5 min read
7 days in Morocco: is it enough, and what should you skip?
Enough for one real region, not the whole country.
Seven days is a common first-trip length, and it's enough to do one thing well: Marrakech plus the Sahara and the Atlas passes between them, or the imperial cities loop, or a Marrakech-to-Fez desert crossing. What it's not enough for is all three.
The classic version, Marrakech, over the Tizi n'Tichka, two nights in the dunes near Merzouga, back through the gorges, fills seven days comfortably without feeling rushed, and it's the route most first-time travellers end up choosing for exactly that reason.
What we'd skip on a seven-day trip: Chefchaouen and the north (it's a genuine detour from the desert route, not a quick add-on), and trying to combine Essaouira with the desert in the same week, which usually means cutting a day from somewhere that needed it more.
If you're set on seeing more than one region, seven days works better as two shorter trips than one crowded one, or you extend to ten, which is where a second region starts to fit without compromising the first.
Planning around Sahara Desert? Read the Sahara Desert destination guide or see 6-Day Sahara Desert Tour: Marrakech to Fez, a sample itinerary that includes it.
A few common questions
Ready to see this in person?
6-Day Sahara Desert Tour: Marrakech to Fez
A private route over the Atlas passes and down into the Sahara, with two nights to actually sit still in the dunes instead of rushing through them. We end in Fez instead of backtracking to Marrakech, so every day moves forward.
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Read articleTours that include this
4-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Marrakech
For travellers with four days, not eight. The same dunes as our longer routes, reached and left by the most direct road, with one full day to actually be there.
4-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Fez
The most direct route to Erg Chebbi and back, for travellers based in Fez with four days rather than a week. The Middle Atlas cedar forests and Ziz Valley palmeries do a lot of the scenic work on the way down.
5-Day Sahara Desert Tour from Casablanca
For travellers flying into Casablanca with five days and the Sahara as the priority: a fast transit to Marrakech, then straight over the Atlas to the dunes and back.