Morocco Trip Tangiers to Marrakech

Day 1 – TANGIERS

Your guide will be waiting as you disembark in Tangiers Med Port or Airport to take you to your hotel.

Included: transfer to hotel, lodging in double room

Day 2 – TANGIERS

Begin with a panoramic tour of the cities different Quarters, Palaces and Gardens. Drive to the Atlantic shore to visit Hercules’ Caves and the lighthouse. You’ll have time for lunch after your walking tour through the souk and casbah.  End the day at your Riad in Chefchaouen.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide for the morning, entry fees, lodging

Day 3 – RIF MOUNTAINS TO RABAT

Begin your day with a visit of Chaouen. Quite likely the most charming village in Morocco can’t leave anyone indifferent. We could tell you that the kasbah built in the 15th century is worth a detour or that you should try to track down the still- working watermill or the district farnatchi oven.  Chefchaouen is about losing yourselves in its streets without any precise goal. Inside the ancient gated medina nearly every building is painted an arresting shade of cerulean or azure, the sky blues juxtaposed with white trim and terra-cotta rooftops. Twisting cobblestone paths lead up and up, around the ocher-colored casbah to a landscape of green hills and mountaintops, uninterrupted sky extending beyond. Before you leave, we’ll make a visit to a local olive oil mill.

Next, we will head to Asilah, a lovely, calm coastal city.  Enjoy a stroll through the streets that have been decorated with murals by local artists.  End the day at your riad in Rabat.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide for the day, olive oil mill visit and tasting, lodging

Day 4 – RABAT, MEKNES, VOLUBILIS, MOULAY IDRISS, FEZ

After breakfast, you will head towards Meknes, an imperial city that rose to prominence with the sultan Moulay Ismail (1672- 1727) who set the capital of Morocco to Meknes and gave it its golden age by building his imperial palace, city walls and kasbahs upon dismantling Badi palace in Marrakech and fetching to Meknes most of its marble, ivory and wood. Places of interest in Meknes include Bab El Mansour gate, Masoleum of Moulay Ismail, the imperial palace and the royal granaries and stables.

For lunch, we’ll stop at one of Morocco’s few wineries for a tasting lunch. Back on the road we are to reach shortly the Roman ruins of Volubilis with its Galem’s baths, basilica, capitol and forum and the sacred village of Moulay Idriss. Moulay Idriss was Prophet Mohammed great grandson and fled Mecca during the 8th century AD. He established himself at Volubilis, converted the locals to Islam and founded the first Moroccan imperial dynasty. The journey should reach Fez late afternoon/ evening.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide for the day, winery lunch, lodging

Day 5 – FEZ

Wake up in Fez, the cultural and spiritual capital, is one of the most complete medieval Islamic cities in the world. Walking through the gates and walls into the passages almost brings you back in time. Perhaps only the satellite dishes will remind you of today’s world. The streets are very much as they were when they were built in the 8th century, with high walls that defend the courtyards inside from the heat of the midday sun. Vast theosophical colleges, stunning mosques and mesmerizing souks dripping their merchandise onto the street are all part of the picture.

You will have a walking guided tour to some of the more notable sites. You’ll visit the Place an-Nejjarine, where an ancient caravanserai overlooks a fountain; wander outside the great Qayrawan mosque, pass the 14th century merchant’s shops; or head to the tanneries – where leather is tainted in array of colored dyes. In the souk al- Attarine, the smell of exotic spices pervades the air. We will also include a visit of the Jewish quarter here.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide for the day, lodging

Day 6 – FEZ, AZROU, VALLEY OF ZIZ, MERZOUGA, ERG CHEBBI

With Fez in the background, your 4×4 serpents its way up into the shade of cedar forests. Our trip takes us first through Ifrane, the ‘Switzerland of Morocco’, almost a ghost town, except during the snow season when it becomes Morocco’s prime ski resort. The waters of the lake nearby are crystal clear, and boats are rented out to those wishing to paddle across it. Prettier walks are to be had in the foothills of the next town, Azrou.

Country lanes wind through pine forest and lush villages. Hard to believe that the desert is only 7 hours’ drive away. The dense forest is also home to the Barbary macaque, almost domesticated now and the 800- year old Gouraud’s cedar. The monkeys and their babies nibble on whatever they can find to eat, spoiled by the generous offerings of the visitors. Apricots, walnuts and plum trees dot the surrounding countryside as we approach Midelt.

A few hours later, our Morocco trip arrives in Erfoud and the change in landscape is sharp – Sahara is not far now. Given the time we will visit the ancient Jewish district and the Musee des Oasis.

Reach the kasbah by the dunes and trade the 4×4 for camels. The camel ride is swift, and the transfer can also be made by 4×4. Shortly after, while the staff are busy unloading your luggage, try to find the highest dune and reach the top. Then take it all in. For as far as you can see, there is nothing but sand, an ocean of it as set to conquer everything that stands in its way. And while the sun sets, there is nowhere else you would rather be.

Dinner and accommodation in a private tent in a camp in the dunes. Here, you have the choice between a basic tent with toilets/ bathroom outside or a luxury tent with en suite bathroom and toilets. If possible, we recommend adding an extra day in the dunes. Have tea with the nomads, visit the old mines, pick up fossils, visit the Black People village or quad bike in the dunes.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide for the day, camel ride, dinner, lodging

Day 7 – DADES GORGE, OUARZAZATE, AIT BEN HADDOU

This morning your guide will take you through Todra and Dades gorge. On the way to Ouarzazate, we can stop for a break to see the migratory birds fly over the vast Mansour Eddhabi lake if the season is right. In Ouarzazate, time allowing, we can visit the film studios where more recently some of the episodes of Game of Thrones were shot.

Half an hour later, our tour turns right to shortly arrive at post- card perfect UNESCO world site of Ait Benhaddou. There is always someone willing to guide you, but the best is to just lose yourselves in its alleyways. There is always a new way to reach its peak, from where the snowcapped Atlas Mountains framed by the denim blue sky will steal your breath away. If the climb up hadn’t already. Past Tamdaght and the kasbah made famous by the slave scene from ‘Gladiator’, the beauty of the valley is beyond words. In the wall of the canyon, the nomads have dug galleries of grottoes where they used to stock their grains.

Telouet is next, where the former pasha’s palace dominates the village. The fortified citadel is both a microcosm of an empire and its demise. Pacha Glaoui overshadowed the sultan by controlling most of nowadays Morocco and decided to erect a palace in the middle of nowhere. Shortly after Telouet, the trip joins the main road again and after innumerous twists, over Tizi n Tichka pass, we descend the High Atlas and reach the plain.

Ahead in the night, lays dormant and sensual Marrakech. Its walls and eighteen gates enveloping hundreds of foundouks once protecting the caravans and their precious cargos.

Included: breakfast, driver/guide, entry fees, lodging

Day 8 – MARRAKECH

Your guide will be waiting at your riad to discover Marrakech and its treasures with you. We’ll start with the Bahia Palace and the ruined Badi Palace. Next door, the imposing marble columns of the golden dynasty, the Saadis, adorn the mausoleums. The small, yet very richly decorated Douiria is a fine example of crafts and architecture from two centuries ago. In the afternoon, stroll around Jemaa El Fna square. Watch the acrobats, food stalls, musicians, snake charmers and story tellers in action.

Included: breakfast, guide for the day, lodging

Day 9 – DEPARTURE

Meet your driver for the ride to Marrakech airport and the end of your wonderful Morocco trip.

Included: breakfast, airport transfer