15-Day Morocco Circuit from Casablanca with Akchour Hike and Essaouira

Arrival in Casablanca

You are met at Mohammed V Airport and taken to your hotel. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city and economic capital, with art deco boulevards from the 1930s next to modern towers. We take a relaxed first evening on the Corniche seafront, where the Hassan II Mosque is lit on its ocean platform.

Airport transfer only

Hôtel Club Val d'Anfa or similar, Casablanca

Casablanca to Chefchaouen via Rabat

We begin with a guided visit inside the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world, built partly over the Atlantic with a 210-metre minaret and a roof that opens to the sky. We drive north to Rabat for the unfinished Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, the Chellah gate and the Oudaya Kasbah. The road then climbs into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, the Blue Pearl.

About 5 hours on the road, roughly 340 km, plus stops

Dar Echchaouen or similar, Chefchaouen

Akchour Waterfalls Hike

A full day in the Rif with a local guide. We hike up the Oued Farda river through gorges of oleander, rosemary and cedar to the twin waterfalls, where the river drops into green pools, and on to God's Bridge, a natural limestone arch. You can swim under the falls before returning to Chefchaouen for the evening in the blue lanes.

About 1 hour each way to the trailhead

Dar Echchaouen or similar, Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen to Fez via Volubilis and Meknes

We spend the morning in Chefchaouen's medina at Uta el-Hammam square, the Kasbah gardens and the workshops weaving Rif wool. We continue south to Volubilis, a UNESCO-listed Roman city, where a local guide explains the mosaics and the triumphal arch of Caracalla. At Meknes we see the Bab Mansour gate and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, then arrive in Fez in the evening.

About 4.5 hours on the road, roughly 260 km, plus stops

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Full Day in the Fez Medina

A Fez-born guide leads the day through Fez el-Bali, the world's largest car-free medina. We pass the coppersmiths, woodcarvers and spice merchants, and visit Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the world, and the Bou Inania Madrasa with its carved stucco and cedar. We view the Chouara Tanneries from a rooftop and finish at the Nejjarine museum and the Mellah.

No driving today

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Fez to Merzouga via the Middle Atlas

We drive south through Ifrane, a mountain town of alpine-style chalets, and the cedar forest at Azrou, where wild Barbary macaques come to the roadside. After lunch in Midelt, the route descends through the Ziz Gorges and along the Ziz Valley palm oasis to Merzouga. At sunset you ride a camel into the Erg Chebbi dunes to a luxury camp for a tagine dinner and live drumming.

About 7.5 hours on the road, roughly 460 km, plus stops

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

A Full Day in the Sahara

We climb a dune before dawn for the sunrise, then eat a nomad-style breakfast of Berber omelette, fresh bread, amlou and mint tea. By 4x4 we visit Khamlia for a live performance by Gnaoua musicians, whose guembri and krakeb music is UNESCO-listed intangible heritage, and share tea with a nomadic family in their tent. The afternoon is for fossil riverbeds and hidden oases before a second night under the stars.

Short 4x4 excursion only

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

Merzouga to the Dades Valley via Todra Gorge

We drive west through the fossil marble workshops of Erfoud and the covered souk at Rissani, the home town of Morocco's ruling Alaouite dynasty. At Todra Gorge we walk the canyon floor between limestone walls up to 300 metres high, then continue through the Dades Valley past the Monkey Fingers rock formations and old earthen kasbahs to Boumalne Dades.

About 4.5 hours on the road, roughly 280 km, plus stops

Dades Paradise or similar, Dades Valley

Dades Valley to Marrakech via Ait Benhaddou

We drive through the Rose Valley of Kelaat M'Gouna, with a stop at a rose water distillery, and the Skoura palm oasis. At Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO ksar of mud-brick kasbahs used as a set for Gladiator and Game of Thrones, a local guide leads you across the river and up to the granary tower. We then cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, 2,260 metres at the summit, and arrive in Marrakech.

About 6.5 hours on the road, roughly 320 km, plus stops

Riad Aslal or similar, Marrakech medina

Full Day in Marrakech

A licensed guide takes you through the Marrakech medina. We visit the Koutoubia minaret, the 19th-century Bahia Palace with its carved cedar ceilings and orange-tree courtyards, the Saadian Tombs and the Majorelle Garden, then walk through the souks. In the evening Jemaa el-Fna fills with storytellers, Gnaoua musicians, acrobats and food stalls.

No driving today

Riad Aslal or similar, Marrakech medina

Marrakech to Essaouira

We drive west through argan forests, which grow naturally only in this part of Morocco, and stop at a women's cooperative to see argan oil ground by hand and to taste amlou. In Essaouira, a UNESCO-listed walled port laid out in 1764, we walk the Skala ramparts with their old cannons, the fishing harbour and the thuya-wood workshops, and eat fresh fish at the harbour.

About 2.5 hours on the road, roughly 180 km, plus stops

Riad Mimouna or similar, Essaouira

Leisure Day in Essaouira

A free day to explore at your own pace. Walk the long Atlantic beach, browse the medina's art galleries and thuya marquetry workshops, try kitesurfing or surfing with a local school, and eat grilled sardines or sea bass at the harbour stalls.

No driving today

Riad Mimouna or similar, Essaouira

Essaouira to Casablanca via El Jadida

We drive north along the Atlantic coast, past fishing villages and the beaches of Oualidia, to El Jadida. There we visit the Portuguese Cistern, a 16th-century vaulted reservoir whose arches are reflected in a shallow pool beneath a single skylight, part of the UNESCO-listed Portuguese City of Mazagan. We continue to Casablanca for the evening.

About 5 hours on the road, roughly 360 km, plus stops

Hôtel Club Val d'Anfa or similar, Casablanca

Casablanca Farewell Day

A free final day in Casablanca. Options include the Habous quarter, a 1930s new medina that blends Moroccan and colonial architecture, the Central Market, or a last look at the Hassan II Mosque in the afternoon light. We suggest a farewell dinner of couscous or fish chermoula in the Maarif or Gauthier district.

No driving today

Hôtel Club Val d'Anfa or similar, Casablanca

Departure from Casablanca

A private transfer takes you to Mohammed V Airport at the time you need.

Airport transfer only