A SIGNATURE souvenir scent will be custom-designed for each guest on a new perfume tour to Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Oman in May.
The aromas of Morocco's famous rose valleys, spice markets and the scented gardens that celebrated perfumer Yves Saint Laurent fell in love with also feature on the multi-sensory tour offered by Active Travel.
The exotic fragrance adventure will be hosted by Australian perfume enthusiast Moira Mevissen, who is experienced in matching scents with people and places.
"A scent is a powerful expression of who you are and can evoke memories which allow you to travel through time," Moira said.
"A lot of us focus on what we see and eat on our travels, but what we smell can have a powerful effect on us so we'll explore that on this tour.
"And everyone will return home with a scent tailor-made just for them by traditional perfume makers in the souks of Dubai, which is really the ultimate souvenir."
The tour begins on May 8 with a flight to Morocco for a three-night stay in Marrakech including guided tours of the aroma-filled old medina with its sweet-smelling orange blossom trees and bustling bazaars.
Travellers will visit the beautiful Majorelle Botanic Gardens, which were gifted to Marrakech by French designer and perfumer Yves Saint Laurent, who saved the sanctuary from destruction and whose ashes were scattered through the gardens after his death in 2008.
The tour then moves over Morocco's highest pass on the edge of the Sahara Desert to the ancient hilltop village of Ait Ben Haddou for an overnight stay.
It's then on to the M'goun Valley to learn about centuries-old customs and visit vast rose fields harvested to make rose water used by Moroccan women for anti-ageing and moisturising.
The kasbahs of Skoura are visited enroute back to Marrakech where the group will see and smell an argan oil factory and join a traditional cooking class, harvesting aromatic herbs from the organic kitchen garden.
Flying to Dubai for a three-night stay, the tour will then explores the spice and perfume souks and takes a four-wheel drive safari across the sand dunes to a Bedouin campsite for a belly dance performance and dinner under the stars. The tour moves onto Muscat in Oman for the final three days, with the itinerary including a visit to the Amouge perfume factory in the fishing village of Seeb.Amouge sources rare and precious ingredients such as myrrh to create luxury, finely-blended perfumes.
Including return flights, 25 meals, all touring and sightseeing and the signature scent from Dubai, the 18-day Perfume Tour is available from $9653 per person twin share, or $12,451 for singles.
- 1300-783-188, www.activetravel.com.au/group-travel