Kimkim Trip Reviews for Morocco

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!

This was our first time using Kimkim and it was a very positive experience. The local agencies they used in Morocco were excellent. From the beginning, our agent Brahim was very attentive and responsive. Any question or concern we messaged him about, he would get back to us right away. Additionally, he really took our requests into consideration when customizing our tour of Morocco. A highlight for us was the blue city of Chefchaouen, but honestly, Morocco is a stunning country with amazing landscapes, architecture, and culture, so it was all a highlight.

Our private driver, Rachid, was very punctual, responsible, and attentive to our needs. He would arrive on time every day and before arriving at our accommodation, he would call ahead to make sure they were ready for us. He was also great about suggesting local places to eat and when we should stop because some of our days were quite long in the car given the nature of the particular tour we chose. He also took some really excellent photographs of us (he's into photography). He is a driver that I would recommend other travelers to request :)

Additionally, the accommodation that was selected for us was just what we wanted--not big hotels, but local Riads (traditional Moroccan houses). One of the riads, Riad Sabah in Marrakech, was a highlight because the owner, Hans (he is from Germany, but lives in Marrakech because his wife is Moroccan) was so friendly and helpful and really made our stay pleasant.

Lastly, the local guides we had (Hafid in Fès and Khalid in Marrakech) spoke excellent English and were very knowledgeable.

All in all, this was a very positive experience and most importantly, it was very stress free. We chose to give Kimkim a try because with our busy work schedules, we did not have the time to plan and do our own research, so we wanted someone that could make this as stress free for us as possible. It was great waking up every day with our driver at the ready letting us know what our itinerary was for the day, not having to worry about how we were going to get to the next place, and arriving with our accommodation ready. Each day, we just got to sit back and enjoy, which is exactly what we needed. Though it was a little more expensive than we would have liked, time and zero stress is a luxury you pay for :)

Overall, the cities tour of Casablanca, Chefchaoen, Fes and Marrakech was very good. Our driver Said was very professional, accommodating and spoke excellent English. We felt very well cared for by Said.
Our guide in Fes (El Hadi) was very knowledgeable and courteous. Luckily, we had the services of our driver in Casablanca which made for seamless touring around the city. Our only disappointment was the fact that we had stressed twin bed accommodation to the tour company but this was not provided at some of our hotels. I would recommend KimKim and Anzal Tours to friends and family members.

The trip was excellent, nothing to complain about at all. The guide/driver was very professional, prompt and accommodating. The agency was also very professional, excellent communication and very helpful when we had some queries. Excellent experience all considered.

Had a great, albeit too short, experience in Morocco! Brahim was able to tailor an experience to our short timeline. The trip was a great balance of travel between locations, local tours, and some free downtime to explore on our own. It was exactly what we were hoping to get out of the trip. Our driver, Rashid, was absolutely fantastic; provided us with comfortable transit between Casablanca, Tangier, and Fez - and he was great to talk to and share information with us about Morocco. Overall, I would highly recommend the kimkim team and would definitely use them again for our next trip where we hopefully will have more time to explore all the amazing sites that Morocco has to offer.

We enjoyed an unforgettable introduction to Morocco. The places we stayed were, without exception, all very lovely and well located, with full, nice breakfasts and excellent staff. Our driver was nothing short of wonderful. He was extremely helpful, offered what turned out to be excellent advice when requested, and took outstanding care of us. We realized the driver could not substitute as a professional guide, and there were a few times he could not provide answers to our questions, because of language difficulties, or just lack of really specialized knowledge. Yassine and his colleagues made certain that we were always well cared for, and they were genuinely concerned that we enjoyed ourselves.
If there were one aspect we would have done differently, knowing now what we do, we would have covered less, or else lengthened the trip. It was impracticable to cover the distances we did and still arrive at our destinations with enough time to do any exploring. We definitely needed another full day in Chefchaouen. We thought Essouaria was more important to visit than Volubilis, Moulay Idriss, or even Rabat. Ifrane was better just to pass through than visit. We spent proportionately more time in the car than we wanted. We did rely on the trip planners to know how long it would take to reach a given city, and travel times in general; despite cutting down on some of our original plans, we still could not cover everything.
In Fez, our cooking class was very enjoyable; we did not get as much benefit from the professional tour guide as we had hoped, however. He repeatedly remarked that he could not show us what he wanted to because we had come to Fez on a "holiday" (Friday), and that we needed to visit on a different day to see more activity. That was hardly anything we could have known in advance. He also disappeared whenever he "delivered" us to merchants he thought we should shop from. We loved the goats and the argan cooperative; Todra Gorge was excellent; we enjoyed the hammam in Marrakesh; and our overnight in the Sahara was probably the single most important experience.
Overall, the special attention we received throughout our trip, and particularly in Marrakesh, made us very glad we chose Kimkim and MOTB/Yassine and his team to make our arrangements.

Brahim did an excellent job of creating a seamless itinerary that blended my unique time constraints with my location preferences. (I only had 5 days in Morocco and wanted to fly into Tangier and out of Fes.) In hindsight, I probably would have added another day in Chefchaouen and removed a day in Fes, but this change reflects my own personal preferences in hindsight and does not reflect on Brahim's planning or judgment in any way. Brahim was simply fantastic, and I would highly recommend working with him.

This was my first time using Kimkim, and I would certainly use them again, especially for trips that I do not want to logistically plan myself. There is a real sense of security in knowing that Brahim and his team were available to me 24/7 in case anything came up, and I really appreciate that level of support and customer service.

!! شكرا جزيلا! استمتعت بالسفر إلى المغرب كثيراً

The guides were amazing, charming, warm and knowledgeable. Jamaal was a lot of fun to spend two days with in Fes. His English is impeccable, and he is sweet, funny, and so likable that everywhere we went in the city he ran into people who enthusiastically greeted him with hearty handshakes and hugs. The time he spent living in the US has informed him well about our culture, making him an even more effective cultural ambassador for his home country and city. The tasting tour was fascinating, and we pushed out of our comfort zones with the gentle guidance and good humor of Jamaal. I would recommend him to anyone!

In Marrakech, we had the pleasure of spending a full day with Hassan, who was lovely. He was very amenable when we wanted to add the Jardin Marjorelle to our tour, and at all times made it clear that whatever we wanted was exactly what he wanted. He was extremely knowledgeable and imparted his information in a very clear and interesting way. He took great care of us!

Our 13 day journey through Morocco was very memorable. Our driver, (Youseff) was very punctual and shared with us his personal knowledge and experiences along the many roads we travelled.

In the city of Fez, we were greeted by our local guide, Fatima. She had vast knowledge of the local markets and attractions within the city. Certainly one of the highlights of our trip.

Overall our trip was well organized and tailored to what we were looking for. We plan on returning to Morocco again in the future, and look to build upon the experience we had.

Cody & Leyla