Grand Morocco tour · From Casablanca
Four imperial cities and two desert nights, starting and ending in Casablanca.
About this tour
Eight days is enough to see the four imperial cities and to give the Sahara two full nights, as long as the route is planned carefully. This one is: it goes straight from Casablanca through Rabat and Meknes to Fes on the first day, saving time for what matters later.
After a guided day in Fes you drive south to Merzouga, ride camels into Erg Chebbi and sleep in a desert camp, then spend the following day exploring the dunes and villages by 4x4. The road to Marrakech runs through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Aït Benhaddou.
A guided visit of Marrakech fills the seventh day, and on the eighth we return you to Casablanca for your flight. If you can fly home from Marrakech, you gain a free morning there.
Best for: Travellers with a week who want the imperial cities and a proper stay in the desert, with a return flight from Casablanca.
Casablanca · Hassan II Mosque · Rabat · Meknes · Fes · About 4.5 hours of driving
Your driver-guide meets you at the airport or your hotel. If you arrived the night before, start with the Hassan II Mosque, then drive north to Rabat for the Hassan Tower, the mausoleum and a short walk in the Kasbah of the Udayas.
The motorway turns inland through cork forest to Meknes. Stop at Bab Mansour, the most photographed gate in Morocco, and the square in front of it, then continue to Fes. With a morning arrival flight we shorten the stops so that you still reach Fes for dinner.
Fes el-Bali · Royal Palace · Mellah · Borj Sud · Walking tour
Fes was the capital of Morocco for more than four hundred years, and its medina is the best-preserved medieval city in the Arab world. A local guide leads you through it: the Bou Inania Madrasa, the Attarine spice market, the Nejjarine fountain and the terraces above the tannery.
Outside the walls, see the palace gates, the Jewish quarter and the view from Borj Sud. The guide adjusts the pace to you, and there is time for a long lunch in a courtyard restaurant.
Fes · Ifrane · Azrou · Midelt · Ziz Valley · Erfoud · Merzouga · Erg Chebbi · About 7 hours of driving
Leave Fes at 8:00 am. The morning takes you up to Ifrane and through the cedar forest, home of the Barbary macaque, then across a windswept plateau to Midelt. After lunch, a pass through the eastern High Atlas leads to the Ziz Gorges.
The valley widens into a long oasis, and beyond Erfoud the dunes come into sight. Ride into Erg Chebbi by camel and reach your camp at dusk. Dinner is served in the dining tent, and the evening ends around the fire.
Erg Chebbi · Khamlia · nomad camps · M'ifis · Merzouga · About 2 hours of off-road driving
After the sunrise, return to the village and join your driver for a day on the desert tracks. Meet a nomad family, visit the Gnawa musicians of Khamlia and see the fossils that lie loose on the ground near the old mines.
Lunch is in a village house or a small restaurant, at your own cost. By mid-afternoon you are at your hotel on the edge of the dunes, free to rest by the pool or walk up the sand for a second sunset.
Merzouga · Rissani · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley · About 5 hours of driving
Drive west through Rissani and across the plain to Tinghir. The town overlooks a palm grove that runs for kilometres along the Todra river, and the gorge itself is a short drive upstream.
Walk between the cliffs, then follow the main road to Boumalne and turn up the Dades Valley. The evening is spent in a small hotel among the rock formations, with a home-cooked tagine for dinner.
Dades Valley · Kalaat M'Gouna · Ouarzazate · Aït Benhaddou · Tizi n'Tichka · Marrakech · About 6.5 hours of driving
Head west past the rose fields and the kasbahs of Skoura to Ouarzazate and Aït Benhaddou. Walk up through the ksar to the ruined granary on the summit, from where the old caravan route is easy to trace along the valley.
The Tizi n'Tichka road carries you over the High Atlas in the afternoon. Marrakech lies on the plain below, and you arrive in time for an evening stroll.
Marrakech medina · gardens · Walking tour
Marrakech is the fourth imperial city of your trip and the most exuberant. With your guide, see the Koutoubia, the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs, then dive into the souks north of the main square.
Spend the afternoon as you please. The Majorelle Garden needs a ticket booked online in advance; the Jardin Secret and the Menara Gardens do not. Dinner on a rooftop above Jemaa el-Fna makes a good farewell.
Marrakech · Casablanca airport · About 3 hours of driving
After breakfast, drive north on the motorway to Casablanca. The journey takes about three hours, and we time the departure to your flight.
Your driver-guide leaves you at Mohammed V airport, or at your hotel if you are staying another night. Flying from Marrakech instead? The tour then ends with a short airport transfer.
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
What makes each of the four royal capitals different, and how to link them in one journey.
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
Morocco's essentials in under a week: Roman Volubilis and Meknes, a guided day in the Fes medina, two nights in the Sahara, then the gorges and kasbahs on the road to Marrakech.
An imperial-cities journey with no long desert drives: Rabat, Meknes and Volubilis, guided days in Fes and Marrakech, and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas in between.
The classic first trip in nine days, with pick-up at Casablanca airport or your accommodation: Rabat, blue Chefchaouen, Volubilis and guided Fes, a night in the Merzouga dunes, the Dades Valley and two nights in Marrakech.
Ten days to see the country properly: Asilah, Tangier and blue Chefchaouen in the north, Volubilis and Fes, a night in Erg Chebbi, the gorges of the south and Marrakech.
