6-Day Imperial Cities Tour from Marrakech
Marrakech → Casablanca → Rabat → Meknes → Fez → Marrakech
The four imperial cities without a single night in the desert: for travellers who came for the architecture, the history, and the medinas, and would rather spend the extra days there than in a 4x4.
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Highlights
- The Hassan II Mosque, built out over the Atlantic in Casablanca
- The Kasbah of the Udayas and Hassan Tower in Rabat
- Bab Mansour and the granaries of Meknes
- A half-day at the Roman ruins of Volubilis
- Two full days in the Fez medina before returning south
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
A shorter drive north to the coast, with the afternoon free for the Hassan II Mosque, its 210-metre minaret is the world's second-tallest, built between 1986 and 1993 to a design by French architect Michel Pinseau, and a walk along the Corniche.
About 3 hours on the road, roughly 240 km
Hotel, Casablanca
Casablanca to Rabat
An hour up the coast to the capital, founded in 1146 as an Almohad military base. The whitewashed Kasbah of the Udayas and the unfinished Hassan Tower were both built by the third Almohad caliph, Yaqub al-Mansur. Hassan Tower is one of three 'sister towers,' along with the Koutoubia in Marrakech and the Giralda in Seville, and storks nest in the ruined Chellah necropolis nearby.
About 1 hour on the road, roughly 90 km
Riad, Rabat
Rabat to Meknes via Volubilis
A stop at Volubilis, a Roman city founded in the 3rd century BC and taken over by Rome around 40 AD. Mosaic floors are still visible in the House of Orpheus among its 2nd- and 3rd-century ruins, and it's been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997. Then into Meknes, capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail's 17th-century empire, for an afternoon at the monumental Bab Mansour gate (completed in 1732 under his son Moulay Abdellah) and the old imperial granaries.
About 2 hours on the road, roughly 140 km
Riad, Meknes
Meknes to Fez
A short drive to Fez, with the afternoon free to get oriented: the Blue Gate and the edge of the medina, before the full medina day.
About 1 hour on the road, roughly 60 km
Riad, Fez medina
Fez medina
A full guided day through the Chouara tanneries' 11th-century dye pits, the carved cedar of the Bou Inania madrasa (built 1350–55, the only madrasa in Morocco raised to full Friday-mosque status), and the working leather and metalwork souks of Fez el-Bali.
No driving today
Riad, Fez medina
Fez to Marrakech
A long final drive south back over the Middle and High Atlas, or a domestic flight if your schedule prefers it.
About 7.5 hours on the road, roughly 480 km
Included
- ✓Private car and driver for the full route
- ✓5 nights' accommodation, breakfast included
- ✓Local guides in Rabat, Meknes, and Fez
- ✓Entry to Volubilis
Not included
- —International flights
- —Lunches and most dinners
- —Entry fees not listed above
- —Tips for driver and guides
Questions about this route
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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
- 6 days · 5 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
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How many days do you actually need in Marrakech?
Enough to slow down, not so many that you run out of medina.
By Anouar
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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
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