Frequently Asked Questions

Morocco Social Impact Travels (MSITravels) provides private and customized tours all year round for socially conscious travelers who want to connect with and support local vulnerable families in their quest to see and experience the real Morocco. We design each tour alongside you. The result is highly personalized to fit your travel dates, preferences, and travel style. Our trips are flexible and are tailored to fit in with the experiences you wish to have. We work hard to balance your time to include independent exploration with engaging guided visits where pertinent or necessary. So, you’ll get to explore on your own, if you wish, and will always have your driver or expert guide with you whenever needed.

MOROCCO SOCIAL IMPACT TRAVEL (MSITravels) was founded on the principle that culturally and environmentally responsible travel can be a powerful force for change. Tourism should contribute to conservation and benefit local communities.

The opportunity to enhance one's personal travel experience by learning, sharing and contributing can be the inspirational purpose which guides travelers exploring the world. Through the sensitive design and operation of our tours, the participation by travelers in supporting vulnerable families and supporting the non-profit organizations, we encourage more environmentally responsible travel. By assisting local communities and demonstrating a concern for the value we place on ecological and cultural preservation, ecotourism can become an instrument of sustainable development. The active and compassionate involvement of our travelers and our volunteers, at a minimum, heightens our own awareness of problems and the practical difficulties in solving them. Further, through direct employment and payment of fees, and our interest in conservation and native cultures, it demonstrates the value of ecotourism, conservation and cultural preservation to local people, thereby creating an interest in stewardship among communities

We, in Morocco Social Impact Travel « MSITravels », care about our customers and their comfort. Thus, we offer different kinds of transportation depending on the number of travelers and the chosen tour. E.g. if the tour is off-road, we will offer a 4-wheel drive car for each 4 customers maximum. Otherwise, we have 7 seats Minivan, Minibuses, which hold 12 to 17 people comfortably and buses for more than 17 travelers.

We work a little differently than most other tour operators in Morocco. After years in the field, we have found a balance between drivers and guides that we feel works well. Essentially, your driver is more than a driver. He is your tour host and confidant. And we consider our drivers to be the best in the entire country. All of them hold advanced foreign languages degrees. They are with you to keep you safe on the roads, answer cultural questions you might have, and to simply act as a key to the local culture, families and communities you’ll be visiting. Our guides are in areas where you’ll need them most. In Fez and Marrakesh, you’ll have a certified city guide for at least one day to show you the ancient Medinas. This balance really means you have experts when needed and have time for independent exploration when possible and worthwhile.

The best time to travel in Morocco is whenever you get the chance! For the weather, the best times to visit the country are Spring (March – early June). Otherwise, September and October tend to be amazing (yet not as green) periods as well. The busiest times of year are during Easter week and the Christmas holidays (alongside the months of May and October). Other times to travel that aren’t as busy, yet still very worthwhile are the first two weeks of June and the month of November. For any of the higher periods, we recommend arranging your customized Morocco cultural tour at least two to six months ahead of time.

Morocco is the cold country with the hot sun! That’s a mantra to live by when visiting. Weather for your trip with be determined mostly on the time of year you wish to visit. Just as varied as Morocco’s landscape is its climate. Temperatures along the coast range from 12c/54f to 25c/77f in the winter and summer, respectively. However, you can expect much hotter temperatures inland, and much colder temperatures in the High atlas and Middle atlas mountain ranges. While it is a relatively dry country, expect rain in the northern regions and snow in the mountains during the winter and early spring. Marrakesh and Fes are Morocco’s hottest cities with temperatures that have reached as high as 54c/13f in the summer.

Yes.

In the world of modern travel, it’s a good idea to have travel insurance for your private or customized Morocco cultural tour. We suggest that you purchase cancellation, interruption, and medical insurance that will cover you in the case of an emergency while you are traveling.

We at MSITravels have lots of resources for you to read on our website. As you explore, we think you’ll find plenty of material to keep you reading! As far as a map, we’ve developed our own map of Morocco that really highlights some of the best places to visit in the country. We use this illustration in our itinerary packets and on our website as a reference when chatting to travelers about their trip.

Morocco is a very safe country to travel. It’s regarded as one of the most stable countries in North Africa and the Middle East. You can also learn more about Morocco safety for US travelers, Canadian, Australian, EU and the UK from official governmental sites.

It depends! Most foreign nationals entering Morocco do not need a visa. If you are an American, Canadian, Australian/New Zealand, or European passport holder, you will not need a visa. Malaysians, Singaporeans, and some passport holders from Hong Kong do not either. If you are from another country, you may very well need a visa. Please check your local consulate for more information.

As many other countries that rely on sharing and supporting, you’ll soon note that tipping is part of our Moroccan culture when you travel around, though you should also take into consideration that it is not compulsory and should only be given if good service is received.

