1. Arrival in Casablanca
We meet you at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport and take you to your hotel in the city.
Eight private days from Casablanca through Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech, with a night in a desert tent on the Erg Chebbi dunes and a sunset camel ride.
| Duration | 8 days / 7 nights |
|---|---|
| Starts from | Mohammed V Airport, Casablanca |
| Languages | Spanish, English, French |
We meet you at Casablanca's Mohammed V airport and take you to your hotel in the city.
After breakfast we explore Casablanca, with its wide avenues lined with Art Deco and neo-Moorish buildings. We visit the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world, stop at Rick's Café, inspired by the bar in the film Casablanca (the original never existed, as the film was shot entirely in Hollywood), and walk along the corniche with views of the mosque.
We continue to Rabat, the capital of Morocco and one of its imperial cities. We visit the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the Hassan Tower, the Kasbah of the Udayas with its blue houses, and the Chellah. We stop for lunch along the way.
Next we reach Meknes, the capital chosen by Sultan Moulay Ismail in the late 17th century, with 20 gates, more than 50 palaces and 15 kilometres of walls. We enter through the monumental Bab Mansour gate and see El Hedim square and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail.
Finally we visit the Roman ruins of Volubilis with a guide, known for their mosaics and temples, and pass through Moulay Idriss, a holy town of Islam. Arrival in Fes and overnight in a hotel or riad.
At 9:30 we pick you up from your accommodation for a guided tour of the Fes medina, which dates back to the 8th century and still has its city walls. We start with a panoramic view from one of the hills around the city, then see the bronze gates of the Royal Palace, the Jewish quarter (Mellah) and the potters' workshops.
Afterwards you walk with the guide through the narrow lanes of the medina, lined with stalls selling fruit, spices, Berber rugs and handicrafts. We visit the madrasas, the Chouara tannery, Seffarine square, the souks and the Al Quaraouiyine mosque and university, regarded as the oldest university in the world.
Halfway through the tour we stop for lunch at a traditional restaurant in the medina. In the afternoon we finish the tour and take you back to your accommodation.
We leave at 8:00 for Ifrane, known as the Switzerland of Morocco for its architecture. In the Azrou cedar forest we stop to see the Barbary macaques that live there, and we have lunch in Midelt. Later we stop in the Ziz Valley to see its palm groves and villages, then carry on to Merzouga, on the edge of Erg Chebbi.
At the hotel we have tea and get ready to head into the desert. We ride camels for about an hour and a half to the camp, stopping on the high dunes to watch the sunset and take photos. The camp staff take care of carrying your luggage to the tent.
At the camp you are welcomed and, after a rest, you have dinner in the camp restaurant. Afterwards there is traditional Berber music around a campfire under the starry desert sky.
We get up early to watch the sunrise over the dunes. After a shower and breakfast you return to the hotel in Merzouga by camel or 4x4. After a rest we set off for the Todra Gorge, a canyon with huge sheer walls carved by the river and popular with climbers. There we take a one-hour hike and stop for lunch.
We continue to the Dades Valley. Before arriving you will see an unusual rock formation known as the Monkey Fingers. Dinner and overnight at your accommodation in the Dades.
After breakfast we follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Dades Valley, the Valley of Roses and El Kelaa M'Gouna to the Skoura palm grove, an oasis with some of the most admired kasbahs in Morocco.
In Ouarzazate we visit the Taourirt kasbah and, if you like, the film studios. We then reach Ait Ben Haddou, a mud-brick fortress listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the setting for films such as Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia and The Mummy. We visit it with a local guide and have lunch.
In the afternoon we cross the Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with short stops to take in the scenery and the Berber villages. Arrival in Marrakech at around 18:00.
At 9:30 you leave your accommodation with the guide to visit Marrakech's best-known sights: the Bahia Palace, with its shaded courtyards and blue mosaics; the Ben Youssef Madrasa, a fine example of Moorish architecture; the Saadian Tombs, rediscovered in 1917 and restored; and the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, whose name recalls the more than 100 booksellers' stalls that once stood around it.
We also walk through Jemaa el-Fna square and the craft souks, such as the leather auction and the tinsmiths' and coppersmiths' workshops.
After lunch we drive to the Majorelle Garden (Yves Saint Laurent's garden) and take a drive around the new town to see the contrast with the medina. In the afternoon we drop you off at your accommodation or at Jemaa el-Fna square.
Depending on your flight time, we take you to Casablanca's Mohammed V airport. End of the trip.