Intrepid Travel Review | The Ultimate Guide You Can’t Miss

Intrepid is great for a more mature audience. I don’t mean antiques with canes but rather 35 to 60-year-olds. If you book with Intrepid expect to be mainly with 30-somethings and 60-somethings however there’s no age limit. Intrepid Travel has hundreds of tours operating all around the globe with their destinations in Africa, Europe, Asia and South America. Their core audience are travelers seeking adventure. So if you’re seeking cultural immersion, a food tour or an active adventure, then Intrepid Travel is right up your alley. My Intrepid Travel review will help you decide if it’s the right fit for you.

What is Intrepid Travel?

Founded in 1989 by two college friends Intrepid is an Australian tour company operating over 1,000 tours worldwide. Intrepid Travel is known for its charitable donations in that it gives back to the people and places that it has tours in. I have to admit that is impressive for the founders of the company never sold out and kept their goal intact. Very cool if you ask me.

Intrepid Travel Overview

Accommodations: Generally speaking, accommodations will depend on the trip style you book. With my North Morocco Adventure tour, it was a combination of hotels and guesthouse. The hotels I remember for the most part was 3-star hotels. I found the hotels to be more boutique style, making the stay far more pleasant. They hotels are very clean and always in very nice areas.

Hot Tip: If you want, you can book your own room, that’s supplemental when you book the tour through Intrepid directly.

Group Size: Intrepid groups are much smaller than most other operators so you can expect no more than 15 people to be in your tour group. This makes it so much easier for everyone to interact and more importantly, for the guides to offer us a more personal tour.

Guides: You’ll always meet your guide along with group at around 6pm in the hotel lobby. There you get to know one another and off to an evening meal. Our tour guide was a Moroccan local so he acted like our history teacher as well. Intrepid will also make use of other local guides in different cities as well.

Food: Breakfast is provided in all the tours however lunch and dinner will be on you. I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the breakfast food the hotels provided. It was mainly sweets and that completely threw me off. However, Morocco offered plenty of opportunities to eat some street food and the restaurants were not expensive at all.

Cost: This will depend on the trip style you book and number of days. Totally depends on the tour and how many days. My North Morocco Adventure was only $905 in 2018…too cheap to pass up if you ask me! As with any trip you’ll always want to bring some spending money for any add-on activities, food and souvenir shopping.

Optional Add-Ons: These are excursions that Intrepid sets up that do cost extra. Depending on the country you’re in they can be just about anything but always check what the add-ons on the itinerary and see which you want to do. Remember these are totally optional.

Transportation: My particular Intrepid tour involved rail and in some very short spots a local bus was used but it was a short easy ride. However not all Intrepid tours will use railway so you may want to double-check your destination and modes of transportation. Keep in mind that Intrepid will use plane, rail, bus and other modes of public transportation.

Travel Themes: Perhaps you have an idea as to what you want to do or the type of trip. Intrepid has something for everyone; some of these include only 18 to 29-year-olds, cruises, expeditions, food, festivals, polar, wildlife, winter tours, and women’s expeditions.

Intrepid Travel – North Morocco Adventure Itinerary & Review:

Day 1 The tour started in Casablanca and luckily, I got in early around 4 pm, I checked into my hotel room and felt like taking a walk outside to check out Casablanca. For whatever reason, I had an idea this city would be majestic or something but frankly, it was underwhelming. It’s the financial center of the country, so there wasn’t much to see. The best things to do in Casablanca would be to see:

• Mosque of Hassan II
• Jewish Museum
• Villa des Arts (art gallery & museum)

Day 2 We started the day early, hopping on a train to the capital of Rabat. Home to incredible architecture and museums. Hands down one of the most impressive structures is Hassan Tower (intended to be the minaret), an incomplete mosque from the 12^th century. The walking tour took us to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, which contains the tombs of the Moroccan king Mohammed V and his two sons. I was just blown away by the architecture and opulence, it’s truly an impressive structure.

We ended the Rabat walking tour by visiting the Kasbah des Oudayas along the Bou Regreg River. It’s essentially a fortress from the 12^th century. What makes Rabat more special as a must-see city is its UNESCO World Heritage recognition.

Although I liked Rabat for me anyways, one of the most charming locations in Morocco is Moulay Idriss (near Meknes). It started with a donkey taking our luggage to the overnight stay at the guesthouse (riad)….I kid you not; a donkey was the bellhop. Moulay Idrissis more than just a beautiful town on a mountain; it’s also home to the tomb of Idris, making it the holiest site in Morocco for muslims. At night, the town square is bustling with life, with people walking around marveling at the history. This small, quaint town was one of the highlights!

Day 3 This day was probably one of my favorites. Volubilis is the site of ancient Roman ruins from the 3^rd century BC. On my bucket list were ancient Roman ruins, and Volubilis didn’t disappoint! The trick here is to go early in the morning, so you don’t have to deal with tourists. I felt that my group of 13 had the whole site to ourselves.