No.

While the Moroccan dirham is a closed currency, some people have found they can get dirham outside of the country. While this is fine, understand that you’ll be paying much more for the Moroccan dirham outside of Morocco. There are ATMs everywhere in country even in the desert and this is the best way to obtain Moroccan currency

Morocco is not Mecca.

Moroccan law prohibits smoking in most public buildings. At your accommodation, there will usually be an area where smoking is permitted. Although Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol, Morocco is a moderate Islamic country, and you are likely to feel free to drink in moderation in private or where alcohol is being served.

In the Medina alcohol cannot be purchased in shops, although many riads and hotels offer it. Some restaurants serve alcoholic drinks and there are very few bars in cities and some towns. Outside medinas alcohol may be obtained in some shops and supermarkets and hotels.

Moroccan wines are often excellent and a small range of pleasant Moroccan lagers and, on occasion, imported beers and wines are available.

You cannot come to Morocco and leave without a souvenir. For travelling to Morocco is a dream come true for shopping enthusiasts as it is a shoppers’ paradise offering hand-blown pottery, Argan oil that exist only in Morocco, inlaid wood boxes, silver, Berber jewellery, brass, bio rose products, hand-made Berber carpets, antiques, leather wear, spices, perfumes, alabaster, embroidered covers, wall hangings and furniture and many other hand-made authentic stuff.

In line with our giveback concept, our driver/tour guide will take you to the sources of all those goods mentioned above. You will visit the women cooperatives which produce such products.

Wear what you feel comfortable in! Morocco is not like other Islamic countries where you cannot wear some kind of clothes. Here you are free to wear what you like. But in some tours that need certain kind of clothes (hiking, Medina Walk …) your guide will advise.

Recommended!

There is no accounting for people’s tastes, but Moroccan food is widely regarded as excellent; a healthy diet, drawing from Arab, Berber, Jewish, African and French traditions, using a distinctive blend of fresh produce and spices, herbs and nuts there is a large array of unique culinary delights. Morocco's cuisine reflects the extensive range of home-produced ingredients and reflects the culture of Morocco.

Care should be taken with food hygiene, especially in hot weather, and it is wise to eat only where your driver/tour guide recommends. Try food well cooked in the conical clay dishes known as tagines; you can choose from a great variety of meat or vegetarian dishes, all mildly spiced and with flavour intensified by the cooking method) and wonderful fresh salads (all food is picked and bought just before preparing meals in Morocco). There is an abundance of locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables (including dates, oranges, bananas, figs, melons, avocados etc.) which are used imaginatively with spices, herbs and oils produced locally such as argan oil, an exquisite orange nutty flavoured oil. Round Moroccan flat bread is excellent, its flavour improved by the sourdough starter.

The most popular drinks are mint tea and fresh orange juice, and bottled water is widely available and safe to drink. Tap water in cities and towns is chlorinated and generally considered safe to drink.

NO.

But an attempt to converse in the native language is much appreciated by the locals.

Staff in most riads and hotels, are multi-lingual speaking English, French, Spanish…, in the more rural communities Arabic, Berber and French tend to dominate. In the far north Spanish is widely spoken.

No compulsory vaccinations are needed for Morocco's guests, though you should check with your local health centre to ensure that your jabs are up to date or visit NHS travel advice (polio, typhoid and hepatitis A are advised).

Riads or Ryads are eighteenth or nineteenth century family houses, usually found in the Medina of the major towns and cities in Morocco such as Marrakech, Essaouira and Fez.

Now often converted into boutique hotels or maison d’hôtes, they offer visitors to Morocco the chance to stay in authentic and often luxurious Moroccan accommodation hidden away behind unassuming front doors.

Riads are typically 4-10 bedrooms in size and conform to a traditional Moroccan architectural style that sets most of the major rooms of the house around a courtyard. The courtyards often contain a garden or small swimming or plunge pool and give guests a cool and private inner area within the property. Most also have rooftop terraces providing views across the surrounding town or countryside.

Most of the properties in our collection have been refurbished or upgraded to provide modern furnishings and ameneties, with owners each developing a unique style based around a modern, old world or tradional theme that delivers a broad diversity of choice.

SITravels’ driver/ tour guide will be waiting for you in one of these cities:

• Casablanca:Mohamed V International Airport
• Tangier:Tanger med ferry Terminal / Ibn Battuta Airport
• Marrakech: Menara Airport
• Fes: Fes-Saiss Airport
• Agadir:Al-Massira International Airport

More details will be communicated after booking.

Linguistically speaking, Morocco has two official languages, Arabic (Darija) and Berber (Amazigh), and French is a second spreaded language.