Seven days from Casablanca to Marrakech, taking in Rabat and the blue town of Chefchaouen, the medina of Fes, a night in the Sahara and the kasbah route through the south.
Tour highlights
- Casablanca, Rabat and the Hassan II Mosque
- The blue city of Chefchaouen
- Volubilis and Fes
- Merzouga and the Erg Chebbi dunes
- Dades and Todra gorges
- Ait Ben Haddou
Itinerary
Day 1 — Casablanca to Chefchaouen via Rabat
We begin at the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, one of the largest in the world, built out over the sea. We then drive to Rabat for its royal monuments before carrying on into the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen, the town of blue-washed lanes.
Day 2 — Chefchaouen to Fes via Volubilis
After a morning among the artisan shops of Chefchaouen we head south to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, then on to Fes for the night.
Day 3 — Fes
A full day with a local guide in the Fes medina: the gates of the Royal Palace, the souks and tanneries, the Quaraouiyine — the oldest working university in the world — and the Jewish quarter with its views over the city.
Day 4 — Fes to Merzouga
We cross the Middle Atlas through Ifrane and the cedar forests, then follow the Ziz Valley south to Merzouga. In the evening we ride camels into the dunes for sunset and spend the night at a desert camp.
Day 5 — Merzouga to the Dades Valley
Sunrise over the dunes, then a day heading west past the old desert towns, the fossil workshops of Erfoud, the Todra Gorge and the rock formations of the Dades Valley, where we stop for the night.
Day 6 — Dades Valley to Marrakech
The road runs through the rose-growing country and the Skoura oasis to Ouarzazate and its film studios, then to Ait Ben Haddou before we cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Marrakech.
Day 7 — Marrakech to Casablanca
A last morning in Marrakech — its gardens, palaces, mosques and medina — before we drive back to Casablanca.
