These tours are always open to anyone with an open heart, of any and every faith background, any nationality, any age group.
We are geared towards friends who are spiritually open and seeking, and committed to a respectful experience of a sacred culture.

The tours do call for a fair amount of walking in an urban context. 
 
You do not need to be affiliated with any university, or any religious tradition.
What is called for is an open heart.

The majority of our participants have always been women, and we are honored to foster a safe and welcoming environment for all. 

Yes.  We will recommend 2 books for you to bring to Morocco to help you get acquainted with the richness of this sacred culture.  One of them focuses on the Sufi tradition and we will study it together slowly during the course of the journey.

None. Bring your open and curious heart. That is it. You can join this tour from any or no tradition at all as long as there is respect and curiosity about the rich culture we are in.

The tours are offered in English.

Yes, absolutely! Our community consists of friends with all kinds of background.  As long as there is a genuine curiosity about the sacredness of this culture and an open heart, come on along!

There is in Morocco a policy that goes back to the French mandate colonial period that keeps non-Muslims from entering many mosques in Morocco. We will try to work as best as we can to gain proper entrance to as many sacred sites as possible, and in the past that has worked for a significant amount of sites, but not all. We will work together and with the circumstances to make sure that you get a deep and authentic experience, and appreciate your understanding and patience.

As you can imagine, much will be as it has always been: travel to a beautiful destination, immersion in a rich and sacred culture, and being in the company of fellow travelers and seekers.

And some steps will be different now to reflect the new conditions of the world:

• Participants will be asked to follow the guidelines of the CDC & WHO, plus the policies of Illuminated Tours.
• The program recommends being fully vaccinated, which will mean having had two vaccines plus the necessary number of booster shots by the time of travel.
• Whenever necessary on the trip, we will be masked. 
• All participants will be required to sign the COVID19 waiver.
• All participants will be required to purchase their own travel insurance to cover situations like cancellation of the trip, need for evacuation, COVID treatment, or medical attention. We recommend some of the companies listed here: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/best-travel-insurance/

Assumption of risk: The decision to travel during COVID19 requires us to make a few changes to our outlook and approach to travel. By joining us on our Tour to Morocco or Turkey 2024 adventure, you are assuming a higher degree of risk than you otherwise would. Thus, we ask that you join us embracing a flexible and understanding nature as we, together, negotiate the challenges of international travel during a global pandemic. In turn, we commit to making every effort to protect the health and safety of our participants and to being fair and just in any financial or administrative situations that may arise.

Given the fluid situation worldwide, please make sure you read our refund policy for all possible situations (see FAQ below).

About 2/3 of our participants come alone.  We match people with appropriate same gender roommates, and in some cases single rooms are available. 

There is not a straight forward answer and we would love to have a conversation with you about it.

We have had families with children as young as three, and many teenagers. 

Here is what we would say:  We have days that are typically 6-7 hours of sightseeing with our distinctive on-site lectures.  Think about how your children would do.  In some cases, it can be challenging for young children. 

In cases of teenagers, talk with them about their experiences, and whether they have the curiosity and maturity to welcome such an experience.  Our programs also ask participants to minimize the time on smart phones and social media to maximize us being present to each other and this sacred context.  And then talk with us about it to see about the fit.

As you can imagine in these uncertain times, we are having to take concrete precautionary steps to protect you and the program in terms of planning.

We will send you a more detailed listing of our refund policy, but in short:

VI. CANCELLATION BY THE TRAVELER
Any cancellation by the traveler must be requested in writing and must be acknowledged by Illuminated Tours in writing. The cancellation will become effective on the date of acknowledgement by Illuminated Tours. Cancellations are subject to the following policy:

• Cancellation made 90 days prior to trip departure:  The non-refundable deposit is retained by Illuminated Tours.  The rest of the cost, minus costs deemed non-refundable by the Turkish travel agencies, is returned to the customer.
• Cancellation made less than 90 days prior to trip departure: 100% of total booking cost, inclusive of deposit, is held by Illuminated Tours

Cancellation charges for air travel will be governed by the terms and conditions of the airline and is non-refundable at the time of final payment.  Refunds from the airlines as well as the required travel insurance are solely the financial and legal responsibility of participants.

VII. CANCELLATION BY ILLUMINATED TOURS
Should Illuminated Tours deem it necessary to cancel the scheduled trip after payments from the traveler have been received, payment will be refunded or applied towards a future Illuminated Tours trip. In circumstances where the cancellation is due to external events outside our reasonable control, including but not limited to COVID, travel bans, airlines shut downs, etc., refunds will not include any unrecoverable costs.

Further, Illuminated Tours is not responsible for any incidental expenses that you may have incurred as a result of your booking, including, but not limited to visas, vaccinations, travel insurance excess or non-refundable flights.

We aim to make the journey as easy as possible. 

1)  As soon as you are committed, contact us about making the deposit.  Send us the full legal names and ages of all the participants, their gender, and rooming preferences.  

2)  When we notify you, make your international ticket purchase to and from Morocco. 

3) Given the uncertainties of this period, we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance. 

3)  90 days prior to the start of the program, we ask for the rest of the payment. 

We cover your expenses from your arrival at the hotel until your departure. See our full list for what is and what is not included. In short, we cover hotel stays, all breakfasts, some dinners, one lunch, all tickets to included sites, domestic travel when needed in Morocco, licensed tour guides, cost of a bus, and all on-site lectures and evening discussions. For friends arriving in Casablanca within a window of time on March 11th, we do provide a private group shuttle from Casablanca to Marrakech. Participants flying into Marrakech, or into Casablanca outside of that window, will be asked to make their own way to the hotel.

Rest of the meals, and your misc. expenses, are not included.  

Our participants come from many international destinations.  As such, the program will start at the evening of the first night at 6 pm in the hotel lobby.  We strongly recommend for you to arrive in Morocco by noon the day of the start of the program. Keep in mind that the friends coming from North America will need to depart the day before for an overnight flight.

Many participants will wish to stay in Morocco after the formal end of the program, and you are most welcome to do so (on your own expense).   We are happy to recommend other activities and sites, and can help with logistics.

Some friends will choose to fly directly into Marrakech, and others into Casablanca.