Genuine Discoveries
Marrakech 31.63°N 7.99°W · Est. 2018
For travellers from Singapore
Morocco is about as far from Singapore as a holiday gets — dry mountain air instead of humidity, snow on the Atlas, silence in the Sahara, and cities that have hardly changed in a thousand years.
Travellers from Singapore tend to come to us with a clear idea of what they do not want: a coach, a group of forty, a rushed photo stop at every landmark. They want the country explained by someone who belongs to it, at a pace that leaves room to sit in a courtyard with mint tea and do nothing at all. That is exactly the kind of journey we build.
Genuine Discoveries is run by Jaouad, born in a High Atlas village and licensed by Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism. He designs the journey, answers your emails and guides the trip himself. There is no call centre between you and the person on the ground, and no middleman in Singapore taking a margin on the way through.
What follows is the practical version: how to fly from Changi, what you need on a Singapore passport, which school-holiday weeks suit which region, what a private journey really costs in Singapore dollars — and, for Muslim travellers, why Morocco is one of the easiest destinations of all.
There is no nonstop from Changi, but one connection gets you there — and the good ones are overnight, so you arrive ready for the first day.
Emirates through Dubai and Qatar Airways through Doha are the routes most of our Singapore guests take, landing in Casablanca. Flying time is roughly sixteen hours before the layover, and both leave Changi late in the evening, so most of the journey happens while you sleep.
Turkish Airlines connects Singapore to more Moroccan airports than anyone else, Marrakech and Casablanca among them, through a single change in Istanbul. It is the simplest way to fly straight into Marrakech and begin with the Atlas and the desert.
Singapore Airlines to a European hub such as Barcelona, Madrid, Paris or London, then a short flight across to Morocco, works well if you want a few days in Spain or Portugal on the way. Tangier is barely an hour from Madrid.
Casablanca (CMN) has the most long-haul connections, and it is where the Grand Discovery begins anyway. Marrakech (RAK) is the natural door for the Atlas and the Sahara. Fes (FEZ) or Tangier (TNG) let you travel north to south and fly home from Marrakech.
Singapore is seven hours ahead of Morocco for most of the year, and eight during Ramadan, when Moroccan clocks go back an hour. Westbound travel is the kinder direction for jet lag, but we still keep the first afternoon unhurried.
We do not sell them, and we do not mark them up. Book the flights and fares you prefer, then send us the numbers — Jaouad watches the arrival himself and moves the first day if a connection runs late.
These are the routes we run most often. Every one is private, and every one gets rebuilt around your dates, your pace and your interests.
Casablanca to Marrakech the long way: Chefchaouen, Roman Volubilis, Fes, two nights in the Erg Chebbi dunes, the Dades valley and three unhurried days in Marrakech.
From $5,750 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreed 8 daysThe classic first trip — blue Chefchaouen, medieval Fes, the Sahara and the red city, at a pace that still leaves room to sit down.
From $3,790 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreed 8 daysRabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech — a thousand years of palaces, medinas and craft, with the dunes at the centre of the week.
From $2,650 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreed 9 daysSummit Jebel Mgoun, walk the Happy Valley, sleep in Amazigh villages and finish at the Ouzoud waterfalls.
From $1,420 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreed 5 daysNorth Africa’s highest peak in a long weekend, with mountain refuges, mule support and a guide who grew up on these trails.
From $990 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreed 5 daysStraight to the desert: Aït Benhaddou, the Dades gorges and two nights under the stars at Erg Chebbi.
From $1,310 per person · quoted in USD, payable as agreedNobody can quote a Morocco trip honestly without knowing how you want to sleep. So we publish the floor, and explain exactly what lifts it.
Every journey shows a "from" price: the lowest it runs at, in a quiet month, with two or more of you sharing, staying in characterful riads and guesthouses. It is a real number, not bait — trips do leave at it.
Three things, in order: the standard of the houses you sleep in, the season you travel in, and how many of you there are. A five-star riad in Fes and a luxury desert camp can double the room cost of a week without changing a single stop on the map.
Our standard level. Characterful riads and guesthouses chosen for their owners as much as their rooms, a comfortable private 4×4, and the same guiding as every other trip.
Five-star riads, palace hotels, luxury desert camps with proper beds and private bathrooms, a larger vehicle, and extras like a private cooking lesson or a hot-air balloon at dawn.
We quote in US dollars because that is the currency most of our suppliers use; we will always tell you the Singapore-dollar figure at the day’s rate. As a rough guide, our journeys run from about S$2,400 to S$5,800 per person depending on length and standard.
Flights and insurance are not included — book those yourself and keep the flexibility. Everything else in the quote is the total: the vehicle, the driver, the guiding, the houses and the meals listed in your itinerary.
Nothing is charged while the itinerary is still being shaped, and the written quote comes before any deposit is discussed.
A private journey means you can take any of these slowly, or leave one out entirely.
