Morocco for Less

The Real Deal: Eight nights' accommodations and bus travel from $990 per person.

When: Trips begin June 30, Aug. 18, Sept. 8, 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov. 3, 10, 2007; additional dates available in 2008.

The Fine Print: The $990 price for this trip breaks down as follows: $850 paid in advance and a local cash payment of about $140 per person due on arrival in euros (not dollars), which covers local transportation, local entry fees, local guides, bike hire, and payments to the Nomads. The price does not include airfare or airport taxes. No airport transfers included; expect to pay about $7 for a daytime taxi ride at each end. Add approximately $270 for meals because only eight breakfasts, three dinners, and two lunches are included. Single travelers will be paired with a roommate of the same sex; no single supplement. Here are our guidelines on evaluating deals.

Book By: Dec. 31, 2007; based on availability.

Contact: Intrepid Travel, 866/847-8192, intrepidtravel.com.

Why It's a Deal: Consider that the $990 rate (including the $140 local payment) breaks down to about $124 per person per night and covers accommodations and local transportation. An English-speaking tour leader is available throughout the trip, especially handy for learning local information on the best markets on this itinerary. Update: We received some criticism from an ex-pat blogger, based in Rabat, Morocco, who questioned the value of this package. You can read our response with more detailed analysis of the package (and the cost of living/traveling in Morocco), along with comments from the tour operator, in our blog post, Can you really enjoy Morocco on a budget?

Trip Details: This escorted trip begins at 5 p.m. on a Saturday in Marrakech, where you will stay one night at the Hotel Ali in the heart of downtown and near the Koutoubia Mosque, with its lancet-windowed minaret. The hotel has a general store. It also has a hammam, or steam bath; a scrub and massage costs about $21. Your tour will include four more nights in hotel rooms, and three nights in multi-share nomad tents.

Your trip will include a mountain bike ride in the hills, with mountain bike rental included; a guided nine-hour hike through the mountains of the Tamatert Valley; a stop at the Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou (recently classified as a World Heritage site and a popular location for cinematographers to film scenes set in the "Middle East"); and a stay in a tent among the limestone cliffs and unusual rock formations of the area around the Dades Gorge. You'll find a superdetailed tour itinerary at Intrepid's website. Be sure you are in shape to handle treks of about four hours per day, long bike rides, or flat-water kayaking in humid conditions.

Groups (of a maximum of twelve travelers) tend to dine together, but you are not obligated to join and the cost of meals is not included. You can opt for other excursions at additional cost, such as a cooking demonstration of staple dishes, such as tajine and couscous, for about $17 per person.

It's been 50 years since Morocco declared independence from France, yet the country has never been more European--from its cappuccino culture to its discotheque nightlife. At the same time, the past is alive: You can see famous fortified city of Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou and the former residences of pashas, as well as natural wonders of desert and mountain. The charms of a visiting a peaceful, thriving Islamic country are manifold.

For more information on what to see in Morocco, especially for independent explorers, go to visitmorocco.org. A great blog on Morocco by an American ex-pat mother is My Marrakech.

Before you go, check out the current forecast. Find the exchange rate into dirhams and local time at BudgetTravelOnline.com.

Getting There: Airfare is not included in Intrepid Travel's package. Flights can be expensive because they require a stopover in Casablanca. To get a sense of the cost, here are the lowest round-trip fares (via Menara, an airport that is two miles from Marrakech) that we've found for an Aug. 17 departure on kayak.com: $1,336 from New York City (Royal Air Maroc), $1,544 from Atlanta (multiple airlines); $1,632 from Los Angeles (multiple carriers), and $1,633 from Chicago (multiple airlines).

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• Best Places You've Never Heard Of: Imlil, Morocco
• The Sahara: Dry But Never Boring
• Surprising Senegal
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