• A locally based professional cycling guide

• Marrakech Airport transfers on Day 1 and Day 9 of the itinerary

• One or more support vehicles and drivers

• All accommodation as detailed in the trip dossier

• All meals

• Drinking water during the rides

• Travel insurance
• Moroccan Visas (if applicable)
• Marrakech Airport transfers other than on Day 1 and Day 9
• Tips for the guide and local support crew
• Historical monument entrance and guide fees
• Miscellaneous expenses - drinks and souvenirs etc
• Bike Carriage on the flights - please check with your carrier for charges

The group will meet at the hotel in Marrakech.

Transfers from/to Marrakech Airport are provided for all clients arriving on Day 1 and departing on the last day of the Land Only itinerary.

Hotel contact details and an emergency number will be provided with your booking confirmation.

All meals included from dinner on Day 1 to breakfast on Day 9.

It is not recommended to drink untreated water from the taps. If you are on a trekking or cycling holiday, water is supplied to fill up your individual bottles. This will be boiled, filtered or provided in large jerry cans or 5 litre bottles. Additionally you should take purification tablets or a filter bottle (such as a Water-To-Go bottle) to treat your water when in towns or where water is not supplied. We do not encourage the purchasing of single use plastic bottles.

Breakfasts at the hotels and gites that we use are 'continental' in style, with tea and coffee, orange juice, porridge and cereals as well as bread, eggs, fruit, jam, honey and cheese. At lunchtime, we will almost always stop at a wayside cafe and the meals that we are presented with will include local staples such as tagine (slow cooked stew of vegetables or meat) or cous-cous (again there are vegetarian and meat varieties). Additionally, there will always be bread, fresh salad and usually fruit for desert. On approximately alternate days, we will have lunches made up of picnic materials carried in our support vehicle. These will include bread, a choice of salads, pasta, potato salad, tinned fish, boiled eggs and again fruit for desert. The Berber speciality of mint tea will also be provided at lunch time and you can usually buy coca cola or alternative soft drinks. Evening meals are usually taken at the hotel and may be buffet style, with a choice of food. Or, there may be vegetarian and meat options of that favourite Moroccan dish, the tagine. Desserts usually consist of fruit, some fresh but also tinned, including pineapple, apricot, pears, peaches or mixed. Moroccan tinned fruit is excellent quality. To round off dinner, there is the usual range of hot drinks. During the day, the group will be provided with water and with snacks in the form of dried dates and mixed nuts, and possibly also bananas, but It’s a good idea to bring along a few of your favourite energy bars from home.

During this trip the group will spend 2 nights in a hotel in Marrakech, 1 night in Ouarzazate, 1 night in Agdz, 1 night in Zagora, 1 night in Tazenakht and 1 night in Aoulouz. We normally use a gite in Ijoukak. In Tazenakht and Aoulouz we stay at the best available accommodation and it is quite basic. At most of the hotels we use, the accommodation is provided on a twin-share basis. If you are travelling by yourself you will be paired up with another single client of the same sex. At the gite in Ijoukak, there are twin-share rooms and rooms sleeping 3 to 5 persons. Even here, we usually manage to retain the twin-share arrangement. Depending on availability, it is usually possible to pre-book single room occupancy for all nights (7) except at the gite in Ijoukak.

The trip will be led by an experienced, English-speaking local bike guide. There will also be one or more support vehicles and drivers.

The altitudes on this holiday are not extreme and the maximum altitude attained is no more than the equivalent of a pressurised cabin on an international flight. You may ‘feel’ the altitude the first time you trek above 2000 metres but all that is required is a slower pace to compensate. You should pay particular attention to your hydration levels while trekking above 2000 metres.

We suggest that £120 (or equivalent in US dollars, Euros etc.) will adequately cover your needs. You should allow £30 for drinks etc. and around £30 for local crew tips. If you are intending to buy more expensive souvenirs, you should budget accordingly (credit cards can be useful in this respect). Some of the merchants in the Marrakech souks will be able to take credit cards and there are some fantastic souvenir opportunities to be had. However, don’t expect to get a bargain without haggling for it. The unit of currency in Morocco is the Dirham. It is not normally possible (and it is certainly not necessary) to purchase Moroccan currency outside the country. Your travel money should be carried in the form of cash or travellers cheques. Sterling, euros and dollars are all readily exchanged. You can also draw cash from ATM's in Marrakech using credit or debit cards.

