Grand Morocco tour · From Tangier
Sixteen unhurried days through the north, the capitals, the Sahara and the Atlantic coast.
About this tour
With sixteen days you can see Morocco the way it should be seen: slowly. This route starts on the northern coast with two nights in Tangier and a day in the artists' town of Asilah, then settles for two nights in Chefchaouen, with time to walk in the Rif.
It continues down the Atlantic through Rabat and Casablanca before turning inland to Meknes, Volubilis and Fes. From there you cross the Middle Atlas to Merzouga for two nights at the dunes, and travel west through the gorges with nights in the Dades Valley and Ouarzazate.
The journey ends with two nights in Marrakech and a final night by the ocean in Essaouira. Most driving days are under five hours, and several days have no driving at all.
Best for: Travellers with plenty of time who prefer two nights in each key place to a different bed every evening.
Tangier · medina · Kasbah Museum · American Legation · About 30 minutes of driving
After we meet you at the port or airport, the afternoon is given to Tangier's old town. Climb to the kasbah and the former sultan's palace, now a museum of Mediterranean cultures, and find the terrace beside it that looks straight across to Europe.
Down in the medina, the American Legation recalls that Morocco was the first country to recognise the United States; the building is the only American national historic landmark abroad. Dinner is at your leisure, perhaps fresh fish near the harbour.
Tangier · Cap Spartel · Caves of Hercules · Asilah · Tangier · About 2 hours of driving
A day on the Atlantic. Drive first to the headland of Cap Spartel and the sea caves where legend says Hercules rested after separating Europe from Africa. Then follow the coast south for 45 minutes to Asilah.
This small fishing town sits inside ramparts built by the Portuguese in the 15th century. Its houses are white with blue and green shutters, and each summer artists cover the walls with new murals. Walk out along the sea bastion, have lunch by the gate and return to Tangier in the late afternoon.
Tangier · Tetouan · Chefchaouen · About 2.5 hours of driving
Leave Tangier for Tetouan, the 'white dove' of the north. Its medina was built by Muslim and Jewish families expelled from Granada, and their descendants still live in its tall whitewashed houses. Visit the craft school if it is open, where young apprentices learn woodcarving, embroidery and tilework.
The mountain road reaches Chefchaouen by mid-afternoon. Settle into your riad for two nights and take a first walk through the blue lanes to the main square.
Chefchaouen · Akchour (optional) · No driving (1.5 hours if you visit Akchour)
No driving is planned today unless you want it. Many guests simply enjoy the town: breakfast on a roof terrace, a visit to the kasbah museum, a slow climb to the Spanish Mosque for the view, and an afternoon of browsing woollen blankets and goat's cheese in the market.
If you like to walk, your driver can take you to Akchour, 45 minutes away, where a trail follows a clear river to a series of waterfalls and to the natural rock arch known as God's Bridge.
Chefchaouen · Ouezzane · Kenitra · Rabat · About 4 hours of driving
Descend from the mountains through Ouezzane, a town of olive presses and weavers, and across the fertile Gharb plain to the Atlantic. You reach Rabat in the early afternoon.
Begin at the Hassan Tower, the minaret of a mosque planned in the 12th century to be the largest in the world, and the white mausoleum that faces it. Then walk through the Kasbah of the Udayas to the terrace above the river mouth, and take tea in the Andalusian garden.
Rabat · Chellah · Casablanca · Hassan II Mosque · Corniche · About 1.5 hours of driving
Spend the morning at Chellah, where the ruins of a Roman town and a medieval royal cemetery share a walled garden full of storks. Then drive an hour down the coast to Casablanca, the country's largest city and business capital.
Visit the Hassan II Mosque on a guided tour of the prayer hall and ablution rooms. The building stands partly over the ocean, and its craftsmanship in marble, cedar and zellige is extraordinary. Later, see the Art Deco facades around Mohammed V Square and walk the seafront.
Casablanca · Meknes · Volubilis · Fes · About 5 hours of driving
Take the motorway inland to Meknes. Sultan Moulay Ismail spent half a century building this city, and what remains is on a giant's scale: gates, walls within walls, a mausoleum and granaries cooled by water channels beneath the floor.
A short drive north brings you to Volubilis, where a guide explains the Roman streets, oil presses and mosaics. From the ruins you can see Moulay Idriss, the holy town on its twin hills. Continue to Fes for two nights.
Fes el-Bali · Fes el-Jdid · Borj Sud · pottery quarter · Walking tour
Fes repays a whole day on foot. With your guide, see the palace gates and the Mellah, look over the medina from Borj Sud and visit a workshop where mosaics are assembled piece by piece. Then go in through Bab R'cif or Bab Boujloud and let the city swallow you.
The route passes the Attarine Madrasa, the spice and henna souks, the brass workers of Seffarine and the tanneries. Lunch is in a restored house in the medina, and your guide returns you to your riad by late afternoon.
