How was your Explore Tour Leader?

The guide were great, and  good fun. They took us to some great places to eat. Our main guide was fantastic and enjoyable to be have. The tour guide ensured that we all were all in the right place at the right time and made sure we all had the full experience.

What tips would you give to someone else booking this tour?

"Don't expect first class on Moroccan trains to be luxury, far from it!
Second class on the Spanish trains were far more comfortable."

Do you have anything else to add?

"I've stayed in many hotels, 2,3,4 and 5 star, all around the world, but Explore has opted for practically the worse hotels in Morocco. Go look at the reviews of the hotels chosen by Explore, you'll see the reviews are awful. Every single one! The tour guide kept saying that ""Explore"" is not about the ""accommodation"", unfortunately that means no hot water on a regular basis, grubby,  unclean and poorly maintained rooms? There are better hotels in Morocco.  
Explore needs to reassess the state of their chosen hotels in Morocco, their customers deserve better than sub standard. We got tired of  ""it's all part of the experience"" excuse!"

My husband and I had not travelled much by rail before and so this was a real treat and it was much more comfortable than travelling by bus.  The scenery and architecture in Andalucia was beautiful.  The tour of Morroco was very interesting and varied and there were some very good local guides.  Each city has its own characteristics - the Medina in Fez was very interesting if a bit claustrophobic!  I also enjoyed Rabat which seemed very open and breezy on the coast after Fez, and the mosque at Casablanca was beautiful. After seeing these other sights, Marrakech did seem at bit tired looking but the optional trip to the Berber village is a must.  The short walk to the rest house and lunch in such beautiful scenery made this last day a real highlight.  Overall this was an interesting and varied trip but a couple of things could have made it better.  I was looking forward to seeing Volubilis but as there was only 2 of us who wanted to go it would have been too expensive for us, so we didn't bother.  We also had two guides, one for each country, who were very nice but not very informative about each country, for Explore guides.  I believe that they have to have a permit for each town/city but they could have spoken more about the countries themselves and the customs.  In Morroco there were very good local guides which counteracted this but in Andalucia there wasn't, so I would recommend reading up a bit before you go. (RMO - 15th September 2011)