Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

Jennifer Flick with two local women in a village in Morocco.

Jennifer Flick, hiking the Atlas Mountains, pauses for a tea stop with the hosts in their family kitchen.

We spent 8 full days on the ground in Morocco February 4-11, 2025. When friends ask about our trip to Morocco, we truthfully say that our trip was flawless from the moment we left our front door to the moment we walked back in. In summary, we feel like we got a pretty comprehensive “tasting” of Morocco—history, geography, culture, architecture, religion, food, specialty arts/products, employment situations, both metro and mountains, music, older generations vs. newer mentalities, current “scene,” and some silly fun.

For many years, I have been the trip planner, and a very good one! But this time I just didn’t feel like doing all the research and work, so I used WendyPerrin.com to find someone to do the work for me. Wow, did they deliver! I chose between two companies, both seemed amazing, but I just resonated more with what I read about one. We met with Sara on Zoom, where she reviewed our form that had come to her through WendyPerrin.com. She asked additional questions about our preferences for timing, activities, pace, and personal interests. She noted our requests, and made suggestions we didn’t know about that were great! Although the default itinerary was 1 week, Sara worked with us to design it for 8 full days as we requested.

Initially we thought we wanted to go in December. Sara explained it would be high season due to holidays, very busy, and less choice of preferred accommodations. We appreciate her input on this—that was NOT the experience we wanted! So we pushed our travel back to February. For us the weather was perfect with daytime in the 60s and low 70s; too cool to get into the pools, a little nippy at night on the rooftop patios, so slightly off season. This meant far less people to navigate, shorter lines, more quality time with locals.

We flew into Casablanca and were met by our always-smiling tour guide Mustafa and our safe, kind driver, Abdul. It was FANTASTIC to have the same guide and driver for the entire 8 days. We could adjust the pace and ask endless questions about Moroccan life. When we went through the markets, we noticed that because he is a large man with a tour guide badge, the sales-seas parted—we were not approached repeatedly like the other tourists were. When we wanted to make purchases, Mustafa quietly gave us his input on negotiating pricing. When we suddenly needed a pharmacy item, he talked with locals to quickly find it for us. Abdul, our driver, was always punctual, friendly, but focused on the road at all times—a VERY safe and patient driver! He kept the Mercedes van spotless and filled with snacks and cold water for us.

Upon arrival, we toured the Casablanca mosque, then we were driven to Fez by way of a mind-blowingly amazing private lunch stop at a winery. We toured Fez for 2 days, then onto Marrakech by way of seaside Rabat (with a wonderful rooftop lunch and a stop at the sea to watch the waves crashing on the cliffs). We had 4 full days in Marrakech, then 2 nights in the Atlas Mountains, before flying back home from Marrakesh. We avoided big hotels, preferring the traditional Moroccan riad accommodations. Every morning Mustafa would review our schedule with us, and every evening he would remind us of what we needed to be prepared for the following day—this was JOYOUS for this “retired” planner-in-charge!

Experiences:
We did a beautiful, interesting hike in the Atlas mountains, as I love hiking! My husband had a hip issue, so they provided a mule for him to ride as we hiked. He said she was more comfortable and sure-footed than a horse, and he really enjoyed it! We had a perky, interesting local guide and visited a humble home in a tiny village, which felt very special. At the top of the hike, he had lunch ready for us on a jaw-droppingly beautiful patio facing the snowy peaks.

Although we didn’t know what to expect, we trusted Sara and agreed to the Marrakech sidecar tour. SO MUCH FUN with amazing surprises included—JUST DO IT!
We learned that the hot air balloon industry now supports hundreds of farming families that have lost their crops due to the droughts—their fields have become landing pads, and they work for the balloon companies. We were happy to support them by taking a beautiful sunrise flight, followed by breakfast. The planners set us up in a much smaller balloon basket (8 guests total) than some of the other companies (12-15 people!); details matter!

