7-Day Morocco North Tour from Marrakech: Chefchaouen and Fez
Marrakech → Casablanca → Chefchaouen → Fez → Marrakech
North to the blue town most Marrakech-based itineraries skip, with the Hassan II Mosque and the Fez medina worked into the same loop so the long drives earn their keep.
Ask about this route
Highlights
- The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
- Two nights in Chefchaouen's blue-washed medina
- The Akchour waterfalls as an optional day walk
- A full guided day in the Fez medina on the way back
- A route built for travellers who've already done Marrakech and want the north
Day by day
A working draft: the order and pace are ours to adjust once we know what matters most to you.
Marrakech to Casablanca
North to the coast, with the Hassan II Mosque in the afternoon. Its 210-metre minaret is the world's second-tallest, and parts of the prayer hall floor look straight down onto the Atlantic.
About 3 hours on the road, roughly 240 km
Hotel, Casablanca
Casablanca to Chefchaouen
A longer drive up into the Rif toward Chefchaouen, founded in 1471, the land turning greener and hillier past Ouezzane, arriving as the light turns the medina's blue-washed walls a deeper shade.
About 5.5 hours on the road, roughly 370 km
Guesthouse, Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen
A free day to wander the blue lanes: the colour is most often traced to Jewish refugees who settled the Mellah quarter in the 1930s, tying it to the tradition of blue thread in prayer shawls, or an optional walk up to the Akchour waterfalls, about an hour away through the Talassemtane forest.
No driving today
Guesthouse, Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen to Fez
South through the Rif foothills and into the Sais plain, arriving in Fez with the evening free.
About 3.5 hours on the road, roughly 200 km
Riad, Fez medina
Fez medina
A full guided day through the Chouara tanneries' 11th-century dye pits, the carved Bou Inania madrasa, the ninth-century Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university, and the working leather and metalwork souks.
No driving today
Riad, Fez medina
Fez to Marrakech
A long final drive south over the Middle and High Atlas, or a domestic flight if preferred.
About 7.5 hours on the road, roughly 480 km
Included
- ✓Private car and driver for the full route
- ✓6 nights' accommodation, breakfast included
- ✓Local guide for the Fez medina day
Not included
- —International flights
- —Lunches and most dinners
- —Entry fees to monuments
- —Tips for driver and guide
Questions about this route
Ask about this route
Send us your rough dates and what you'd want to change, and we'll come back with a real draft, not a form letter.
Tour at a glance
- Duration
- 7 days · 6 nights
- Transport
- Private car/4x4
- Languages
- English, French
- Availability
- Year-round
From the blog
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
How many days do you actually need in Marrakech?
Enough to slow down, not so many that you run out of medina.
By Anouar
Read article
A first-timer's guide to the Fez medina
The oldest, most intact medina in Morocco, and the easiest one to get lost in on purpose.
By Omar Hafidi
Read articleOther routes
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.