Travel agent for Spain and Morocco

It's a question I get often. Readers who rely on my annual list of top travel specialists to pick the perfect travel planner for a specific destination want to know: When you're combining two countries in one trip, which travel agent is the right one to use? This time, reader Dave Nader wants to know which one person or two people to use for a trip to Madrid and Marrakech:

Hi Wendy. I have a question for you. First, some background. I have been a Conde Nast Traveler subscriber for many years. I have used two of your travel specialists to plan trips for my family over the past two summers.You can read the rest of Dave's question, as well as my answer, after the jump.This year, Jill Siegel planned a trip for us that included Buenos Aires, Rio, and the Amazon. Jill is terrific. Every element of our trip was planned exceptionally well. She arranged private guides for most of our outings and all of them were outstanding. She suggested itineraries that would be difficult to top. As you know, Jill lived in Rio for several years, and her personal insights were extremely helpful. She stayed in touch with us throughout the trip to be sure all was going smoothly.

Last summer, Lynette Wilson planned a trip to Australia and New Zealand for us. Lynette was also terrific. Her accommodation suggestions were perfect. In Sydney, she recommended a short stay luxury apartment building overlooking the harbor that I would have never found and that was great and amazingly reasonable for a big three bedroom apartment. All of her itinerary suggestions were also great, and the guides she arranged were exceptional.

Using travel agents and guides has been a new thing for us. We have traveled all over Europe on many visits. For all of those trips, I made all arrangements and acted as our family tour guide or, as our daughter, Jen, likes to say, follow Dad the big duck. Using your experts the past two years has been terrific and I don't expect Dad the tour guide will ever suffice again.

One of your suggestions this year is, Don't hire a travel specialist for single components of a trip.' I am planning our trip for next summer and thinking of including Paris, Madrid, and Marrakech. We have been to Paris many times and would continue to self tour there. We haven't been to Madrid or Marrakech. I intend to pick an agent or agents from your list to assist. Since these agents specialize in an area or region, I'm a little concerned about asking the same agent to assist us with both Madrid and Marrakech. Can you offer a suggestion as to how we can best approach this task?

Thanks very much and thanks for your suggestions that have made a significant contribution to lifetime memories for myself and my wife, Lori, and our kids Jen, Brian, and Michael. Dave, here's my answer: Since the Morocco specialist on my list, Joel Zack of Heritage Tours Private Travel, in New York City, also happens to specialize in Spain and I've received glowing feedback from readers who have utilized his services for both those countries my suggestion in this case is that you use only one travel planner and book both Madrid and Marrakech through Joel.

Note to anyone else who's planning a trip that covers multiple countries and is not sure whether to use multiple travel specialists those listed for each country on your itinerary or only one and, if so, which one: There is no formula. The answer depends on which countries, which travel agents, and how long you're spending in each place. Feel free to ask me on a case by case basis.Meanwhile, if you've come back from a trip designed by one of the listed travel specialists, please don't hesitate to post your feedback here.