We took a cooking class from a professional chef who taught us both cooking and culture. We had a great time with the family that provides the class, and I bought my own tagine at a ceramic store to recreate the meal back home.

In general, we found Moroccan people to be very kind and helpful, not only to tourists, but also caring for local disadvantaged people, as well as the many stray cats. It seems to be built into the culture to be kind, and we found that quite endearing.

Thanks to WendyPerrin.com and our planners, this was a flawless trip. We are definitely using WP for the next adventure!

Four people jumping against a sunset sky in a desert, in Morocco.

“We were there during Ramadan, which turned out to be a beautiful and special time.”

We took our family of 6 to Morocco this Spring Break and used the travel planning company Wendy recommended. We are a family of 4 mostly teens (ages 10-16). We started in Marrakech and made our way to the Sahara via the most beautiful Hotel Eden in the Dades gorge and finished our trip in Casablanca with a tour of the most spectacular mosque, one of the most amazing religious places we have ever seen.

We were there during Ramadan, which turned out to be a beautiful and special time for the locals and the kids were able to observe so many traditions that take place only during Ramadan. Our local tour guide Hamza was with us the entire trip and was AMAZING. His perspective and patience with our kids was unparalleled. The kids loved the markets of Marrakech and were able to experience an afternoon at a local Hamam (spa), as well as breaking fast with a local family where we cooked traditional Moroccan cuisine. Each and every aspect was thoughtfully planned and we were thrilled with our trip.

I highly recommend Morocco for anyone looking for a more colorful and vibrant atmosphere and loves the idea of traveling to a place so different than the states. We felt very safe and our kids thoroughly enjoyed the haggling markets and seasoned foods. The Sahara is a BIG trek to make but we were all very happy we opted for this and made the long journey. We cannot wait to go back and see more of Morocco!

Our trip to Morocco was fabulous! We started with a phone conversation with Sara and expressed our interests. She built an outstanding itinerary. Our trip started with a hiccup at the airport. FAST TRACK had no knowledge of us. I immediately contacted Sara’s company and they said they would investigate. As an apology they treated us to a wonderful dinner in Marrakech. Then Sara called to say that they would refund the FAST TRACK fee. Great customer service!

We received gifts when we arrived at the Riad and our guide paid close attention to us as we traveled. He was not the best and we have communicated directly with the company. We know that they had to make a last-minute substitution and did not let this spoil our trip. The experiences were special, from the side car tour of Marrakech to the cooking class that included Iftar (break of the Ramadan fast) with our host and his family. I told Sara that this was a belated anniversary trip and she arranged for a private dinner at the desert camp with a complimentary bottle of wine and cake. It was lovely.

Our trip planner, Sara, was wonderful. We had a preliminary meeting to discuss our travel interests and then she shared an itinerary that we made some changes to based on our flight timings. We then had a pre-trip meeting as well to go over all details and give us a chance to ask any more questions. This started the trip on a relaxed note where we felt we were in good hands.

We were in Morocco during Ramadan in March of 2025 (2 adults and 1 tween boy) but other than fewer crowds at certain times of day don’t feel this impacted our trip at all. Our driver Mejid and guide Widad were both fasting at the time, but never allowed that to impact our trip experience. Our itinerary was Casablanca (1 night), Fez (2 nights), Merzouga (2 nights), Dades gorge (1 night), Marrakech (3 nights). We drove everywhere with stops at interesting sites along the way like fossil factories and vineyards. With so much time in the car together, having wonderful people like Mejid and Widad to travel with made all the difference.

Some of the unique experiences we had that were booked for us were meeting a local family for an Iftar meal (breaking the fast) and getting to know their kids, the sunset sidecar tour of Marrakech, the fossil factory near Merzouga, and meeting some of the nomadic people in the village.

I’m so glad we used a trip planner as I would have missed many of these activities, either because I wouldn’t have thought of them or would have dismissed them as too “touristy.” And we never had to worry about transfers or booking meals daily. I highly recommend Sara’s team for your Morocco plans.

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