This 11-day Imperial Cities itinerary features the best of the nation including Fez, the Sahara Desert, Casablanca, Marrakesh and Essaouira.
Find the recorded landmarks of Morocco while visiting the urban communities of Fes, Meknes, Rabat, Marrakesh, Ouarzazate, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We’ll additionally be in Chefchaouen, and Essaouira little urban areas. Moreover, visit the Moroccan Sahara desert will be an exquisite a life-changing voyage with camel riding, seeing the dusk and dawn, and stroll in the sand.
DAY 1:
Meet you in Casablanca airport and drive to Rabat via Hassan II mosque
We will greet you at the airport and drive to Casablanca and then to Rabat. In Casablanca you will see the Hassan II Mosque, the largest outside of Mecca and experience the coastal «Cornish» seaside. Afterwards, we will leave to Rabat, the capital of Morocco. Here you will see the Hassan Tower, the Oudaya Kasbah before you check in to your riad.
DAY 2:
Rabat – Chefchaouen
After breakfast, we will visite Hassan Tower in Rabat then drive to Chefchaouen via the city of Knitra and teh Rif Mountain, crossing via Wazzan and other Rif villages. We will be in Chefchaouen in the early afternoon.
DAY 3:
Chefchaouen – Volubilis – Meknes – Fes
After your breakfast in the riad, our authentic journey will start towards Volubilis crossing, Wazan and other Rif villages, in Volubilis we will discover the Roman ruins and learn about the archeological site of Moroocan history, after the visit of the ruins, we will shift our way to Meknes city the 17th centry heritage where we will stop for lunch and hang around the historical huge walls of the medina, Bab El Mansour and enjoy a visit of Moulay ismail s shrine. After the visit of Meknes we will drive directly to Fes city where you will spend the night.
DAY 4:
Sightseeing Fes
After breakfast in your riad, you will start exploring the oldest city in Morocco, walking in its alleys and small streets. Our visit starts by visiting the Royal Palace gate, the Jewish headquarter, the first Mellah ever built in Morocco, built during the 16th century. We will ensure that you visit all sites with cultural and historical interest including the famous Al Qaraouine University, the oldest in the region, the Tanneries, the Attarine museum and Mulay Idriss mausoleum. After lunch, you will visit the tiles cooperative and then experience a wonderful panoramique view over the whole Medina of Fes.
DAY 5:
Fes – Ifrane – Midelt – Ziz valley – Merzouga. Camel Ride and night in a camp
We will pick you up from your hotel or riad in Fes, and then drive southwards to Ifrane and Azrou by the Middle Atlas mountains. On the way we will stop at cedar forest to see the Barbarian Ape in their natural habitat. Traveling through the Tizi Ntalghamt pass to Midelt and along the magnificent Ziz Gorges carved through volcanic rock, you’ll see views of the Middle-Atlas plateau, noticing how the scenery changes to reveal hints of the desert as you approach the city Errachidia. After lunch, we’ll continue our journey through the Ziz valley Erfoud, Rissani and Merzouga. After a glass of mint tea, we will leave our luggage in a room, and take the camels to a Berber camp in the middle of Erg Chebbi Sad Dunes. 20 km long and 5 km wide it is also reputed as the highest sand dunes in North Africa. It is a unique and diverse environment. The camel trek takes about 1hr 30 min from the hotel to the camp where we continue the spirit of the nomadic Berber lifestyle. There we setup 3 Berber tents with additional restaurant and kitchen with the dunes naturally providing basic facilities. The tents are well equipped and we provide mattresses, blankets, and cushions. After dinner we gather round the fire and enjoy the desert night perhaps with traditional Berber drums.
DAY 6:
Merzouga – Toudgha Gorges – Dades Valley
The camel man will wake you up early in the morning to watch what will may be the best sunrise of your life. Afterwards, you’ll peacefully camel-trek back to your hotel appreciating the unique beauty of the spectacular Erg Chebbi dunes – changing with the light as the day progresses. After breakfast and shower, you’ll leave for Tinghir and Todra gorges – the highest, narrowest gorges in Morocco, before arriving at Dades Valley for dinner and accommodation.
DAY 7:
Dades valley – Nomad caves – Ouarzazette
After breakfast in the hotel, you will travel through the Dades Valley towards Kalaa M’gouna and Ouarzazate. The route through Dades Valley is the way of the thousand Kasbahs – providing numerous opportunities to take some of your best photographic shots of the trip. Today you will have the opportunity to meet Berber Nomads in their caves and then you will enjoy the fertile Rose valley and the rock formations along the way. We’ll stop at Kalaat M’gouna, “the rose city”, to purchase the rosewater, which will make your linen smell good a long time after your trip is over. Continuing on to Skoura and the birds valley, you’ll visit the Kasbah Ameridil, a well-preserved kasbah in this area followed by some light hiking in the valley and a stop for lunch at a restaurant, overlooking the whole valley. After lunch it’s on to Ouarzazate, “the Hollywood of Africa”, whose geography and beautiful landscapes has attracted many world class movie producers. Here you may choose to visit the studios, containing props used in movies, you may have already seen, such as ‘The Mummy’, ‘Gladiator’ and the ‘Last temptation of Christ’.
DAY 8:
Ouarzazette – Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah – Marrakech
After breakfast in the Hotel (Ksar), you will travel to Asni and Imlil via the dramatic Tizi Ntichka Pass. Today you’ll stop at the famous Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou. The largest Kasbah in Morocco, was built by T-hami El Glaoui, one of the last Berber chieftains, at the end of the 19th century to be one of his stops during his long trading routes to Timbuctu in Mali. Now the Kasbah houses many of the Glaoui family members. After a short visit to the Kasbah, your journey will continue through the majestic Tizi n’tichka in the high Atlas mountain before arriving in Marrakech. Night in a riad.
DAY 9:
Sightseeing Marrakech
After breakfast in the riad, you can start exploring Marrakech, “the red city of Morocco”. We will ensure that you see the most important sites of historical and cultural interest, including the Majorelle Gardens, the Koutoubia Tower, the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace. After lunch at a restaurant near the square, you will walk through the souks and view hundreds of handicrafts. On the afternoon, you will have some free time to wonder by yourself the other parts of the city.
DAY 10:
Free day in Marrakech
Today will be a relax day, for guests who are interested in a cooking class, we can arrange it for them.
DAY 11:
Transfer to the airport