Grand Morocco tour · From Casablanca
The blue city, the Sahara and four imperial capitals in nine days.
About this tour
Nine days allows a first-time visitor to see nearly everything Morocco is known for. The tour starts with a pick-up at Casablanca Mohammed V airport or at your accommodation in the city, then heads north to Rabat and the blue mountain town of Chefchaouen before turning to Fes by way of Volubilis and Meknes.
From Fes it crosses the Middle Atlas to the dunes of Erg Chebbi for a camel ride and a night in a desert camp, and returns west through the Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Aït Benhaddou to Marrakech.
Guided visits are included in both Fes and Marrakech. The final day is a transfer to the airport in Marrakech or Casablanca, whichever suits your flight.
Best for: First-time visitors who want Chefchaouen and the desert in the same trip without taking two weeks.
Casablanca airport or your accommodation · Hassan II Mosque · Rabat · About 1.5 hours of driving
Your driver-guide meets you in the arrivals hall of Casablanca Mohammed V airport, holding a sign with your name, or collects you from your hotel, riad or apartment in the city if you arrived earlier. The first stop is the Hassan II Mosque, where the Atlantic breaks against the foundations and the minaret rises some 210 metres above the sea. Guided visits show the prayer hall, with its sliding roof, and the marble ablution rooms below.
Drive an hour north to Rabat. Depending on your arrival time, walk through the Kasbah of the Udayas at sunset, when the fishermen line the breakwater and the light falls on the walls of Salé across the river.
Rabat · Hassan Tower · Mausoleum of Mohammed V · Ouezzane · Chefchaouen · About 4 hours of driving
See the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V in the morning, before the tour buses, and pass the walls of the Royal Palace. Then drive north across the Gharb plain, the country's market garden.
At Ouezzane the hills begin, and an hour later Chefchaouen appears beneath its mountain. Check in and walk up to the main square for tea. In the evening the lanes are lit by lanterns and the blue walls seem to glow.
Chefchaouen · Volubilis · Moulay Idriss · Meknes · Fes · About 4.5 hours of driving
Rise early for photographs in the quiet lanes, then drive south. The Roman ruins of Volubilis occupy a ridge above a wide plain: see the basilica, the House of Orpheus and the Decumanus Maximus, the main street, lined with the bases of shops.
Pass beneath the holy town of Moulay Idriss and stop in Meknes for Bab Mansour and the royal quarter. You arrive in Fes in the early evening and are walked to your riad.
Fes el-Bali · Fes el-Jdid · Borj Sud · Walking tour
Explore Fes with a guide from the city. The visit begins with a panorama from the southern fort, continues to the palace gates and then plunges into the medina: the Bou Inania Madrasa, the lane of the carpenters, the tomb of the city's founder and the Al Quaraouiyine library, seen from its doors.
The tannery is best viewed from a leather shop terrace, where you are handed a sprig of mint against the smell. Your guide also shows you a communal bakery and a workshop where brocade is woven on wooden looms.
Fes · Ifrane · Azrou · Midelt · Ziz Valley · Erfoud · Merzouga · Erg Chebbi · About 7 hours of driving
Cross the Middle Atlas by Ifrane and Azrou, stopping to see the macaques in the cedar forest, and have lunch in Midelt. In the afternoon the road tunnels through the last ridge and follows the Ziz Valley to the desert.
By late afternoon you are on a camel, swaying into the dunes of Erg Chebbi. The camp lies in a hollow between high crests; climb one for the sunset before dinner, and step outside again later to see the Milky Way.
Erg Chebbi · Rissani · Tinghir · Todra Gorge · Dades Valley · About 5 hours of driving
Watch the sunrise from the sand, ride back for breakfast and a shower, and set off west. Stop in Rissani if it is a market day, and at the well-heads of the old irrigation tunnels beside the road.
Tinghir and the Todra Gorge come after lunch. The canyon is at its most dramatic in the afternoon, when one wall is in shadow and the other blazes orange. An hour further on, the Dades Valley is your home for the night.
Dades Valley · Skoura · Ouarzazate · Aït Benhaddou · Tizi n'Tichka · Marrakech · About 6.5 hours of driving
Follow the Dades west through Kalaat M'Gouna and Skoura to Ouarzazate, known as the door of the desert. At Aït Benhaddou, take an hour to climb through the ksar; the view from the top takes in the river, the palms and the snow of the Atlas.
Then drive over the Tizi n'Tichka pass and down to Marrakech. After a week of changing landscapes, the city's rose-coloured walls and palm trees feel like an arrival.
Marrakech medina · gardens · Walking tour
See the essential monuments with a local guide: the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Madrasa. Between them, your guide leads you through the souks and explains how the old trading inns, the fondouks, once worked.
The afternoon is free for the Majorelle Garden, a cooking class or a hammam. At night, Jemaa el-Fna offers the best free show in Africa.
Marrakech or Casablanca airport · 15 minutes to Marrakech airport, or about 3 hours to Casablanca
The tour ends after breakfast with a transfer to Marrakech Menara airport, fifteen minutes away. Guests flying from Casablanca are driven there by motorway in about three hours.
Let us know your flight time when you book, and we will plan the morning so that nothing is rushed.
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.
Imperial cities and two nights at the dunes in eight days: Casablanca, Rabat and Meknes, a guided day in Fes, Merzouga with a camel trek and a 4x4 day, the Dades Valley and guided 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.
