You are about to send money to a company you found online, in a country you have never visited. Here is exactly how our booking process works, what you pay when, and what you get in writing before any money moves.
Booking a tour in Morocco means sending money to a company you found on the internet, in a country you have probably never been to, often several months before you travel. Being cautious about that is not paranoia. It is sense.
So here is exactly how it works with us, in the order it happens.
1. You ask, we quote
You send an enquiry. We reply with a price, an itinerary, what is included, and what is not.
The price we send is the price. We do not quote high and wait to be negotiated down, and we do not quote low and add compulsory extras later. If we cannot do something at the price you have in mind, we say so and explain what would have to be cut — and usually those are exactly the things you told us mattered.
2. You ask more questions
Most people do, and the questions are almost always the same three: which hotel, is the tent private, and how long is the drive on the last day.
We answer all three with specifics. The hotel by name. The tent arrangement including the bathroom. The driving hours per day, including the ones that are genuinely long. If you want to know what you are actually asking about, our desert camp guide sets out what varies between camps.
If an operator will not name the accommodation, that is worth noticing. There are only two reasons not to: they do not know yet because they book it after you pay, or they know and would rather you did not.
3. We send a written confirmation before you pay anything
This is the part that matters most, and it is the part people are often surprised we do without being asked twice.
Before any money moves, you get a document that states:
- The exact tour, the exact dates, the number of travellers
- The total price, the deposit, and the balance
- The accommodation for each night, by property name
- Everything included, and everything excluded
- The cancellation terms
- Our licence details
You read it. If anything is wrong or missing, you tell us and we correct it. Only then does anyone pay.
This is not a courtesy. It is the thing that lets you check that the trip in your head and the trip in our system are the same trip.
4. The deposit: 22%
Our deposit is 22% of the total, and it is 22% on everything we sell — a half-day in the medina, a three-day desert circuit, a six-day Toubkal trek.
It is a fixed proportion rather than a figure we invent per booking, which means you can check it. Take any price on this site, take 22%, and that is the deposit.
What the deposit does is real: it reserves the vehicle and the driver-guide for your dates, and it books and pays for your camp and hotel rooms. Those are commitments we make to other people on the strength of it.
The remaining 78% is paid when you arrive in Marrakech, before the tour starts, in cash or by transfer, whichever suits you.
We do not ask for the full amount in advance. An operator who does is asking you to carry all of the risk of the transaction, which is backwards.
5. Free cancellation to 14 days
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and your deposit is refunded in full.
Within 14 days there is a 50% fee, because at that point we have paid for rooms that cannot be resold. No-shows are charged in full.
If we cancel — a closed mountain pass, a weather situation that makes a route unsafe — you get a full refund or a reschedule, your choice. Safety decisions belong to the guide and they are final. We would rather lose a booking than take a group somewhere they should not be.
6. On the day
Your driver-guide collects you from your riad or hotel. You pay the balance. You go.
Why we book direct rather than through a platform
Booking platforms add 20 to 30% to the price, and that money does not improve your trip. It goes to the platform.
There is a second, less obvious cost. When you book through an intermediary, your questions go through them too, and the answers get slower and vaguer. The person who knows whether the tent at Sahara Garden has its own bathroom is the person who books it — and on a platform, that person is three emails away from you.
We have written more about this in booking direct versus through a platform.
What to check with any operator, including us
Whoever you book with, ask for these:
1. A licence number. Moroccan tour operators are licensed. Ask for it.
2. The accommodation by name. Not "a standard hotel". The name.
3. A written confirmation before payment. Itinerary, inclusions, exclusions, price, cancellation terms.
4. A deposit, not the full amount. 20-30% is normal. 100% up front is not.
5. A real answer about driving times. Some days in Morocco are long. An operator who says every day is comfortable has not done the route.
If an operator does all five, you are almost certainly fine. If they resist any of them, keep looking.
Frequently asked questions
How much deposit do I pay to book a Morocco tour?
Should I get a contract before paying a tour deposit?
What is your cancellation policy?
Is it safe to pay a Moroccan tour operator directly?
Trips that go here
Guided by the team who wrote this guide.
Marrakech to Merzouga — 3-Day Desert Tour
- Camel trek into Erg Chebbi dunes at sunset
- Overnight in a luxury Berber desert camp
- Stargazing with no light pollution at all
€230 / person for 6+
4-Day Toubkal Summit Trek from Marrakech
- Summit Jbel Toubkal at 4,167 m — highest peak in North Africa
- Sleep in traditional Berber mountain refuges at 3,207 m
- Start in the trailhead village of Imlil, deep in the Atlas
€260 / person for 6+
Marrakech Desert Grand Tour — 4 Days
- Full night at an Erg Chebbi desert camp — sunset and sunrise camel treks
- Todra Gorge — Morocco's most dramatic canyon (400 m walls, 4 km walk)
- UNESCO Ksar of Aït Ben Haddou — Gladiator and Game of Thrones location
€236 / person for 6+