Day 4 The next stop on the itinerary was Fez, which is interesting because it was the capital until 1912, however today it’s still considered the country’s spiritual and cultural center. Fez is a labyrinth of mazes where even locals could get lost! Inside, there seemed to be an endless sea of small shops selling everything from spices, electronics, groceries, furniture…the list goes on.

There’s so much to see, one site that stood out was the Chouara Tannery and Mosaique Et Poterie De Fes. Here you’ll see some of the finest leather goods and mosaic tile work.

Note: Be aware that at the tannery, they use all-natural dyes and no chemicals. They tan the leather the traditional using ‘Caca Chanel’ or pigeon poop to remove the hair from the hide. This was winter time so the smell wasn’t horrible, but imagine that funk hitting you in the face in the summer months. If you plan to visit Chouara Tannery, do it during winter.

Day 5 & 6 We traveled high in the Rif Mountains to the picturesque city of Chefchaouen. It’s known as the ‘Blue City’ for its striking blue painted walls in the old town. I love Chefchaouen, so much to see, and still budget-friendly for such a touristy city. Probably the best thing to do is get lost in the maze of streets and alleys that are very photogenic. There are loads of shops selling goods that you can take a look at.

There’s no real nightlife scene in Chefchaouen so our New Year’s celebration was very subdued. There are only a handful of bars to go to…I would up sitting at a hotel bar with one of the other travelers. However, I can’t tell you how many times I was offered “Moroccan Chocolate” aka hashish. Yep, Moroccans may not drink alcohol but they will smoke some hash. To be 100% honest, I really wanted to indulge, hoping that it would take care of my jetlag but the last thing I needed was getting picked up by local police… It just wasn’t worth it.

Day 7 We took a 3-hour ride to the coastal town of Tangier. We decided to stop and sit for lunch at Place de la France, one of the public squares in Tangier. Afterwards, we strolled around Cape Spartel, home to the oldest lighthouse in Morocco. From Cape Spartel we walked to the best part of Tangier, was The Caves of Hercules (about $7 USD entry fee) is an archaeological cave complex very popular tourist attraction…worth every penny to visit this unique site. Although Tangier was nice, there wasn’t much else we saw, we headed back for an overnight train ride to our next and final spot.

Day 8 & 9 Our final stop was Marrakesh, which was also our free day to explore on our own. I extended this 8-day tour to 9 because I knew I’d want to stay and extra day to see Marrakesh in all it’s splendor. The itinerary listed over 20 optional add-ons. The 4 add-on activities I wanted to see were:

• Minaret of Koutoubia Mosque – 900 year old mosque and the largest in Morocco
• Jardin Majorelle (now owned by Yves Saint Laurent) – one-hectare botanical garden
• Bahia Palace – 19^th century palace open to the general public
• Medersa ben Youssef – 14^th century madrasa

I missed out on the ruins of the Palais Badi and The Saadian Tombs. For some dumb reason, I missed those two from the list. I highly recommend visiting these two sites.

For the most part, I was walking through Marrakesh exploring the many great shops and restaurants. I couldn’t get over the bazaar; I mean, it is gigantic and can be overwhelming. It’s insanely easy to get lost when walking around the bazaar but that’s probably half the fun.

Final Thoughts On Intrepid Travel – North Morocco Adventure:

How I came up with Morocco is anyone’s guess but I said “Why not just do it”. Overall, I really enjoyed this rail tour and got to check off one of my bucket list items, and experience both Moulay Idriss and Chefchaouen. Those two locations were the highlights of the trip. Overall, I’m glad I took the North Morocco Adventure tour, I’m still in contact with one of the travelers from that trip.

What I didn’t like about Morocco:

• I found the food to be underwhelming. I felt every day the only two options we had were couscous or tagine, and the hotel breakfast mainly consisted of sweets.
• The overnight sleeper train from Tangier to Marrakesh had no bed. You lay across three sets in what’s supposed to be a private coach. In my case some passenger came in to his assigned seat so I couldn’t stretch out my legs.
• The New Year’s celebration was almost non-existent…very quiet.

Despite what I didn’t like, I would still recommend this North Morocco Adventure tour simply because Morocco has much to offer any budget traveler. Intrepid Travel did a great job with the accommodations, the ground transportation (except the overnight train), and organizing the actual tour.

Should you go on an Intrepid tour? Absolutely YES, if

• You want to immerse yourself in the culture
• You want everything organized for you
• You prefer an adventure instead
• You prefer smaller groups
• You want value for your dollar

Most Popular Intrepid Travel Tours:

I hope my experience with Intrepid has convinced you they are a solid company that you’ll consider traveling with. I know someone who literally booked a “Foodie” tour because it was offered on Intrepid…seriously how cool is that! Take a look below and see some of their more popular tours.

Travel Themes: Perhaps you have an idea as to what you want to do or the type of trip. Intrepid has something for everyone; some these include 18 to 29 year olds, Cruises, Expeditions, Food, Festivals, Polar, Wildlife, Winter Tours and Women’s Expeditions.

There are about 812 tours Intrepid Travel is operating that you can access here, so take a look and explore which trip you’d like to book. Take a look at the specials, ranging from 15% to 35% discounts on selected tours.