7-Day Imperial Cities & Sahara Tour from Casablanca
7 days · 6 nightsCasablanca → Fez → Merzouga → MarrakechEasyPrivate
One week from Casablanca to Marrakech: Rabat, Chefchaouen, Volubilis, Meknes, Fez, a day in Merzouga with a night in our camp, the gorges and Ait Ben Haddou.
Seven days are enough to see the imperial cities, the blue town and the Sahara in one journey. You start at the Hassan II mosque on the ocean, sleep in Rabat and in the blue alleys of Chefchaouen and reach Fez through the Roman ruins of Volubilis.
Then the road crosses the Middle Atlas to Merzouga, where a full day in the desert ends with a camel ride to our camp, and the last two days follow the gorges and the kasbahs to Marrakech.
Highlights
Hassan II mosque and Rabat
Chefchaouen, the blue town
Volubilis, Meknes and Fez
Full day in Merzouga and our camp
Todra, Dades and Ait Ben Haddou
Day by day
Day 1
Arrival in Casablanca – Hassan II mosque – Rabat
Welcome to Morocco. Your driver meets you at Mohammed V airport or at your hotel in Casablanca and takes you first to the Hassan II mosque, built over the Atlantic Ocean, with the tallest minaret in the world at 210 metres; it is one of the few mosques in Morocco that non-Muslims can visit inside, with a hall that holds 25,000 faithful and a roof that opens to the sky. We drive along the Corniche of Ain Diab and through the white art-deco centre, then follow the coast to Rabat, the elegant capital of the kingdom. There you visit the Hassan tower and the mausoleum of Mohammed V, guarded by horsemen in red uniforms, and the kasbah of the Oudayas, a village of white and blue houses above the river mouth with an Andalusian garden. Dinner and night in a riad in Rabat.
Day 2
Rabat – Chefchaouen, the blue town
We leave Rabat in the morning and drive north through the farmland of the Gharb plain, with its orange groves and fields of sunflowers, towards the Rif mountains. The road becomes greener and more winding as we approach Chefchaouen, a town founded in 1471 by Andalusian refugees and famous for its streets painted in every shade of blue. We arrive in time for lunch and spend the afternoon exploring at your own pace: the square of Outa el Hammam with the red kasbah and the great mosque, the Ras el Ma spring where women still wash clothes, the small shops of wool blankets and goat cheese. At the end of the day we walk up to the Spanish mosque on the hill to watch the sun set over the blue town. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina.
Day 3
Chefchaouen – Volubilis – Moulay Idriss – Meknes – Fez
A day of history. We drive south through the hills of the pre-Rif to Volubilis, the ancient Roman city that was the capital of the province of Mauretania Tingitana. Walking among its ruins you see the triumphal arch of Caracalla, the basilica, the olive oil presses and the floors of the houses covered with mosaics of gods and animals, still in their original place. A few kilometres away, the white town of Moulay Idriss sits on two hills around the tomb of the founder of Morocco's first dynasty. In the afternoon we reach Meknes, the imperial city of Moulay Ismail, a contemporary of Louis XIV: the gate of Bab Mansour, the mausoleum of the sultan, the immense granaries of Heri es-Souani and the square of El Hedim. Arrival in Fez in the evening. Dinner and night in a riad.
Day 4
Fez – Ifrane – Azrou – Midelt – Ziz valley – Merzouga
We leave Fez in the morning and drive south into the Middle Atlas. After Ifrane, a mountain resort with Alpine-style chalets, we enter the cedar forest of Azrou, home to the Barbary macaques, the only monkeys in North Africa, which you can see playing among the trees. The road crosses wide plateaus and passes Timahdite and the lakes of the Middle Atlas before reaching Midelt, at the foot of the snowy Jebel Ayachi, where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon we descend into the south: the Ziz gorges, the blue lake of the Hassan Addakhil dam and the valley of the Ziz, a long green canyon of palm trees and earth villages. Through Errachidia and Erfoud we arrive in Merzouga at sunset, with the dunes of Erg Chebbi shining in front of us. Dinner and night in a hotel by the dunes.
Day 5
Merzouga: a day in the desert, camel ride and night in our camp
After many cities, a day of silence and space. In the morning we explore the surroundings of Erg Chebbi by 4x4: the market of Rissani and the ruins of Sijilmassa, a fossil workshop where ammonites and trilobites 400 million years old are polished, the tent of a nomad family in the black desert and the village of Khamlia with its Gnawa musicians. Lunch of 'medfouna', the Berber pizza stuffed with meat and spices and baked in a clay oven. In the afternoon you rest at the hotel or try a quad or a sandboard on the dunes. Before sunset your caravan leaves for the heart of Erg Chebbi: an hour and a half on camelback, a stop on a high dune to watch the sun go down and the arrival at our camp, where you have dinner, listen to drums around the fire and sleep in a private tent with bathroom.
Wake up for the sunrise over the Sahara, have breakfast in the camp and ride back to Merzouga, where a shower is available before leaving. We drive through Rissani, with a short walk in its market if it is a market day, and then west across the desert plateaus, where the road passes small oases and villages of earth. At Tinghir we enter the Todra gorge, a canyon with walls 300 metres high, where you can walk along the river and feel the cool air between the rocks. In the afternoon we continue to Boumalne and up the Dades valley, among fields of almond trees and kasbahs, to the narrowest part of the gorge. Dinner and night in a guesthouse with a terrace facing the red cliffs.
Day 7
Dades – Valley of Roses – Skoura – Ouarzazate – Ait Ben Haddou – Marrakech
The last day follows the 'road of the thousand kasbahs'. We drive through the Valley of Roses and Kalaat M'Gouna, where you can buy rose water and creams made by local cooperatives, and the palm grove of Skoura with its earth castles. After Ouarzazate we visit Ait Ben Haddou, the ksar classified by UNESCO, and climb to its top for the view over the valley and the old caravan route. After lunch we cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with its viewpoints over the mountains and the Berber villages below, and descend to the plain of Marrakech. Arrival in the evening and drop-off at your riad or hotel.
Included
Private air-conditioned vehicle
Local driver-guide
Pick-up and drop-off at your riad, hotel or airport
Nights in riads, kasbahs and guesthouses
Dinners and breakfasts
Camel ride with cameleer
Night in our desert camp in Erg Chebbi
Not included
Lunches
Local guides in the cities (on request)
Entrance fees to monuments
Tips
Good to know
Pick-up between 7:00 and 8:00 at your riad, hotel, airport or port. Bring a small bag for the desert night: big luggage stays in the vehicle. Hotels can be upgraded on request.
No payment is needed to book: you pay on arrival in cash (dirhams or euros). Free changes if the weather is not good.
Questions
Are the tours private?
Yes. Only your group travels in the vehicle, with your own driver, and the program can be adapted.
Where do the tours start?
Wherever you are: your riad or hotel in Marrakech, Fez, Tangier, Casablanca, Agadir, Ouarzazate, Errachidia or Essaouira, or the airport or port when you land.
Which camp do we sleep in?
In our own camp in Erg Chebbi, with private tents, bathrooms with hot shower, dinner and breakfast, and Berber music by the fire.
Can I change the itinerary?
Yes, every tour is private and flexible: add nights in the desert, a quad or buggy ride, a different finishing city or better hotels. Just tell us when you write.
