Experiencing Morocco on a TTC Tour Brands' Tour Week FAM Trip

Morocco surprised me.

I had joined a bus tour with Insight Vacations and a group of travel advisors and agency owners as part of TTC Tour Week, a new initiative from TTC Tour Brands designed to offer a wide range of product familiarizations for travel sellers, and the first thing that surprised me about Morocco was something I noticed even before our Air Canada flight touched down in Casablanca: Morocco is green.

I’d always thought of the country as arid, but the cities hugging the Atlantic Coast are quite lush. It was the perfect kick-off to a week in a country that I’d never visited before and that turned out to be significantly different from how I’d pictured it.

As a long-time fan of the movie Casablanca, I found it rather thrilling to finally visit (even though I knew the film was shot entirely in Hollywood). Casablanca is Morocco’s financial and commercial capital and its most populous city. Our first evening there, we dined at Rick’s Café, a touristy but rather charming restaurant based on the film. March is a rainy time in Morocco, but the constantly wet sidewalks reminded me of the closing airport scene from the film, which takes place just after a rain shower (it was a technique used by the filmmakers to make the scene shoot prettier).

The next morning, it was onto the coach.

The Bus Tour

The FAM was a truncated version of Insight’s Best of Morocco Tour.

Insight’s coaches in Morocco are spacious—they actually take seats out of a regular-sized touring coach for greater comfort. Our guide, Mohammed, rotated the seating assignments each day so that everyone would have a slightly different view (and because some of the seats are a little roomier than others). There aren’t restroom facilities on the coaches in Morocco, so there were comfort breaks around every two hours while on the road.

One of the major benefits of a bus tour is takes the guesswork out of the destination for you. The bus covers the highlights of each city, and there’s also free time worked into the itinerary. Mohammed was from Tangier, in the north of the country, and he spent much of the time onboard providing narration about the destinations we were visiting. On one all-day drive from Fes to Marrakesh through the scenic foothills of the Atlas Mountains, he gave in-depth detail of lifestyles and cultural traditions in rural Morocco.

The tour also offered some drop-in quick hits, like brief visits to the Mausoleum of King Mohammed V in Rabat, the country’s capital, and a stop by the scenic Medina in Meknes—both while en route between overnight stops in Casablanca and Fes, where we stayed at the comfortable Fes Marriott Hotel, Jnan Palace.

It had been some time since I’d been on a group tour, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of traveling through Morocco by motorcoach. The country is roughly the same size as the state of California, and the coach offered us glimpses of everyday life as we slipped through tiny hamlets and stopped for bathrooms and snacks in gas stations along the way.

Experiencing Fes, Morocco

Enjoyable moments in Fes included a trip to see the ornate doors of King Mohammed VI’s palace in the city (he lives in Rabat, but maintains a residence in Fes). While the group stopped for narration and selfies, we marveled at the flocks of storks that nest in his gardens and atop surrounding chimneys (they’re considered good luck) as we strolled through the adjacent Jewish Quarter.

Another memorable stop was at American Fondouk, a veterinary clinic for working equines (horses, mules, and donkeys) in the city. Founded in 1927 by Amy Bend Bishop, an American visitor and animal lover who noticed the poor conditions of the working animals in the city, she worked with veterinarians in the US to get help to the animals.

There were several donkeys and horses around the courtyard, including one being prepped for surgery. The director, who was about to perform the surgery, briefly explained to the group that the animals are given free treatment on the condition that they not be returned to their owners to continue work until they are completely healed and ready to resume.

The visit is one of Insight’s Make Travel Matter experiences, designed to connect travelers with entities making positive impacts in their communities, chosen with criteria tied to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. We also spent a day in the souk (market) with our local guide, checking out a leather tannery, carpet store, and getting inside information on how to tell the real silver goods from the fake ones.

Marrakesh and Essaouira

In Marrakesh, one of the country’s top tourism destinations, we visited the scenic palace of Dar El Bacha and had plenty of free time to explore souks and the Jemaa el-Fnaa Square, where snake charmers share space with fruit stands, ice cream parlors, and restaurants. We also gathered for a presentation on various medicinal herbs and beauty products produced in the country, such as the famed argan oil, made from a tree nut, and other essential oils and spices (such as saffron) that are produced in the country.

On the way to the surfer’s paradise of Essaouira, we passed through groves and groves of argan nut trees and stopped into a shop for a demonstration of how the nuts are ground to produce nut butter, oil, and extracts for beauty products. In Essaouira, we strolled along the oceanfront boardwalk and dined on locally-caught shrimp at a chic waterfront eatery—a good find in the country during Ramadan, when observant Muslims do not eat or drink between sunrise and sunset, shuttering most restaurants during the daylight hours.

The Takeaway

On balance, the Insight Vacations tour was a lovely way to see the country without having to spend too much time researching or prioritizing which sights to see or how to handle the logistics of transportation. Having Mohammed as our guide was also a bonus, as he was able to give context on virtually everything during our journey, such as whether there was a charge to use the public restrooms at the comfort stops (usually 1 dirham, about ten cents) or when and how to haggle over a price.

The tours also include daily breakfast and a select number of lunches and dinners, plus porterage for one suitcase, which took a bit of the schlep out of the process for many of the travelers.

The agents were a mix of new and experienced travel sellers—some were even attending their very first FAM trip, but their takeaways were positive. Most said they certainly had gotten exactly the experience they were seeking to sell both Insight Vacations and Morocco as a destination to their clients—chalk it up to mission accomplished for the very first TTC Tour Week.

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Topics From This Article to Explore