9-Day Tour from Essaouira: Sahara & Imperial Cities
9 days · 8 nightsEssaouira → Merzouga → Fez → EssaouiraEasyPrivate
A great loop from Essaouira: the High Atlas, the kasbahs, two nights in our camp, Fez, Meknes, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and back to the ocean.
For travellers who love Essaouira and use it as their base, this tour shows the rest of Morocco and brings you back to the ocean. The first part crosses the High Atlas and the south to the Sahara, with two nights in our camp.
The second part climbs to Fez for a guided day in the medina, follows the imperial cities to the Atlantic and returns to Essaouira through Marrakech and the argan forest.
Highlights
Round trip from Essaouira
Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades
Two nights in our desert camp
Guided day in Fez
Meknes, Rabat and Casablanca
Day by day
Day 1
Essaouira – argan forest – Marrakech – Tizi n'Tichka – Ait Ben Haddou
We pick you up at your riad in Essaouira early in the morning and drive inland through the argan forest, where you may see goats perched in the branches of the trees, and stop at a women's cooperative to taste argan oil and amlou, the local spread of almonds and honey. We go around Marrakech and climb into the High Atlas, through Berber villages and valleys of walnut trees, to the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres. On the other side the mountains turn red and dry, and in the afternoon we reach Ait Ben Haddou, the fortified village of earth classified by UNESCO. You climb through its alleys to the old granary at the top as the walls glow in the late light. Dinner and night in a kasbah hotel facing the ksar.
Day 2
Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate – Skoura – Valley of Roses – Dades
A day among the kasbahs of the south. We pass Ouarzazate, where you can visit the kasbah of Taourirt or the film studios, and stop in the palm grove of Skoura, a green oasis full of earth castles, to visit the kasbah of Amridil. We follow the valley of the Dades river to Kalaat M'Gouna, famous for its roses, which bloom in late April and May and are used to make rose water and perfumes. In the afternoon we enter the Dades gorge, where the river has carved red cliffs and rocks with rounded shapes, and drive up the zigzag road to the viewpoint. You can walk along the river among the fields of wheat, almond trees and fig trees before dinner. Night in a guesthouse in the gorge.
Day 3
Dades – Todra gorge – Erfoud – Merzouga, camel ride and night in our camp
After breakfast we drive to Tinghir and walk into the Todra gorge, a canyon of orange rock so narrow that in some places the sun only reaches the bottom for a few hours a day. We cross the desert plateaus to Erfoud and arrive in Merzouga in the afternoon, where the dunes of Erg Chebbi rise suddenly from the flat black desert. Your cameleer is waiting with the caravan. You ride into the dunes as the sun goes down, stop on a crest to watch the sand turn red and violet, and arrive at our camp at nightfall. Dinner is served in the dining tent, followed by Berber music and drums around the fire. Night in your private tent with a real bed and bathroom, in the deep silence of the Sahara.
Day 4
A second day in the Sahara: free day in the dunes and second night in our camp
Today there is no car waiting for you: the whole day belongs to the desert. After the sunrise and a slow breakfast in the camp, you can climb the highest dune nearby, the Big Dune, for a view over the whole sea of sand and, on clear days, the Algerian border. Many guests choose a sandboarding session on the soft slopes, a visit to a nomad family who live with their goats and camels in the hamada, or a quad or buggy ride with our guides. Others simply rest in the shade of the lounge tent with a book and endless mint tea, listening to the silence. In the late afternoon a short camel ride takes you to a crest for another sunset, and the evening brings a new dinner cooked in the camp, drums around the fire and, if the moon allows it, a short stargazing session with your guide. Second night in your private tent with bathroom.
Day 5
Merzouga – Ziz valley – Midelt – Ifrane – Fez
After the sunrise over the dunes and breakfast in the camp, you return to Merzouga by camel and we set off north. We follow the Ziz valley, a deep canyon filled with thousands of palm trees and dotted with old ksour, and stop at a viewpoint over its blue lake near Errachidia. The road climbs through the Ziz gorges and the tunnel of the Legionnaire to Midelt, the 'apple city', at the foot of the Jebel Ayachi, where we stop for lunch. In the afternoon we cross the Middle Atlas, with its cedar forests where Barbary macaques come close to the road, and pass through Ifrane, a mountain town with sloping roofs nicknamed 'the Switzerland of Morocco'. We arrive in Fez in the early evening and your driver accompanies you to your riad in the medina.
Day 6
Fez: a full day in the medina with a local guide
Fez el Bali is the largest medieval medina in the world still alive, a maze of more than 9,000 alleys where cars cannot enter and donkeys still carry the goods. With a licensed local guide you discover its treasures: the Bou Inania and Al Attarine medersas, decorated with zellige tiles, carved cedar and stucco as fine as lace; the Qarawiyyin, founded in the year 859 and considered the oldest university in the world; the fountain of Nejjarine; and the souks of the coppersmiths, weavers and spice sellers. From a terrace you watch the famous Chouara tannery, where leather is still dyed in stone vats as it was centuries ago. In the afternoon your driver takes you to the Royal Palace with its golden doors, the Jewish quarter of the Mellah and the panorama from the Merinid tombs at sunset. Dinner and night in your riad.
Day 7
Fez – Meknes – Volubilis – Rabat
We leave Fez in the morning and drive west through the rolling hills of the Saïss plain, covered with olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. The first stop is Volubilis, the Roman city on the edge of the empire, where you walk among the triumphal arch of Caracalla, the columns of the basilica and the houses whose floors are still covered with mosaics of gods, athletes and animals. Then we continue to Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, who wanted it to rival Versailles: the great gate of Bab Mansour, the square of El Hedim, the mausoleum of the sultan and the gigantic granaries and stables of Heri es-Souani. In the afternoon the motorway takes us to Rabat, the capital of the kingdom, on the Atlantic coast. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina of Rabat.
Day 8
Rabat – Casablanca, Hassan II mosque – Marrakech
In the morning you discover Rabat, the most elegant of the imperial cities: the unfinished Hassan tower, the minaret of a mosque that was meant to be the largest in the world in the 12th century, the marble mausoleum of Mohammed V, guarded by horsemen in red uniforms, and the kasbah of the Oudayas, a small village of white and blue houses above the mouth of the river, with its Andalusian garden and a café facing the ocean. We then follow the coast to Casablanca to visit the Hassan II mosque, built on the Atlantic, with a minaret of 210 metres and a prayer hall where the floor is heated and the roof opens to the sky. After a walk along the Corniche, we take the motorway south across the plains to Marrakech, where we arrive in the evening. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina.
Day 9
Marrakech – argan forest – Essaouira
We leave the red city towards the Atlantic coast. The road crosses wide plains and then the argan forest, where goats climb into the trees to eat the fruit, a curious sight you can only see in this corner of Morocco. We stop at a women's cooperative to see how argan oil is extracted by hand, then arrive in Essaouira, the white and blue city by the ocean, protected by its 18th-century ramparts. In the afternoon you walk through the medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, full of galleries, thuya wood workshops and small cafés, along the Skala, where old cannons look at the sea, and to the fishing port, where the blue boats return with their catch and you can eat grilled fish right on the quay. Dinner and night in a riad in the medina.
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
Visit to a nomad family
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.
