Yolanda Zappaterra tests out Intrepid’s new Premium Morocco Highlights tour as the country reopens to tourists
It’s Sunday March 6, and instead of lying on the sofa watching the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down, I am in Fes watching a Moroccan artisan potter creating a succession of beautiful works on an eight-day whistlestop tour that begins in Casablanca and ends in Marrakech.
The pottery stop is part of Intrepid Travel’s new Premium Morocco Highlights tour, which also takes in Rabat, Meknes, Fes and the Middle Atlas mountains. Intrepid has long been a leader in group trips to destinations that travellers might not feel comfortable exploring alone – so long in fact that clients had started to outgrow them.
Recognising this, the B Corp launched Premium tours this year for “customers who loved the idea of our style of experiential, sustainable travel, but wanted a higher comfort level,” says Joanna Reeve, Intrepid’s head of business development and partnerships. The Morocco trip is one of more than 70 new premium tours to 40 countries that the operator has launched for 2022.
Traditional welcome
The hand-picked accommodation, exclusive signature experiences, private transfers and visits to social enterprise projects were all the encouragement I needed to hotfoot it to Casablanca. It’s the perfect city in which to reconnect with a cosmopolitan, liberal Muslim country that’s one of the most welcoming in the world.
Its bustling streets are lined with Arabic buildings, while the familiar sounds, colours, aromas, energy and culture of the North African country flood our senses. Locals give us huge grins and ecstatic merhabas (welcomes), their delight at the return of tourism, an important economic sector, palpable. And as we explore the city, everyone is equally effusive and joyful.
In the 1930s Pâtisserie Bennis Habous, shoppers proffer tiny pastries, urging us to sample the sweet morsels. As we feast our eyes on beautiful bougainvillea-filled alleyways, women emerge from houses and smile broadly, encouraging us to take their photos. In the souks, butchers pose proudly in front of camel heads.
Facing the future
It’s the same everywhere we go, and thanks to Intrepid, each day brings local encounters that create a real sense of understanding of and immersion in the culture. And it’s not simply about the past, it’s also about the way Morocco is facing the future.
In Rabat the new extension to the Rabat-Salé tramway system and the uber-futuristic Grand Theatre offer an intriguing 21st-century counterpoint to the historic city and its lovely Kasbah des Oudaias. The waterfront and Bou Regreg river estuary area are being developed as a seaside resort area that will rival the wild west coast.
If Rabat’s 21st-century surge is impressive, the renovation work on Meknes’ ancient granaries and Swany water reserve is even more so, though more charming is a medina where carts are piled high with mouth-watering produce.
We take to Meknes even more after tasting some of that produce in the harira soup and chicken tagine we share that evening with a local family in their home. As curious family members arrive to shyly gawk and teenagers practise their English with us, we feel lucky beyond words to be experiencing this after two years of isolation.
Back on the road, the next day we discover even more unexpected treats, notably in the partly excavated Berber-Roman city of Volubilis, where entire mosaic floors are bested only by exquisite artefacts in the museum. It’s workmanship of the highest order, but it’s nothing compared to what awaits us in Fes, where we encounter probably the best of the exclusive signature experiences, one that’s offered on all Intrepid’s Premium tours: a feature hotel.
The next day we discover even more unexpected treats, notably in the partly excavated Berber-Roman city of Volubilis
Ours, the Riad Salam Fes, is so beautiful that it’s tempting to explore every nook and cranny of its carefully restored spaces. But in the city’s medina, there are 9,000+ alleyways to be explored, leading to centuries-old tanneries, weavers’ houses, potters’ studios and more than 750 mosques.
Luckily, our guides have mapped every one of them, and have no problem leading us to dinner; another family affair featuring live music (the family), dressing up (us) and dancing (everyone) before we tuck into Moroccan mainstay, pastilla (pie).
Thoroughly bonded and feeling very much at home in this warm, welcoming country, our journey continues ever on; through Ifrane and Morocco’s ‘Little Switzerland’ to the Atlas mountains and tranquil lakeside resort of Bin el Ouidane, via Khenifra for a home-cooked chicken and lentil rfissa, before a stop at the impressive Ouzoud Falls en route to Marrakech.
Along the way, our Premium experience, the stunning landscape and limited internet access have temporarily allayed many of our 21st-century concerns, while the Moroccan people and authorities have played a large part in easing any lingering Covid confusion or anxiety. Reeve described the Premium trips as “perfect for anyone looking to experience a higher-end sustainable adventure.” I couldn’t agree more.
Agents’ view
“The ‘premium’ element I’d most likely promote to my clients is the quality of the accommodation. From classic riads to more international modern, it was all very good. It reflects a country of contrasts that’s in transition from old to new world, with great ambitions.” – Tom Parsley, personal travel consultant, Hays Travel
“I will never forget walking into the magical riad in Fes where we stayed for two nights. Or the home visit where we laughed, ate and danced while learning more about our lovely hosts. And the scenery of the Atlas mountains was spectacular.” – Alicia Sharpe, managing director, Luxeco Holidays
Book it
Intrepid Travel’s eight-day Premium Morocco Highlights tour starts from £1,270, including accommodation, ground transport, selected meals and activities, excluding flights.
intrepidtravel.com
PICTURES: Shutterstock/Mitzo; Stew Miles FOC
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