10-Day Morocco Tour from Fez to Marrakech via the Sahara and Essaouira

Arrival in Fez

Arrive in Fez and settle into your riad in the heart of Fez el-Bali, the world's largest car-free medina. The sounds of hammers on copper and the call to prayer from the minarets give an immediate sense of arrival. A welcome dinner of harira soup and lamb tagine is served in the riad courtyard while your guide introduces the week ahead.

Airport transfer only

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Full Day in the Fez Medina

A licensed local guide leads the day through Fez el-Bali. We visit Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating university in the world, the Bou Inania Madrasa and the Nejjarine woodworking museum, pass the brass gates of the Royal Palace and walk through the Mellah. We finish with a view of the Chouara Tanneries from a rooftop, where leather is still dyed in stone vats.

No driving today

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Fez to Chefchaouen

We drive north-west through the foothills of the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, the Blue Pearl, whose medina is washed in shades of blue. We visit the Kasbah and its small museum, Uta el-Hammam square and the workshops weaving wool djellabas, then climb to the Spanish Mosque at sunset for a view over the rooftops and the Rif.

About 3.5 hours on the road, roughly 200 km

Dar Echchaouen or similar, Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen to Fez via Volubilis and Meknes

After a morning in Chefchaouen's medina we drive south to Volubilis, a UNESCO-listed Roman city with mosaic floors, a triumphal arch and the remains of a Capitoline temple. We continue to Meknes, the imperial capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail in the late 17th century, to see the Bab Mansour gate, the royal granaries and stables, and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, then drive on to Fez for the night.

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

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Fez to Merzouga via the Middle Atlas

A long day south. We leave Fez early and drive through the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas, stopping in Ifrane, a mountain town of alpine-style chalets, and at Azrou, where wild Barbary macaques come to the roadside. After lunch in Midelt, the apple town between the Middle and High Atlas, we descend through the Ziz Gorges into the Ziz Valley, a 70-kilometre ribbon of date palms between terracotta canyon walls, and pass the fossil workshops of Erfoud. In the late afternoon you ride a camel across the dunes of Erg Chebbi to a luxury Berber camp for a feast and drumming around the fire.

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

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

A Sahara Day in Merzouga

We climb a dune before dawn to watch the sunrise, then eat a nomad-style breakfast at camp. A 4x4 trip takes you to Khamlia for a live performance by Gnaoua musicians, and to a nomadic Berber family's goat-hair tent for mint tea. The afternoon is for remote oases and fossil riverbeds.

Short 4x4 excursion only

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

Merzouga to the Dades Valley

We drive west through Rissani, the old capital of the Tafilalt and birthplace of Morocco's ruling Alaouite dynasty, and along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs, the historic trade route between the Sahara and the Atlas. At Todra Gorge we walk the canyon floor between limestone walls up to 300 metres high, then continue to the Dades Valley and the Monkey Fingers rock formations.

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

Dades Paradise or similar, Dades Valley

Dades Valley to Marrakech

We drive through the Rose Valley of Kelaat M'Gouna and the Skoura palm oasis to Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO ksar where a local guide explains its mud-brick kasbahs and the caravan trade behind them. We cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, 2,260 metres at the summit, and arrive in Marrakech in the late afternoon.

About 6 hours on the road, roughly 310 km, plus stops

Riad Aslal or similar, Marrakech medina

Day Trip to Essaouira

We drive west through the argan forests, with a stop at a women's cooperative to see argan oil ground by hand and to taste amlou. In Essaouira, a UNESCO-listed walled port, we walk the Skala ramparts with their old cannons, the fishing harbour and the thuya-wood workshops, and eat freshly grilled fish. We return to Marrakech in the evening.

About 5 hours round trip, roughly 350 km

Riad Aslal or similar, Marrakech medina

Marrakech Guided Morning and Departure

A guided morning in the Marrakech medina takes in the Koutoubia minaret, the 19th-century Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs, followed by the souks of Rahba Kedima and the copper and leather quarters, and a farewell at Jemaa el-Fna. A private transfer then takes you to Menara Airport or your hotel.

Airport transfer only