Fes · Ifrane · Azrou · Midelt · Ziz Valley · Erfoud · Merzouga · Erg Chebbi · About 7 hours of driving
Set out for the south through Ifrane and the cedar forest. The trees here can live for eight hundred years, and troops of macaques forage beneath them. Beyond the forest the road crosses open country to Midelt, where you stop for lunch.
The descent through the Ziz Gorges brings the first palm groves and the first real heat. In Merzouga, your camel is ready: ride for an hour and a half into Erg Chebbi, watch the sunset from the sand and sleep in a desert camp.
Erg Chebbi · Khamlia · M'ifis · nomad camps · Dayet Srij · Merzouga · About 2 hours of off-road driving
After sunrise on the dunes and breakfast at camp, explore the country around Erg Chebbi in a 4x4. The tracks cross the hamada, the black stone desert, to nomad tents, to the mining ruins of M'ifis and to Khamlia, where Gnawa families keep alive the music of their ancestors.
When there has been rain, the lake of Dayet Srij fills and flamingos arrive. The afternoon is free at your hotel beside the dunes; sandboards are available, and the pool is welcome in the warmer months.
Merzouga · Erfoud · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley · About 5 hours of driving
Drive west with the Atlas on your right and the desert on your left. In Erfoud, see how slabs of black marble full of fossils are cut and polished. Tinghir comes next, with its old Jewish quarter and terraced palm gardens.
Walk through the Todra Gorge, then follow the Dades river upstream past the Monkey Fingers rocks to the upper gorge. Your hotel has a terrace over the valley, a fine place to watch the cliffs change colour at sunset.
Dades Valley · Kalaat M'Gouna · Skoura · Ouarzazate · About 2.5 hours of driving
An easy day. Stop in Kalaat M'Gouna to see how rose petals are distilled, and walk in the palm grove of Skoura, where paths lead between irrigation channels to Kasbah Amridil, lived in by the same family for three centuries.
Reach Ouarzazate after lunch. Visit the Taourirt Kasbah, a labyrinth of rooms that once belonged to the Glaoui clan, or tour the Atlas Studios, whose sets have stood in for Egypt, Tibet and ancient Rome.
Ouarzazate · Aït Benhaddou · Telouet · Tizi n'Tichka · Marrakech · About 5 hours of driving
Arrive at Aït Benhaddou in the morning, before the day visitors, and walk up through the ksar in the best light. Then take the back road through the Ounila Valley to Telouet and the kasbah of the last great lords of the Atlas.
Rejoin the main road at the Tizi n'Tichka pass and descend the northern side of the mountains, green where the south was red. You are in Marrakech by late afternoon, with two nights ahead.
Marrakech medina · palaces · souks · Walking tour
Meet your city guide after breakfast. Visit the Bahia Palace and the ruins of El Badi, once called the Incomparable, then the Saadian Tombs and the gardens around the Koutoubia. The souks fill the afternoon: spices at Rahba Kedima, slippers, brass, wool still dripping from the dyers' vats.
The evening belongs to Jemaa el-Fna. Eat at one of the numbered stalls, listen to the musicians and watch the storytellers gather their circles, as they have for centuries.
Marrakech · argan forest · Essaouira · About 3 hours of driving
Drive west across the plain to the Atlantic. Halfway, the argan forest begins, and you may see goats standing in the branches of the trees. A women's cooperative shows how the nuts are cracked and ground for oil.
Essaouira appears suddenly: white walls, blue boats and a line of surf. Walk the ramparts and their bronze cannons, visit the harbour when the catch comes in, and have grilled fish for dinner. The medina is small, flat and relaxed after the intensity of Marrakech.
Essaouira · Marrakech · Menara airport · About 3 hours of driving
Take a last walk on the beach or through the woodworkers' workshops under the ramparts, then drive back to Marrakech. We plan the departure time around your flight.
Your driver-guide takes you directly to Menara airport, or to a hotel if you are staying on. With an early flight, we suggest spending this last night in Marrakech instead and visiting Essaouira as a day trip.
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
The cities, valleys and landscapes we recommend for a first trip to Morocco.
Where the dunes are, the best season to visit and what a night in Erg Chebbi is really like.
When to go, how long to stay, how to get around and how to build a route that fits your time.
Related tours
The fastest way from the Strait of Gibraltar to Marrakech by way of the Sahara: Chefchaouen, a night in Fes, a camel ride and camp in Erg Chebbi, the gorges and Aït Benhaddou.
North to south in nine days: Tangier, Tetouan and Chefchaouen, Volubilis and a guided day in Fes, a night in the Merzouga dunes, the kasbah road to Marrakech and a finish in Casablanca.
Ten days from Tangier to Marrakech with time to breathe: Chefchaouen, two nights in Fes, two nights at the Merzouga dunes with a 4x4 day, the gorges of the south and two nights in Marrakech.
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.
