Arranging a Holiday in Morocco

Visitors arranging a holiday in Morocco may feel that there are advantages to using a package holiday company who will organise flights, airport transfers and holiday accommodation for an 'all in' price. Others find that booking their own flights and arranging their holiday accommodation directly with either the owners, a hotel chain or a company specialising in letting Moroccan holiday properties allows greater flexibility and can often result in significant savings.

Package Holidays to Morocco

There are a number of UK tour operators offering package holidays to Morocco, although inevitably these focus on the popular Moroccan tourist destinations. Many companies offer Moroccan city breaks as well as more conventional week or fortnight holidays aimed at the family market. Most package holidays include accommodation either in European style hotels or modern villas or apartments.

Specialist Moroccan Tour Operators

Holidaymakers who are looking for holidays based around a particular cultural theme or outdoor activity usually find that their needs are best served either by booking their holidays independently or using one of the specialist Moroccan tour operators, who offer a wide range of cultural tours and activity holidays in Morocco. Whilst there quite a choice of UK based tour operators offering both hiking and trekking holidays in Morocco, either in the Atlas Mountains or the Sahara, there is a rather more limited number of companies offering skiing, birdwatching or golfing holidays.

Booking Hotels & Riads in Morocco

Most of the newer, luxury hotels in Morocco are owned by national or international hotel chains and have centralised booking offices which can accept reservations for any of their Moroccan hotels. In contrast, many of Morocco's older hotels and most riads and guesthouses are independently or family owned establishments which have not caught up with the wonders of e-mail or the Internet. In such cases it may be a good idea to use a hotel booking agent or travel agent to make the booking on your behalf. It is always advisable to book Moroccan holiday accommodation in advance, as at certain times of year, particularly around holidays and religious festivals, it can be impossible to find anywhere to stay in Morocco.

Moroccan Riad and Villa Rentals

For those planning to rent a holiday villa or riad in Morocco, the choice lies between using a company which specialises in managing and letting Moroccan holiday properties or renting directly from the property owner. Although the latter option may offer some financial saving, most holidaymakers prefer the comfort and security of using an established UK company when renting a Moroccan holiday villa or riad. Some villa and riad companies specialise in renting out only luxury Moroccan properties and include in their portfolios spectacular palaces and luxurious traditional riads, whereas others aim for the family holiday market and tend to rent out more modest properties - villas, contemporary riads and apartments. In either case, it is important to check before booking the level of local representation that the company has in the area where you intend to stay. There is little comfort to be gained if things go awry with your rented Marrakech riad, only to discover that the rental company's local representative is based in Agadir.