Diverse, amazing, beautiful
Morocco
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Feb 15 - Feb 22, 2025
Overall we had an amazing time in Morocco, in every stop along the way.
Our local specialist Hakim was very thorough in helping us plan our trip and answering all of our questions. I wish that we had gotten to meet in person. Thank you Hakim!
Our driver for the entire trip, Hicham, was kind, on-time(!!), helpful, and easy to talk to. We especially enjoyed his insights into daily life in Morocco, and our visit to his hometown! What a special and memorable experience. Thank you Hicham! We hope to see you again someday!
We enjoyed all of our accommodations very much. Our absolute favorites were Caravane in Ait Ben Haddou (SO beautifully designed and decorated!) and Riad Dar Sara in Marrakesh (again, so relaxing, so cute and beautifully done.) Our least favorite was Perle De La Medina in Fes. The room was large with high ceilings and had all tile and no rugs, which, although it was very spacious, led to it feeling cold/echo-y and not cozy. Also at that same hotel had a negative experience with a porter aggressively asking for extra tip. Otherwise, we really loved all of our accommodations and we commend Kimkim for choosing such reputable places.
All of our walking tour guides were absolutely fabulous. They were knowledgable, friendly, had strong English skills, and took the time to answers our questions thoughtfully. We want to give a special shout-out to Amine in Marrakesh. We thought he went above and beyond, engaging us in meaningful discussion about cultural differences which we appreciated so much.
Timing-wise, everything mostly went very well, given that timing is more flexible in Morocco than we may be used to in the US (and because sunrise times are so late there.) Because we sometimes took longer to drive from place to place than expected, the walking tours often started 1-2+ hours after they were stated to on the original trip plan. We appreciated the walking tour guides' flexibility in working with our arrival time. The only timing mishap occurred on day 5 when we drove from Merzouga to Ait Ben Haddou. We arrived at our hotel only 30 minutes before sunset, and we didn't understand that the hotel would be a 15-20 minute walk to Ait Ben Haddou over some somewhat dificult muddy/unpaved terrain. We had to rush, running to make it to Ait Ben Haddou to photograph and explore for at least a few minutes before sunset. We would have appreciated arriving at Ait Ben Haddou at least an hour earlier so that we could have had more time to explore. (Though, this was partially our fault for not communicating this well enough with our driver.)
Morocco is so incredibly diverse and beautiful and we are so glad we entrusted Kimkim with our travel planning experience. We very much enjoyed the experience of a private tour (just my husband and I) and we are glad that Kimkim was able to craft the perfect trip for us in the time that we had. We wouldn't change anything on our itinerary!
Hotel Reviews
Simple, clean, well-located close to Hassan II Mosque. Looks like a business hotel--not traditionally-designed like the other hotels. Our room had a burn mark on the rug. Breakfast was great. Was the only hotel we stayed at that did not come with water bottle(s.)
SO BEAUTIFUL. So beautifully designed. So much attention to detail. I especially loved the zellige tiles in the bathroom.
Amazingly beautiful, well-located, kind staff. Amazing place.
So cute!!! Great location in the heart of the medina. Very kind staff. The rooms are beautiful albeit quite small/cozy. We especially loved the shower in this hotel--it's in its own little elevated niche. Very cute and functional. Breakfast is one of the best of any hotel we stayed at.
Authentic, beautifully-decorated. Breakfast is on a top-floor terrace which is beautiful and nice. The rooms are quite large, which is good, but also they can feel a bit sterile and echo-y being so large with only tile and without any rugs. The shower was beautiful here too but there was no way to avoid splashing water all over the nearby bathroom floor.
It is AMAZING that they can get plumbing and electrical in the middle of the desert!!!! This place has a flush toilet, a working shower (water was just lukewarm), and a place to charge your phone (you just need to unplug the bedside lamp.) All of the mattresses in Morocco were pretty hard but this place was the hardest of all, haha. Oh and the room was heated! Amazing! This room was cozy and comfortable and made a great respite in the middle of the desert.
Activity Reviews
The camel ride is a lot of fun! It is a bit lurch-y so just be prepared for some motion as the camel plods along, it is not completely smooth.
We loved our tour guide Baba! He was like a local celebrity, saying hi to everyone he passed. Chefchaouen is our favorite place we visited, with so many beautiful spots to take pictures, and Baba actually took some great pictures of us.