Fes Guided Medina Tour
Today a licensed local guide takes you into Fes el-Bali, the old medina of Fes and one of the largest car-free city areas in the world. It is a maze of more than 9,000 narrow lanes. You see the Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas, with their carved cedar, stucco and colourful zellige tiles, and the outside of Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and known as one of the oldest universities in the world.
In the afternoon you visit the craftsmen: weavers, coppersmiths, and the famous Chouara tannery, where leather is dyed in big stone pits the same way it was done centuries ago. From a terrace above, you see the colours below. You also visit the Royal Palace gates and the old Jewish quarter, the Mellah. In the evening, rest at your riad and enjoy a dinner of pastilla, the famous sweet and salty Fes pie.
Key stops
Fes el-Bali · Bou Inania · Al-Attarine · Al Quaraouiyine · Chouara tannery · Royal Palace
Stay
Traditional riad in Fes
Fes → Ifrane → Azrou → Midelt → Ziz Valley → Merzouga
You leave Fes in the morning and climb into the Middle Atlas. The first stop is Ifrane, a clean little town with red roofs and parks that people call the Switzerland of Morocco. Then the road enters the cedar forest near Azrou, home to the Barbary macaques, small wild monkeys that live only in Morocco and Algeria. After the forest come wide high plains, and you stop for lunch in Midelt, the apple town under the snowy peak of Jbel Ayachi.
In the afternoon you cross the Ziz Gorges and pass the Tunnel du Légionnaire, then follow the Ziz Valley, a long green river of date palms below the road. At Erfoud the sand begins. In Merzouga you meet your camels and ride into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for sunset. At the camp you have mint tea, dinner and music by the fire, and then the sky fills with stars.
Key stops
Ifrane · Azrou cedar forest · Midelt · Ziz Gorges · Ziz Valley · Erg Chebbi
Stay
Desert camp in Merzouga
Merzouga → Khamlia → Nomad families → Erg Chebbi
Today there is no long drive. After breakfast, your driver takes you around the dunes by 4x4. First you visit a nomad family in their tent of dark goat hair. They move with their goats and camels to find water and grass, and they will offer you tea and bread baked in the sand. Then you drive to Khamlia, a small village whose people came across the Sahara from West Africa long ago. The Gnawa musicians welcome you with deep drums, iron castanets and old songs.
In the afternoon you see the other faces of the desert: the black volcanic stones of the hamada, the old mining area of Mifis and, after a rainy winter, the lake of Dayet Srji, where flamingos sometimes stop. Before sunset, climb a big dune and watch the sand turn red. You sleep near the dunes again tonight, in a camp or a comfortable hotel with a pool.
Key stops
Nomad family · Khamlia Gnawa music · Mifis · Dayet Srji · sunset dune
Stay
Desert lodge in Merzouga
Merzouga → Rissani → Erfoud → Tinghir → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley
Wake up for sunrise on the dunes, then ride back for breakfast. You drive through Rissani, the heart of the Tafilalet and the old land of Sijilmassa, and Erfoud, where workshops cut black marble full of 350-million-year-old fossils. Then you cross the open hamada, flat and dark, with small oases here and there.
At Tinghir the green palm grove appears, and you walk into Todra Gorge between walls of rock about 300 metres high. After lunch you continue to Boumalne and into the Dades Valley, where the soft red rocks look like giant fingers. Your guesthouse waits by the river, and dinner is a warm tagine as the cliffs go dark.
Key stops
Rissani · Erfoud fossils · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley
Stay
Kasbah-style hotel in Dades
Dades Valley → Valley of Roses → Skoura → Ouarzazate → Aït Ben Haddou
Today you follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. You pass Kelaat M'Gouna, the rose town, and stop in the Skoura palm grove to see Kasbah Amridil, one of the best-kept kasbahs in the south. Then you continue to Ouarzazate for lunch, with time to see Kasbah Taourirt or the film studios.
In the late afternoon you arrive in Aït Ben Haddou. Walk across the river and climb through the old village for sunset, when the clay walls glow red and orange and the day visitors have gone. Tonight you sleep in a guesthouse right next to the ksar, with a view of it lit up at night.
Key stops
Valley of Roses · Kasbah Amridil · Ouarzazate · Aït Ben Haddou at sunset
Stay
Guesthouse or riad near Aït Ben Haddou
Aït Ben Haddou → High Atlas → Tizi n'Tichka → Marrakech
Have breakfast with a view of the ksar, then walk once more through its quiet lanes in the morning light. The road then climbs into the High Atlas. Stop at viewpoints over the valleys, where small villages of red earth hang on the mountainsides and walnut and almond trees grow along the rivers.
At the Tizi n'Tichka pass you are 2,260 metres high. After that, the road goes down through pine forests and Berber villages selling minerals and argan oil. You arrive in Marrakech in the early afternoon and check in to your riad. In the evening, enjoy Jemaa el-Fna and the lively streets of the old city.
Key stops
Aït Ben Haddou · High Atlas · Tizi n'Tichka · Marrakech
Marrakech Guided Tour → Bahia Palace → Majorelle Garden
Today a licensed local guide shows you the secrets of the Red City. You start at the Koutoubia Mosque, whose 12th-century minaret was the model for the Giralda in Seville. Then you walk into the medina to the Bahia Palace, built in the 19th century for a powerful vizier, with painted cedar ceilings, colourful tiles and quiet gardens. Close by are the Saadian Tombs, hidden for centuries and found again only in 1917.
In the afternoon, step out of the old city to the Majorelle Garden, the bright blue garden made famous by Yves Saint Laurent, full of cactus, palms and bamboo. Back in the medina, your guide leads you through the souks: leather workers, metal lanterns, spices, carpets and wooden boxes. It is easy to get lost here, so it is good to have someone who knows the way. The evening is free to enjoy your riad or dinner in the old town.
Key stops
Koutoubia · Bahia Palace · Saadian Tombs · Majorelle Garden · souks
Stay
Tour ends in Marrakech
