How much for a week in Morocco?
Where: Agadir, Morocco
When:September 20th-27th
With a tour operator
The long-haul sister company of Club Travel, destinations.ie, offers us a week in the Moroccan resort town of Agadir for €958 per adult. The operator has us leaving Dublin at 9.20pm on Saturday, September 27th, which means we arrive in north Africa at 1.10am local time. The deal covers bed and breakfast in the five-star Hotel Sofitel. The hotel is, we are told, "standing on the fine, sandy dunes" and is "one of the genuine jewels of Morocco". We are promised Kasbah-style architecture, refined interiors and excellent service.
How much?€1,916
On your own
The hotel's website, www.sofitel.com, offers a special rate of €1,090 for seven nights in a room with a pool view, plus an additional €40 in taxes. Finding cheap flights to Agadir from any country in Europe is not easy and we have to compromise and leave on Wednesday, September 17th, coming home a week later. Flights with charter company Thomson, www.thomsonfly.com, from Gatwick cost £498 (€626). We get very lucky on our flights from Dublin to Gatwick with Ryanair, which cost €0.04 before handling and baggage charges are factored in, after which the price climbs to €80. A taxi from the airport to the resort costs 150 dirhams (€13) each way.
How much?€1,862
Independent savings€54