Itinerary

1. Day 1: Arrival in Casablanca And Sightseeing

   • Touch down in Casablanca. After your driver/tour guide has picked you up & dropped you off at your hotel, you might like to discover some of Casablanca’s sights.
   • Notably, the Hassan II Mosque which is considered to be the largest in North Africa and the third largest in the Islamic world, with its splendid esplanade and its tallest minaret in the world.
   • It is a long reach of marble and emerald zellige rising 210 meters into the sky.
   • Grand and timeless, the Great Mosque is constantly busy, a meeting point for Sunday strolls.

2. Day 2: Casablanca to Fes via Rabat and Meknes

   • Dive east from Casablanca to Fes via Rabat and Meknes.
   • Takes at first a one-hour-long drive through the highway to Rabat, the administrative capital will be waiting for you.
   • Salute the soldier-knights riding horses in front of the gate to the monumental Hassan Tower with the pillared stumps of its mosque being all that remains from the earthquake of 1755.
   • There is also the nearby Mausoleum of the royal family.
   • From here to the imperial city of Meknes takes us about a two-hour drive.
   • We start discovering Meknes from the famed gate Bab El Mansour, Dar Jamai Palace and Museum, the royal stables, Hedim square, and Moulay Ismail tomb.
   • Through the narrow lanes to the Mellah where the Jewish families used to live.
   • The next stop is Fes, the maze to end all mazes, with its mysteries and secrets of the 9000 alleyways.

3. Day 3: Exploring Fes Medina with a Guided Tour

   • Do not panic; the guide will show you the must-see sites! With your private Fes born and bred guide, you will have the opportunity to discover the ancient breeding ground for scholars and artisans and the largest medina in the world.
   • You will see the America Fondouk, Nejjarines, the Tanneries, the Medersa (Theological college), and Karaouine, the first established university in the world.
   • Your guide will shed light on many tales and 1200 years of history of this UNESCO-protected Medina.
   • When you finish your visit of the medina, we will drive you out of Fes to have delicious house-made food at Lalla Fatiha’s place in Sefrou.

4. Day 4: Journey from Fes to Merzouga Desert

   • An early-morning start is recommended for this day.
   • We leave the amazing Medina of Fes with its mysteries and secrets of the 9000 alleyways, heading southeast towards Merzouga and the gateway into the golden dunes of the Sahara desert.
   • En route, we will pass by the cedar forests of Ifrane, the Switzerland of Morocco, where you might think that you are in the Alps.
   • If we’re lucky, we’ll come across the Barbary Macaques on our way to Midelt where we’ll stop over for lunch.
   • After eating, we drive through the Middle Atlas Mountains to reach the Ziz Valley, which is considered to be among the largest producers of oasis dates in Morocco.
   • Then it’s off to Merzouga with its highest dunes in Morocco. You can store any baggage while packing an overnight bag to bring along.
   • You’ll have the chance to be accompanied by a camel and blue-turban-robed guide into the sandy seas.
   • After an hour-long camel ride, you will be among the luckiest to watch the sun set over the Sahara dunes and spend a night in a Bedouin-style tent.

5. Day 5: Merzouga Desert to Dades Gorges via Erfoud and Todgha Gorges

   • This morning, you’ll wake up with the sun shining on your face to witness what we hope is a glorious sunrise among the dunes.
   • Meanwhile, watch the light creep slowly down the dunes and pull all the world around you outside their warmth, heavy mound of blankets for an early breakfast.
   • After an hour-long camel ride back out of the desert, you will depart and head for Erfoud where you can marvel at the million-year-old fossils that the area is famous for.
   • Then, heading north for a sublime experience in the Todgha Gorges where we’ll be stuck between the gigantic rock walls.
   • Arriving at Dades Gorges, rust-red and mauve mountains greet you. A series of crumbling Kasbahs and Ksours line the valley in the Berber villages to the Monkey Fingers Mountains.

6. Day 6: Dades Gorges to Marrakech via Valley of Roses, Ouarzazate, and Ait Benhaddou

   • You leave Dades at 8:00 am traversing the valley of roses and daggers straight to the 11th-century UNESCO-protected red mud-brick ksar, which has formed the backdrop for many Hollywood movie productions such as Lawrence of Arabia, Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus of Nazareth, Gladiator, Game of Thrones, and many others.
   • You might also like to explore Ouarzazate, home to Taourirt Kasbah and the "Ouallywood" studio.
   • Wind up the memorable Tizi n’Tichka pass via North Africa’s highest peak, the High Atlas Mountains, with the Berber villages lined beside the road to arrive in Marrakech where you will have a day-long to explore the crazed cacophony of musicians, snake charmers, and vendors in the open-air famed Jamaa El Fnaa square, and the highly recommended sites with your guide.

7. Day 7: Marrakech Old City Guided Tour

   • Today, with your private Marrakech born and bred guide, you embark on exploring the Red City from its old part with its Medina’s skinny lanes that lead to lavish sites, tombs, and religious monuments decked out in marble.
   • Bahia and El-Badii Palace and Saadien’s Tombs will be your targets.
   • Afterward, your driver/Tour Guide will pick you up for the outside medina visit to explore the Majorelle garden, Museum Saint Laurent, Berber Museum.
   • While in Marrakech, you will surely encounter thousands of motorcyclists and horse-carts roaming in the city, and some of them pull over next to the vast square of Jemaa El-Fnaa where it’s carnival night every night with musicians, acrobats, storytellers, and slapstick acting troupes tapping into the Medina frenetic pulse.

8. Day 8: Departure from Marrakech or Casablanca

   • Our Morocco Cultural Tour comes to an end today, and we hope that you had a good time with us.
   • Whether you've arranged your departure from Marrakech or Casablanca, please note that your driver/tour guide will let you know the time when he shall pick you up for the airport.