Tips are the accepted way of saying ‘thank you’ to your local guides and crew. They do not form part of their wages. KE always pays local crews the best rates of pay, no matter what country they are in and any tips they receive are seen as a personal thank you from group members. For our part, we advise local teams that tips are not a duty or a prerequisite but are a bonus and entirely dependent on the service that is given. We recommend that you give a tip if you feel that the services you have received have been good. As a rough guide we suggest you allow a total of £30 for tipping your crew.

Your bike should be fitted with a compact or triple chainset and we suggest that 25mm tyres will provide a bit more comfort on the variable road surfaces typically found on our Road Cycling holidays.

Since you are depending on your bike to transport you throughout your holiday, it’s important to ensure it is in good working order. If you are not mechanically minded, get your local bicycle dealer to service it for you.

Please contact us if you are unsure about the suitability of your bike.

Bike hire is available locally for this holiday. We have a long-established relationship with a bike hire company in Marrakech who can provide carbon framed Cannondale SuperSix Evo and Cannondale Synapse bikes at a hire cost of 195 euros (Sep 2023 - subject to change). These bikes have Shimano Ultegra or Shimano 105 components. The SuperSix Evo bikes have compact 50/34 chainsets and 11/32, 11-speed cassettes. The Synapse bikes have compact 50/34 chainsets and 11/32 11-speed cassettes. There is a limited range of sizes and we will check availability for you if and when you request bike hire. There is also the option of the alloy-framed Cannondale Synapse SE Disc in a full range of sizes at a hire cost of 160 euros. These bikes have Shimano 105 gearing with 32/48 chainsets and 11-32 11-speed cassettes. They have cable operated disc brakes and carbon forks. Payment will be made locally and does not cover you if you lose the bike or damage it beyond 'fair wear and tear'. You can pay in euros, GBP or US$ or with a credit card (3% charge). When you pick up your bike, you will be required to post a security deposit of 900 euros (500 euros for the Synapse SE Disc) which will be held against your credit card details and returned to you when the bike is returned. Your hire contract is with the local bike hire company and KE cannot be held responsible for any issues arising from bike hire. The hire bikes are provided in good condition and a supply of spares for these bikes is carried. You may be asked to pay directly for any spares used, especially in the case of crash damage or damage by mis-use. If you do hire a bike, we recommend that you take your own shoes, pedals and possibly even your saddle, which will go a long way towards making it feel like your own bike. You will also need to take your own helmet, which must be worn at all times when riding.

Airlines require that you pack your bike properly for travel and for this holiday we recommend that you use either soft bike bag or a purpose-made bike box or case. Whether you are using a bag or a case, you will need to partially dismantle your bike to pack it. Please note that bike bags or boxes will be placed in secure storage and will not travel with us during the course of the trip.

Please contact us if you have any questions about travelling with your bike. 

Throughout this trip we have the back up of one or more support vehicles. Each morning our main baggage will be loaded onto the support vehicle which will follow the group on the day's ride. The biking leader and the support vehicle driver will watch over the group and will carry mobile phones, allowing you to contact them in the case of a breakdown or other incident. We want everyone to enjoy their cycling experience on this trip and we recognise the importance of group members being allowed to cycle at their own pace. On most of our road biking trips it is usual that there can be a fair distance between the front and rear cyclists in the group and there may be times when other group members, vehicle support and biking leader are out of sight. Our regular water stops will allow the group to reassemble and the support vehicle will pick up any group members who wish to take a break from cycling at any time.

Apart from your bike in its bag or box (if you are taking your own bike), you should travel with one main item of luggage, such as a KE Trek Bag or similar holdall, and a small day pack. The day pack can be used to carry valuable items such as cameras and GPS devices whilst travelling, but will also be useful to separate out items you might want to pick up from the support vehicle during the rides, like additional clothing.

Your baggage allowance on the flights will depend on your airline. When choosing your flights, whether booking them directly or through KE, you will need to consider the cost of carrying your bike. These costs are your responsibility.

For each holiday there is a minimum number of participants required to enable it to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to run'. You can check the trip status for each departure in the ‘Dates and Prices’ table. Other than in exceptional circumstances, we will not cancel a trip once it has achieved this guaranteed to run status so you are free to proceed with your international flight booking and other travel arrangements.