Sep 30, 2024
Sahara Desert & More - An Experience of a Lifetime with a Great Tour Company - We did Authentic Sahara Adventures - 3 day Sahara Tour with one night in the Sahara. It was an exceptionally memorable experience. Communications with Authentic Sahara Adventures (ASA) were easy and excellent. We booked our trip while still in Canada and everything was arranged through WhatsApp- very easy. The tour was a 2 day drive from Marrakech to the desert through beautiful gorges, the towering Atlas Mountains and the very interesting Aid Ben Haddou. Mustapha, our driver was great at sharing information about our stops ( except for Aid Ben Haddou where a local guide was arranged). Mustapha is an excellent driver, took care of everything along the way which made the trip very easy. The Sahara is stunning, the camel rides are worth it and the desert camp is a great experience. The driver from Sahara to Fes was also beautiful. Highly recommend this tour if you want to cover these areas.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 17, 2024
Exceptional tour -- Ask for Walid! - AST was recommend from a colleague and I am so glad we went with them! We booked a 4 day tour from Marrakech to Merzouga and on to Fes and an additional day trip to Chefchaouen. The accommodations were lovely and the stops along the way were perfect.
We had the same driver, Walid, the whole time and he was the best!! Walid was friendly, shared a lot of history and had great conversations with us. He was an excellent tour guide with the perfect awareness of when to engage. He ensured we had some very unique experiences with the local Berber people, which was authentic and enjoyable. He even helped us out with an issue we had with customs that involved shipping a drone from Marrakech to Fes -- he came to our rescue when there was a language barrier with the authorities. My husband and I appreciated his professionalism throughout and his help when needed. Walid truly exceeded expectations!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 9, 2024
Thank you Hamid Jakoubi - Thank you Hamid Jakoubi, the best guide possible. Always willing to solve everything and give excellent explanations. The best memory of Morocco we took with us to Uruguay where we will always recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 16, 2023
Phenomenal Experience with AST and Walid - I and my two sisters took a private 4-day tour from Marrakech to Fes with AST, and had an incredible time! The company was extremely accommodating, allowing us to spend 2 nights in the Sahara desert rather than the scheduled 1 night (which we highly recommend), and offering flexibility on payment, pickup, and dropoff. However, the true highlight of our trip was our guide, Walid. Walid went above and beyond to ensure that we had an enjoyable experience - not only did he detour to help us with various practical issues (dealing with banks, illness, etc.), but he added a personal touch by bringing us to places that were off the beaten path, even when it conflicted with our original schedule. Walid was friendly, gracious, and funny, and we passed many hours in the car learning about the history and background of Morocco from his unique personal experiences. We all became fast friends on our tour - we could not recommend AST and Walid enough to any interested traveler!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 21, 2023
Excelent Experience - Excelent tour! Our driver Walid really made a difference for us, we enjoyed the views, had a great time and loved this part of Morocco. The hotel and camp were very comfortable and the landscapes were amazing. Thank you Walid!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 6, 2023
Great guide, well organised - Great tour, and a night in the desert is a must do when in Morocco. The tour was well organised. It is a long route from marrakech to fes but there was alot of interesting stops along the way, particularly the atlas studio and incredible landscapes. Yassin was a brilliant guide - very knowledgeable, helpful and enthusiastic. Highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 13, 2023
Beautiful experience in Morroco - Our trip was a most memorable one!!!
One that will never be forgotten!!!
Our experience was unique!!!!
Our guide, Othmane, had so much to do with it! He now is a friend for life! He introduced us to this beautiful part of the world with such professionalism and care!!!!! Your company should be so proud of him!!!!
Thanks to all who put it all together!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 7, 2024
Quality 3 Day Tour, would recommend! - The trip was a great way to see the desert region of Morocco in a quick and digestible timespan. Both evening locations that we stayed at were very luxurious, and provided entertainment and views outside of your typical day in the car. Would recommend this tour (it is a bonus if you also get to drive with Mohammed)
To quickly clarify, originally we booked the 4 day option, however were told that another couple on our trip needed to reduce to the 3 day option and that we could either also change or pay for a private tour. This left us in a tough spot due to Riad reservations, however it turned out fine (we elected for the 3 day option).
The questionable part is once we met the other two couples on our trip, it turns out they wanted the 4 day as well and were sent the same email. (AST should just remove this option if it is not really available).
Getting that clarification out of the way, we were actually very thankful to have the 3 day trip. We felt that we fully experienced the region, and one day longer could have been too much. As cool as the desert is to see, many stops were similar to one another. The stops were frequent for bathroom purposes (roughly every 1-2 hours). The evening stays were really where this trip shined, our stay in the Sahara was breathtaking, and well organized.
The things I would suggest is to have a more curated script on each of the main cities that we drove through. AST could provide the drivers with more local information to act as a true tour guide since we are with them 80% of the time on the road. Mohammed (our driver) did a good job fielding general questions. The second thing that should be added is a defined schedule per day. It was a bit ambiguous on when we were to arrive at each “event” location, so more transparency there would have been appreciated.
Overall, this was a great trip, and truly opposite of some of the other tour group horror stories I read. I would recommend it to others! Thank you for a great vacation!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 6, 2024
Amazing Desert Tour - We had an amazing desert tour with Mohammed. The night in the camp in the desert is definitely a highlight of our 2 weeks in Morocco. Mohammed was friendly and happy to answer any questions we had throughout the trip. We felt safe on the windy roads in Mohammed’s capable hands. Thank you for an amazing trip! We highly recommend this trip to others.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 23, 2023
Enjoyable guided tour with AST! - Spent some time liaising with Lahcen via emails. Replies weren't instant due to time difference i guess. Nearing the date, i even panic due to no response so i changed the communication channel to whatsapp instead.
Due to some miscommunication and the earthquake which happened 3 days before the tour, we were only informed that it will be a private tour instead of shared tour just the day before. Seemed like other tourists were afraid and cancelled and went back to their countries. We just went ahead with it.
On the day itself, our driver/guide Jamal met us outside our accommodation at Marrakesh. Throughout our 3 days tour, we had a great time with Jamal, who shared the local culture & history with us. He even brought us to a local home to experience a home-cooked meal.
Our first accommodation - Riad Rihana Dades was superb!
The second one was disappointing though as Erg Chebbi Luxury Camp was mentioned during the email exchange and i was expecting a camp with air-con. But we were brought to Pueblo touareg camp where it was so hot throughout the night.
i mean what can you do at this point.... but we met great people at this camp and the food was great. P.S i think Lahcen gave us some discount due to the change in accommodation.
To summarize, even though there were some hiccups confirming the tour, we highly recommend friendly Jamal and Authentic Sahara Tours who organized this tour so well.
Tourism has been badly affected by covid and the recent earthquake so those who are considering to cancel, please DO NOT. You will enjoy this tour so much! No regrets
Review provided by Tripadvisor
