knowledgable and helpful. Very kind man and full of so much knowledge and history. Rachid --our guide on our five day adventure into the Atlas Mountains and southern Morocco -- he was like family to us on. We had such fun and extraordinary experiences. Rachid is also an excellent photographer (a good eye) and he took and shared many photos he had taken of us during our time together. We learned much about the Berber people. He took us to several Cooperatives so we could see first hand the work of the Moroccan people - in their small villages. We toured the Argon Oil Cooperate, Berber Carpet Cooperative, the Rose Water Cooperative, the Fossil Cooperative, the Tannery and Leather Cooperative, the Spice and Saffron Cooperative. ... and so on. We learned so much about the Medinas in the villages, and the Kasbahs. We learned of the history of the Berber people. Then of course our night in the Sahara Africa with the Camal Caravan oh my! We love dour night in the Sahara with the great food and singing and drumming by the fire under the stars. The entire trip had such amazing food. Came back with all sorts of Moroccan spices, so our home now smells of Morocco. We have used our Tagines every day since being back.

I can't say enough good things about our experience in Morocco. We love the Moroccan people. We love the smells, the colors, the Call to Prayer. We loved all of it.

We are so looking forward to coming back to Morocco. We will definitely work with the same tour company. Perhaps next year!

En Shallah.

Cynthia and Janet

This was my first booking on Kimkim and it was pretty seamless. The costs of this are pretty high, but it is okay if you do not have enough time to plan yourself. I did a bunch of things with my boyfriend during our ten days in Morocco. We did have a few hiccups like the driver not picking us up in chefcheoun or the walking guide not arriving. However, the rest of the trip went smooth. The local private driver we had during our Sahara trip, Youssef, was amazing. He was super enthusiastic and great. My bf and I ended up hanging out with him in Marrakesh as well! Our walking guide in fez was great- he was super informative and enthusiastic. Our walking guide in Marrakesh was okay- he was a bit bland and his English was not as great- unfortunately he was pretty quiet for a lot of the time which was fine but I wish we had the same one from fez! One negative is that there’s a few “hidden” costs and people try to offer you things for free or in good faith but then ask for money- it’s annoying! For example, when we were in our riad in Marrakesh, we asked for coffee a few times thinking it was free. In the end they asked for money before I checked out- this should have been communicated beforehand since the states offer free things or are more upfront with costs. The riads we stayed at were good- we loved a lot of them especially the one in ourzazate. The one in Marrakesh didn’t have hot water so it was a bit hard to shower but other than that no issues. Overall- it was great having Brahim as a guide as he was alert and attentive. He was quick to respond and made the kimkim experience a positive one.

2 great day trips in Morocco

1- Seti Fatma and the 5 waterfalls, rather energetic climb to the top went from 1500 at base to around 2000m , took 2 hours, with an extra guide that was NOT included in the price. Fantastic experience, followed by a lunch in a riverside cafe restaurant.

2: Agafay desert - amazing experience with a truly personalized tour, we were all surprised how 'desert like' the scenery being so near Marrakesh. Alot of it 'off road' , stopped for tea in a Berber tent. great trip

Brahim was an excellent trip planner for us. We are retired univ profs in our 70s, fit and adventurous and well-traveled. Not having been in Morocco before, I was excited to see city life, the Atlas mountains, village life, the desert on camels, casbahs and Brahim planned all of that for us quickly (as we made our plans almost at the last minute), responding to emails right away and especially contacting us in the Berber village by phone to organize a change in train travel, all of which worked out very well. My husband and I like to engage with our guides and discuss not only all we learned from them about Morocco, but also their lives and experiences. The Dar Baraka in Marrakesh was wonderful, esp the roof top where we had breakfast. I can't remember the name of our first guide in Marrakesh, who we enjoyed being with. He also taught French in secondary school, and as we were teachers (and my husband speaks French) we got along very well. Our guide for our tour in the desert and Ait Benhaddou was Rashid (from Essaouira) -- another great companion and good conversationalist. The driver was excellent, which we appreciated. Our guide Samir accompanied us to the Berber home stay, where we met the 80 year old pater familias and other family members. Wonderful! And our day in Tangier with Khalid was also memorable -- beautiful weather, interesting sights, good conversation. I'm so glad I found your website -- it was truly a great experience!