9-Day Morocco Tour from Marrakech to Casablanca via the Sahara and Chefchaouen

Marrakech Arrival and Medina

Arrive in Marrakech and settle into your riad in the old medina. With a licensed guide we visit the 19th-century Bahia Palace with its carved cedar ceilings and zellige, the Saadian Tombs, and the Koutoubia minaret, then walk through the souks to Jemaa el-Fna, where storytellers, Gnaoua musicians and food stalls fill the square at dusk.

No driving today

Riad Aslal or similar, Marrakech medina

Marrakech to the Dades Valley via Ait Benhaddou

We climb the Tizi n'Tichka pass, 2,260 metres at the summit, with views over the Atlas in both directions. At Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO ksar used as a set for Gladiator and Game of Thrones, a local guide explains its mud-brick kasbahs and the caravan trade that built them. We continue through Ouarzazate, the Skoura oasis and the Rose Valley to the Dades Valley.

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

Dades Paradise or similar, Dades Valley

Dades Valley to Merzouga via Todra Gorge

We begin at the Monkey Fingers rock formations in the Dades Gorge, then drive to Todra Gorge, where 300-metre walls narrow to around 10 metres over a cold, clear river, and walk the canyon floor. After Erfoud and the covered souk at Rissani we reach Merzouga, where you ride a camel at sunset into the Erg Chebbi dunes to a luxury Berber camp for dinner and live drumming.

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

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

A Full Day in the Sahara

We climb a dune before dawn for the Sahara sunrise, then ride back for a nomad-style breakfast at camp. A morning 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 fossil riverbeds and hidden oases, with optional sandboarding or quad biking.

Short 4x4 excursion only

Tiziri Desert Camp or similar, Erg Chebbi

Merzouga to Fez via the Middle Atlas

We drive north along the Ziz Valley, a 70-kilometre ribbon of date palms between ochre canyon walls. The road passes the cedar forest at Azrou, where wild Barbary macaques come to the roadside, and the alpine-style town of Ifrane, before descending into Fez.

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

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Full Day in the Fez Medina

A licensed guide takes you through Fez el-Bali, the world's largest car-free medina. We visit Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and widely regarded as the oldest continuously operating university, the Bou Inania Madrasa and the Nejjarine woodworking museum, pass the Royal Palace gates, visit the potters at the Pottery Village, view the Chouara Tanneries from a rooftop and walk through the Mellah.

No driving today

Riad Fez Mahal or similar, Fez medina

Fez to Chefchaouen via Volubilis and Meknes

We drive west to Volubilis, a UNESCO-listed Roman city, where a local guide explains the mosaic of Orpheus charming the animals, the triumphal arch of Caracalla and the olive presses that supplied Rome. At Meknes we see the Bab Mansour gate and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, then continue north into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen.

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

Dar Echchaouen or similar, Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen to Casablanca via Rabat

After a morning in Chefchaouen at the Kasbah, Uta el-Hammam square and the artisan workshops, with an optional walk to the Akchour waterfalls if you start early, we drive south to Rabat to see the unfinished Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V and the Oudaya Kasbah above the Bou Regreg estuary. We continue to Casablanca for a visit to the Hassan II Mosque, built partly over the Atlantic with a 210-metre minaret and a retractable roof, before you are dropped at your accommodation for the night.

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

Hôtel Club Val d'Anfa or similar, Casablanca

Casablanca Departure

A private transfer takes you to Mohammed V Airport at the time you need, with plenty of margin for check-in.

Airport transfer only