The Jemaa el-Fnaa at dusk, the Saadian Tombs, Majorelle, and the quiet courtyards five metres off a street you would never have entered alone.
The oldest living medieval city on earth: 9,000 lanes, no cars, tanneries, and the world’s oldest continuously operating university.
Erg Chebbi’s dunes at Merzouga — camels at sunset, dinner under more stars than you have seen, and complete silence at 3 a.m.
Amazigh villages, walnut terraces, mule tracks and 4,000-metre peaks an hour from Marrakech. Jaouad’s home ground.
The blue city in the Rif: a full day, not the two-hour photo stop most tours allow.
Essaouira’s ramparts and grilled sardines, Oualidia’s oyster lagoon, Taghazout’s surf — where Moroccans go to breathe.
There are hundreds of Morocco operators. Here is the short, checkable version of what separates us.
Jaouad designs your itinerary, answers your emails and guides the journey himself. On a fourteen-day trip you have the same person from arrivals to departure.
Born in a High Atlas village, Amazigh by heritage, certified by Morocco’s Ministry of Tourism. He speaks Tamazight, Arabic, French, English and Spanish, which is what opens doors in villages.
Your own vehicle and driver, your own guide, your own pace. Nothing is shared with strangers and nothing runs to someone else’s clock.
Solo travellers pay the same per-person price as couples, and nothing is padded with compulsory extras.
No forms to fight, no pressure, and nothing to pay while we are still designing.
Your dates, roughly how long you have, what you love and what you would rather skip. Two lines is enough to start.
You get a written day-by-day proposal with a total price — not a brochure, and nothing to pay.
Swap a day, add the coast, slow the pace, upgrade one riad and not the others. Most journeys go through two or three versions.
Deposit and payment terms in writing, then Jaouad handles the rest: houses, drivers, permits, the local guide in each city.
Entry is straightforward on a Singapore passport. A few Moroccan details are worth knowing before you land.
Singapore citizens can visit Morocco for up to 90 days without a visa. Make sure your passport has comfortable validity left beyond your return date, and check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel page for Morocco before you book — requirements can change, and the official page is the one that counts. Register your trip with MFA eRegister too.
Morocco is a Muslim country, so meat is halal as a matter of course and prayer times shape the rhythm of the day. Mosques are close at hand in every town we visit. If your dates fall in Ramadan, travel still works well — we plan around iftar, and breaking the fast with a Moroccan family is something guests remember for years.
It is a closed currency: you cannot buy it at home and you should not carry it out. Withdraw at the airport, keep small notes for tips and the souks, and spend what is left before you fly. Cards work in riads and in the better restaurants.
We quote in US dollars, because that is what our suppliers use, and we will always give you the Singapore-dollar figure at the day’s rate so you are not doing arithmetic. The quote covers your own vehicle and driver, the guiding, the houses and the meals listed in your itinerary. Flights and insurance are yours.
Roaming from Singapore is expensive on most plans — an eSIM bought before you fly costs a few dollars and saves a great deal of irritation. Sockets are the European two-pin type at 220V, so the three-pin plugs you use at home need an adapter.
Singapore’s MFA advises the usual care: watch for pickpocketing in busy tourist areas, keep valuables out of sight, and avoid quiet streets alone after dark. Those are the real, everyday risks — and travelling with a guide removes most of them. Heavy rain can cause flash floods in the mountains between November and March, which is why we watch the forecast for you.
Your leave and the school holidays do not always line up with the Sahara. Here is the honest version.
Mid-March is one of the best weeks of the year in Morocco: warm days, wildflowers in the Atlas, comfortable desert nights. It is a short break, so for one week we suggest Marrakech, the High Atlas and the Sahara rather than trying to cover the whole country.
The finest all-round window, and worth taking leave for. Long days, green valleys, the High Atlas trekking season opening and the desert not yet hot. If you can choose any time at all, this is it.
Late May and June are warm inland, and by late June Marrakech is hot. We shape June journeys around early starts, the Atlantic coast, the Atlas valleys and the north, and put the desert nights early in the trip while they are still pleasant.
The first week of September is still summer in Marrakech but already lovely on the coast and in the mountains. From mid-September the whole country opens up again — harvest in the valleys, warm days and cool evenings.
Late November and December are cool, clear and quiet: crisp mornings, snow on the peaks and sunshine on the medinas. Pack warm layers for the Sahara, where nights drop close to freezing. Christmas and New Year fill early, so plan ahead.
A long weekend around Chinese New Year falls in Morocco’s mild, uncrowded winter season — a good time for a week of cities and desert. For the March, June and year-end school holidays, book three to six months ahead; tell us early if your dates are fixed and we will hold the houses while the rest is being shaped.
What travellers from Singapore ask us most often.
Jaouad reads every enquiry himself and replies within 24 hours — with a first outline, honest advice on timing, and no obligation.