4 min read
Morocco from the UK: a long weekend or a full itinerary?
Short flights from the UK make both genuinely possible: which one suits you depends on what you actually want from the trip.
Morocco is one of the closer long-haul-feeling destinations UK travellers can reach: flight times from the UK to Marrakech or Fez are typically under four hours, in the same range as a flight to the Canary Islands or southern Spain, which is part of why it works as both a long weekend and a full two-week trip.
A long weekend is enough for one city properly, Marrakech's medina and a day trip into the Atlas foothills, or Fez's old city on its own, but it isn't enough to add the desert without a rushed, mostly-driving itinerary that undercuts the point of going.
For UK travellers with a full week or two, the classic route, Marrakech, the Atlas, and a Sahara crossing to Fez or back, makes good use of the short flight: you cover more ground on the ground because you haven't lost a day and a half to travel on either end, the way a longer-haul trip would.
The short flight time also makes Morocco a realistic repeat destination rather than a once-only trip, which is why a fair number of our UK travellers come back for a different region on their second visit instead of trying to fit everything into one.
Planning around Marrakech? Read the Marrakech destination guide or see 6-Day Sahara Desert Tour: Marrakech to Fez, a sample itinerary that includes it.
A few common questions
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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 Atlas Mountains Tour from Marrakech
A short trip into the High Atlas for travellers who want mountain villages and walking trails without giving up a whole week. Based out of a valley guesthouse, with day walks between Berber villages and irrigated terraces.
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 Marrakech to Essaouira Coastal Tour
A short trip for travellers who want the medina experience without the desert heat: two nights by the Atlantic in Essaouira, an easy two-and-a-half-hour drive from Marrakech.