Casablanca → Hassan II Mosque → Rabat
Welcome to Morocco. Your driver meets you at Casablanca airport or your hotel. Your first stop is the Hassan II Mosque, built over the Atlantic Ocean, with a minaret about 210 metres tall, one of the highest in the world. Guided visits inside show the carved cedar, marble and zellige made by thousands of Moroccan craftsmen.
Then you drive about one hour along the coast to Rabat, the calm and green capital. In the late afternoon, walk in the Kasbah of the Udayas, a small fortress with white and blue lanes and a garden above the river mouth. Tonight you sleep in Rabat.
Key stops
Hassan II Mosque · Atlantic coast · Rabat · Kasbah of the Udayas
Stay
Riad or boutique hotel in Rabat
Rabat → Chefchaouen
In the morning, visit the Hassan Tower, the unfinished minaret of a 12th-century mosque, surrounded by rows of old stone columns, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V with its guards on horseback. Then you leave the coast and drive north-east through farmland towards the Rif Mountains.
You arrive in Chefchaouen in the afternoon. The blue town sits under two peaks, and its lanes are painted in every shade of blue. Walk to the Outa el Hammam square, have a mint tea under the walls of the kasbah, and go up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset.
Key stops
Hassan Tower · Mausoleum of Mohammed V · Rif Mountains · Chefchaouen
Stay
Traditional riad in Chefchaouen
Chefchaouen → Volubilis → Meknes → Fes
After breakfast you leave the Rif and drive south through farmland and olive groves to Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman city in Morocco and a UNESCO site. Walk among the columns of the basilica, the triumphal arch of Caracalla and the floor mosaics of old houses, with wide green hills all around.
Next is Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail. See the huge Bab Mansour gate and the old granaries and stables, then continue to Fes. You arrive in the evening and check in to your riad in the medina.
Key stops
Volubilis · Arch of Caracalla · Meknes · Bab Mansour · Fes
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
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 Erg Chebbi
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
Riad or desert hotel 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 → Marrakech
Today you follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. You pass Kelaat M'Gouna, the town of roses, and stop in the Skoura palm grove to see Kasbah Amridil, which was once printed on the 50-dirham banknote. Then you reach Ouarzazate and continue to Aït Ben Haddou, the UNESCO clay ksar. Walk up through the narrow lanes to the granary at the top, where the view goes all the way to the mountains.
After lunch, the road climbs the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres. It twists and turns past small Berber villages built from the same red earth as the mountain. In the evening you come down into the warm air of Marrakech, and your driver drops you at your riad or hotel.
Key stops
Valley of Roses · Kasbah Amridil · Ouarzazate · Aït Ben Haddou · Tizi n'Tichka
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
Marrakech → Argan country → Essaouira
After breakfast you drive west across the plains. About halfway, the argan trees begin. If you are lucky, you will see goats standing high in the branches, eating the fruit. You stop at a women's cooperative to see how argan oil is made by hand, from cracking the hard nut between two stones to pressing the oil.
By lunchtime you reach Essaouira, a white and blue town on the Atlantic, once called Mogador and listed by UNESCO. The wind from the ocean is fresh. Walk along the Skala ramparts with their old bronze cannons, and end the day at the port, where fishermen sell sardines from their blue boats and grill them for you.
Key stops
Argan trees · women's cooperative · Essaouira · Skala ramparts · fishing port
Stay
Riad or boutique hotel in Essaouira
Exploring Essaouira
Today is slow. Have breakfast on a rooftop and walk through the medina while it wakes up. Visit the woodworkers who make boxes and tables from fragrant thuya wood, the art galleries, and the spice and fish markets. The streets here are calm, and the sea air feels good after the desert.
In the afternoon, walk on the long sandy beach south of the town or try a camel or horse ride along the sea. Essaouira is also famous for wind and kitesurfing. In the evening, watch the sunset from the Skala, then have fresh fish for dinner near the port.
Key stops
Medina · thuya workshops · beach · Skala at sunset · port
Stay
Riad or boutique hotel in Essaouira
Essaouira → Marrakech
After a last morning in Essaouira, maybe a walk on the beach or a coffee by the port, your driver takes you back east through the argan country. The road is easy and takes about three hours, with a stop for lunch on the way.
You arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon, and your driver takes you to your riad, hotel or the airport. Your private journey ends here, after mountains, kasbahs, the Sahara and the ocean, all in one trip.
Key stops
Argan country · Marrakech
Stay
Tour ends in Marrakech
