Grand Morocco tour · From Marrakech
Fifteen days, ten regions and not a single road driven twice.
About this tour
This is our most complete itinerary from Marrakech. It draws one great loop around the country: west to the Atlantic at Essaouira, south to the walled town of Taroudant, east through the saffron and carpet villages of the Anti-Atlas to Ouarzazate, and on to the Sahara.
After two nights at the dunes of Merzouga, the route turns north, breaking the journey in Midelt so that the drive through the Ziz Valley and the cedar forest can be enjoyed slowly. Two nights in Fes are followed by two in Chefchaouen, and the tour ends with Rabat and Casablanca.
Because the route never doubles back, every day brings a new landscape. Driving is kept to around four or five hours on most days, and there are four days with little or none.
Best for: Travellers with two weeks who want to see every side of Morocco, including the less-visited south-west.
Marrakech airport · medina · About 30 minutes of driving
We meet you at Menara airport and drive you to your accommodation. If you arrive by midday, your driver can take you for a first look at the city walls, the Menara pavilion and the gardens of the Koutoubia.
Otherwise, rest after your flight. The roof terrace of a riad at dusk, with swifts overhead and the call to prayer rising from a dozen minarets, is a fine introduction to Morocco.
Marrakech medina · palaces · souks · Jemaa el-Fna · Walking tour
Discover the medina with a guide who knows its shortcuts. The route usually runs from the Koutoubia to the kasbah quarter for the Saadian Tombs, on to the Bahia Palace and the Mellah, and north through the souks to the Ben Youssef Madrasa.
You will be shown how to tell hand-stitched slippers from machine-made ones, and where the locals buy their spices. Free time follows, and the evening is best spent on and around Jemaa el-Fna.
Marrakech · Chichaoua · argan forest · Essaouira · About 3 hours of driving
Drive west through Chichaoua, a carpet-weaving town, and into the argan forest, a tree that grows wild only in this corner of Morocco. Stop at a cooperative to taste amlou, a paste of almonds, honey and argan oil.
By lunchtime you are in Essaouira. Choose your fish at the harbour grills, then walk the sea walls, browse the galleries and watch the kitesurfers on the bay. The town's steady breeze and easy pace make it a favourite with almost everyone.
Essaouira · Tamri · Taghazout · Agadir · Taroudant · About 4.5 hours of driving
The coast road south is one of the most scenic in the country, running above empty beaches and through the banana plantations of Tamri to the surf village of Taghazout. In Agadir, drive up to the old kasbah hill for a view over the bay and the port.
Then turn inland along the Souss Valley, between orange groves, to Taroudant. Often called a small Marrakech, it is ringed by seven kilometres of golden ramparts. Tour them by horse-drawn carriage at sunset and visit the two souks in the centre.
Taroudant · Taliouine · Tazenakht · Aït Benhaddou · Ouarzazate · About 5.5 hours of driving
Today's road is one few visitors see. It climbs from the Souss into the Anti-Atlas at Taliouine, the saffron capital of Morocco, where a cooperative explains how the purple crocus is picked at dawn each November. Further east, Tazenakht is known for the bold carpets woven by the women of the Aït Ouaouzguite tribe.
In the afternoon you reach Aït Benhaddou from the south and explore the ksar when the light is warmest. Ouarzazate is a short drive away.
Ouarzazate · Skoura · Kalaat M'Gouna · Dades Gorge · About 3 hours of driving
Begin with a look at Ouarzazate: the Taourirt Kasbah and, if films interest you, one of the studios. Then follow the Dades river east. The palm grove at Skoura hides dozens of kasbahs, some restored, many slowly returning to the earth.
After the rose valley of Kalaat M'Gouna, the road turns up into the Dades Gorge. Stop at the rocks called the Monkey Fingers and at the viewpoint above the hairpins before reaching your hotel.
Dades Valley · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Tinejdad · Erfoud · Merzouga · Erg Chebbi · About 4.5 hours of driving
Continue east to Tinghir and walk in the Todra Gorge, where the river has sliced through the mountain like a knife. Lunch is on the road, perhaps in Tinejdad, an oasis of mud-brick ksour.
At Erfoud the first sand appears. In Merzouga, leave your bags and ride a camel into Erg Chebbi for the sunset and a night in a desert camp, far enough from the village that there is no light but the fire and the stars.
Erg Chebbi · M'ifis · nomad camps · Khamlia · Hassi Labied · Merzouga · About 2 hours of off-road driving
Watch the sun rise, eat breakfast in camp and return to Merzouga. A 4x4 takes over for a circuit of the dunes: the mining village of M'ifis, a visit with a nomad family and their goats, and a concert of Gnawa music in Khamlia.
Back near the village, your guide walks you through the gardens of Hassi Labied to explain how water is divided between plots. The night is spent in a hotel beside the dunes, with dinner on the terrace.
Merzouga · Rissani · Erfoud · Ziz Valley · Errachidia · Midelt · About 4.5 hours of driving
A shorter day lets you start at Rissani. Walk through the market, see the gateway of the old ksar and the mausoleum of Moulay Ali Cherif, ancestor of the present royal family. Then follow the Ziz north through a continuous oasis.
