Spain and Morocco holiday
Countries:Morocco, Spain
More info:From £1399 excluding flights. Optional single supplement £300. Mimimum age 16.
Offers:Late availability on these dates: 31 Mar, 12 May
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates, prices & availability
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Holiday type
Small group holiday
Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modelled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. If you’re heading off on a gap year your, perhaps – but for those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.
We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.
What are the main benefits?
Big experiencesHave big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.
Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!
Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.
Who is it ideal for?
Travellers who are short of timeIf you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.
Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.
Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.
Mythbuster
“I won’t get any privacy!”Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.
“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.
“The accommodation will be basic”
Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.
“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.
“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.

Meet a group Leader
Name: Valerie ParkinsonStory: The first British woman to climb Manaslu, Valerie climbed Everest for her 50th birthday. She’s spent fourteen Christmas Days trekking to Everest Base Camp, and is involved insetting up Responsible Tourism initiatives in the Himalayas.

Meet a local guide
Name: Roshan FernandoStory: Roshan has led over 130 trips – he adores showing travellers around Sri Lanka. He won the company Leader Award in 2010, but his career highlight was working on their Tsunami Project – which earned him a responsible tourism award.
Responsible tourism


Responsible tourism: Spain and Morocco holiday
Environment
We spend five nights in riads and two nights in a mountain gite. Our local operators generally prefer to select accommodation which is locally owned in order to support smaller businesses and their employees. This ensures that most income generated is reinvested into the area and the community. By spending the part of the trip camping, we also reduce our carbon footprint and effect on the environment. Where meals are supplied, seasonal, fresh food is used wherever possible. Most vegetables come from the region of Sous; meat is locally supplied by butchers and fruits can be found at markets or farms in the countryside. The main Moroccan dishes most people are familiar with are couscous, meat and vegetable tagines, fish chermoula and bocadillos, which are available from street stalls almost everywhere.UK Office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK Offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.
Community
Accommodation and Meals:On this trip, we will spend most nights in locally owned hotels as well as a night in a local guesthouse in Moulay Idriss Village, where we get to share a delicious home cooked meal with a family. All of the accommodations selected have to sign a contract with our local operator to acknowledge their policies, guidelines and code of conduct to further encourage them to run their business in a more responsible and sustainable manner. Where meals are provided, ingredients are sourced locally wherever possible. Otherwise, our local guides are always able to suggest local traditional restaurants to let clients experience the local way of life and also bring economic benefits to the community.
Local Crafts and Culture:
We will visit a number of cultural and historical sites in both Countries. During our time in Spain, our stay in Granada allows clients to visit the UNESCO listed Alhambra Palace built by the Moors in 13th century at the height of their power in Spain. When in Morocco, we visit the country’s famous blue city – Chefchaouen as well as the lesser known Moulay Idriss a holy hill top town once closed to non-Muslims. In Fez we visit the world famous souq and tanneries where clients are encouraged to haggle for souvenirs, many of which are made by the stall owner themselves. This includes leather goods, soft furnishings and jewellery. Another cultural highlight is Marrakech, where clients are encouraged to take a ride in a traditional Caliche, or to visit the world renowned Marjorelle gardens. In the evening, the Djemma el Fna central square comes alive with musicians, snake charmers, travelling acrobats and food stalls. This is the perfect opportunity to interact with local people, purchase locally produced handicrafts and to support small street vendors by trying authentic food.
Community:
In Morocco, we work in conjunction with Baraka Community Partnerships, where we sponsored the development of a small village called Tijhza for many years with a variety of projects. These include supplying a pipeline system and water tower to the village and a toilet block for the school. Thanks to our volunteer groups, Tijhza now also has electricity and an annual medical clinic, which has had a hugely positive effect on the welfare of the village. More recently, we have achieved our aim of building a Hammam to alleviate some of the hygiene issues in the area and to provide a sustainable source income for many inhabitants. Unfortunately, devastating storms struck in November 2014, leaving much of the village severely damaged. We were able to raise emergency funding to provide supplies and to re-build many of the homes affected.
Water:
Water is a really important issue with trips such as this and whilst we must stay hydrated, it is also vital that we have a system for providing clean water without causing lots of waste with plastic bottles. Wherever possible we provide safe alternative sources of water to buying single use plastic bottles. This may be through large water containers, or encourage our passengers to filter, sterilise or purify water. We encourage all our passengers to come prepared with a reusable water bottle for this purpose.
Waste:
The issue of plastics is especially important in Morocco where all clients are strongly discouraged from buying bottled water. The Moroccan government banned the use of plastic bags in 2016, which has helped reduced waste significantly across the country. So be sure to take a small shopping bag into the souq, some shop keeps might still offer tourists plastic bags, however it should be noted that taking those is an offence.
UK Office:
It all starts at home where we work towards reducing our carbon footprint in our offices through energy conservation measures, recycling policies and the promotion of cycling and walking as a means for our staff to commute. Our head office has become a plastic-free zone with the use of plastic bottles being banned in our head office and we distributed reusable water bottles and tote bags to every staff member. We also support a large number of community and environmental projects in different parts of the world and try to give something back to the places we visit.
Our travel guides
Countries:Morocco, Spain
More info:From £1399 excluding flights. Optional single supplement £300. Mimimum age 16.
Offers:Late availability on these dates: 31 Mar, 12 May
Our travel guides
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