4 min read
Marrakech, Fez, or Casablanca: where should your trip start?
The three usual entry points serve different kinds of routes.
Marrakech is the default starting point for most first-time visitors, and for good reason: it has the most international flight options, sits closest to the High Atlas and the main desert route, and is compact enough to explore easily on day one despite jet lag.
Fez makes more sense as a starting point if your route leans north and east: the imperial cities, Chefchaouen, or a desert crossing that finishes in Marrakech rather than starting there. It also has a smaller, calmer airport than Marrakech's, which some travellers prefer.
Casablanca is rarely the reason for a trip, but it's often the practical starting point simply because it has the most international flight connections of the three, particularly on long-haul routes from North America. Most travellers pass through quickly rather than lingering.
If you have flexibility, choosing based on flight cost and convenience is entirely reasonable: we build routes starting from any of the three regularly, and the 'right' city is really whichever one your flights make easiest.
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
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.
More from the blog
Private or group: what actually changes on the road
The difference isn't comfort so much as control over the day.
By Omar Hafidi
Read article
A first-timer's route through the Marrakech medina
Where to start when every street looks the same as the last.
By Anouar
Read article
When to go: Morocco by season, region by region
The country is large enough that 'best time to visit' depends on where you're headed.
By Omar Hafidi
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.