Stop at the viewpoint above Aoufous and in the gorges beyond Errachidia before climbing to Midelt, at 1,500 metres. The air is cool here even in summer, and the town is known for its apples and its mineral shops.
Midelt · Col du Zad · Azrou · Ifrane · Fes · About 3.5 hours of driving
Cross the high plateau, where nomads of the Beni Mguild tribe pitch their tents in summer, and descend into the cedar forest. With a whole morning in hand, there is time for a proper walk under the trees to look for macaques away from the roadside.
Have lunch in Azrou or Ifrane and arrive in Fes by mid-afternoon. Your driver stops at the Borj Sud viewpoint on the way in, so that you see the medina whole before entering it tomorrow.
Fes el-Bali · Fes el-Jdid · Mellah · Walking tour
Give the day to Fes el-Bali. With a local guide, visit a madrasa, the Nejjarine museum of wooden arts and the tanneries, and see the bakers, weavers and knife-grinders who make this medina a working town rather than a museum.
After lunch, cross to Fes el-Jdid for the palace gates, the Mellah and its cemetery of white tombs. If you would like to try your hand at zellige or pottery, a workshop visit can be added.
Fes · Meknes · Volubilis · Ouezzane · Chefchaouen · About 5.5 hours of driving
Drive to Meknes for Bab Mansour and the granaries of Moulay Ismail, then to Volubilis for a walk among the Roman streets and mosaics. Both are close to Fes, so you are back on the road north by early afternoon.
The route crosses rolling farmland to Ouezzane and enters the Rif. Chefchaouen comes into view around a bend, a splash of blue and white against the mountain. You stay two nights.
Chefchaouen · Ras el-Maa · Spanish Mosque · No driving
Chefchaouen is a place to slow down. Explore the upper lanes, where the blue is freshest, and the square of Uta el-Hammam with its kasbah and octagonal minaret. At the spring of Ras el-Maa, cafés set their tables beside the water.
In the late afternoon, take the path to the Spanish Mosque on the hill opposite. The walk takes twenty minutes, and the view of the town at sunset is the one on every postcard.
Chefchaouen · Ouezzane · Rabat · About 4 hours of driving
Drive south-west out of the mountains to the coast and the capital. Rabat is orderly and green, with wide avenues lined with palms and a medina that is easy to walk.
Visit the Hassan Tower and the royal mausoleum, the storks and ruins of Chellah, and the Kasbah of the Udayas. The café at the foot of the kasbah serves mint tea and almond pastries with a view over the river to Salé.
Rabat · Casablanca · Hassan II Mosque · airport · About 2 hours of driving
The final drive follows the Atlantic to Casablanca. See the Hassan II Mosque, its minaret visible from far out at sea, and the squares and arcades the French laid out in the 1920s.
We then transfer you to Mohammed V airport. If your flight is early, we suggest spending the last night in Casablanca instead of Rabat; tell us when you book.
Every tent is private. Pick the comfort level that suits you; tell us your choice when you book.
Private tents with their own en-suite bathroom, offering a good balance between comfort and the authentic feel of a Berber camp.
Spacious, elegantly furnished tents equipped with air conditioning and heating, so you stay cool on summer nights and warm in winter. Ideal for couples and families.
Absolutely. Every tour is private, so you can add or remove nights, change the camp style, combine routes or start on a different date. Tell us what you have in mind and we will adapt the plan and price.
A private, air-conditioned minivan or 4x4, depending on group size. Our vehicles are under five years old, regularly inspected and insured for tourist transport.
Yes, families travel with us often. Children love the camel ride and the camp. For young children we usually recommend a longer version of the route, with shorter driving days.
Comfortable clothes, a warm layer for the evenings, a hat or scarf, sunglasses, sun cream and closed shoes. For the desert night, a small backpack is enough; your main luggage stays safely in the vehicle.
Both camps have private tents with en-suite bathrooms, hot showers and comfortable bedding. The mid-range luxury camp offers a good balance between comfort and authenticity. The luxury camp adds air conditioning and heating in every tent, plus more spacious, elegantly furnished tents, so you stay comfortable on hot summer nights and cold winter ones.
Before you go
Where the dunes are, the best season to visit and what a night in Erg Chebbi is really like.
Day trips and short escapes from the city, from mountain villages to waterfalls and kasbahs.
A practical packing list for medinas, mountains and a night in the Sahara, with what to wear in each season.
Related tours
Short on time? Cross the High Atlas, walk the lanes of Aït Benhaddou, follow the palm-lined Drâa Valley and spend a night under Saharan stars near Zagora.
A one-way crossing that turns a long transfer into an adventure: kasbahs, the Dades and Todra gorges, a camel ride into Erg Chebbi, then cedar forests on the road to Fes.
Our most requested route. Two days of mountain passes, gorges and oases lead to a sunset camel trek and a night in a Berber camp beneath the tallest dunes in Morocco.
The same classic crossing at an easier pace, with an extra day in the dunes to explore nomad life, Gnawa music in Khamlia and the oasis around Merzouga.
