10-day group tour from Casablanca to Marrakech

Tour itinerary

Day 1

Arrival in Casablanca:

The 10-day group tour begins in Casablanca. We meet you at Mohammed V airport or directly at your hotel in the city and take you to your accommodation, where you meet the rest of the group and the driver who will be at the wheel of the minibus for all ten days — Omar, Ahmed or another of our local drivers. Depending on your flight time, the rest of the day is free: you can take a first walk along the Boulevard de la Corniche, drink a mint tea facing the Atlantic, or simply rest before a week on the road. In the evening the driver runs through the ten-day programme with everyone, explaining departure times and the distances we cover each day. Casablanca is the largest and most modern city in Morocco, with its port, its art deco buildings and its business district, and it is a convenient place to start because it is served by the country's main airport. Overnight in a hotel in Casablanca.

Day 2

Casablanca > Hassan II mosque > Habous > corniche:

After breakfast we spend the whole day in Casablanca. The visit begins at the Hassan II mosque, built partly over the ocean and inaugurated in 1993: its minaret of 210 metres is among the tallest in the world and this is the only mosque in Morocco that can be visited by non-Muslims (the entrance fee is not included). Inside, the retractable roof, the zellige mosaics, the carved cedar wood and the granite columns are all remarkable. We continue to the Habous quarter, the "new medina" built in the 1930s, with its ceramic workshops, Arabic bookshops and traditional pastry shops, and to Place Mohammed V with its Moorish-style buildings. In the afternoon we drive along the Ain Diab corniche, the seafront promenade where the people of Casablanca come for fresh air, and the right place for a seafood lunch. Overnight in Casablanca.

Day 3

Casablanca > Ouazzane > Chefchaouen:

We set off early towards the north. The minibus leaves the Atlantic coast, passes Rabat and Kenitra and crosses the Gharb plain, between cereal fields and citrus groves, with a coffee stop and a break for lunch (at your own expense). After Ouazzane, a white and green town at the foot of the Rif, the road begins to climb through olive groves and mountain villages up to Chefchaouen, at 600 metres above sea level. We arrive in the afternoon: time to check in and walk down into the medina, where almost every house is painted blue. We stroll around Outa el Hammam square, in front of the fifteenth-century kasbah and the mosque with its octagonal tower, past stalls selling woven blankets, wool and goat's cheese. If you still have energy, climb to the Spanish Mosque, about twenty minutes on foot, for sunset over the blue city. Overnight in Chefchaouen.

Day 4

Chefchaouen > Rif mountains > Fes:

The morning still belongs to Chefchaouen: we suggest going out early, when the lanes are empty and the light on the blue walls is at its best, walking up to the Ras el Maa spring, where women from the quarter still wash their rugs, and taking your last photographs on the flower-lined staircases. After breakfast we leave the blue city and head south through the Rif mountains, among olive groves, terraced fields and villages clinging to the slopes; the road is scenic and we stop along the way to stretch our legs. In the afternoon we reach the Saïss plain and arrive in Fes, the oldest of the imperial cities and the spiritual capital of Morocco, where we settle into a traditional riad near the medina. For a first taste of the city, climb to the Borj Nord or the Merinid tombs and watch the rooftops of Fes el-Bali at sunset. Overnight in Fes.

Day 5

Guided visit of Fes:

A full day in Fes with a licensed local guide, who is essential for finding your way through the thousands of lanes of Fes el-Bali, the largest medieval medina in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We enter through Bab Boujloud, the blue gate, and walk to the Bou Inania medersa, a fourteenth-century Koranic school with carved cedar doors, plasterwork and zellige tiles; we pass the Al-Quaraouiyine mosque and university, founded in 859 and considered the oldest university still in operation. We visit Nejjarine square and its fondouk, the heart of the carpenters' quarter, and of course the Chouara tanneries, where hides are still treated in stone vats coloured with natural pigments: the terraces of the surrounding shops offer the city's most famous view. In the afternoon we see the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter with its wooden balconies, and the golden gates of the Royal Palace. Overnight in Fes.

Day 6

Fes > Ifrane > Azrou > Ziz valley > Merzouga:

Today we cross the Middle Atlas to reach the Sahara: about seven hours of driving, but the landscape changes constantly. Our first stop is Ifrane, known as the "Switzerland of Morocco" for its pitched roofs and tidy gardens; a little further on, in the cedar forest of Azrou, we stop among centuries-old trees where Barbary macaques live in the wild. Lunch is free in Midelt, a town known for its apples and its minerals: we pull in at a local restaurant where the group orders tagine or grilled meat from the barbecue and finishes with mint tea. Then we cross the Tizi n'Talghemt pass into the pre-Saharan south. The descent along the Ziz valley is one of the highlights of the trip: from the viewpoint you look down on a river of palm trees running between red rocks. After Erfoud and Rissani we reach Merzouga, at the foot of the Erg Chebbi dunes, where we leave the minibus and ride camels to the camp at sunset. Moroccan dinner, Berber music around the fire and the night at Camel Trips Camp, one of the agency's two camps in the Erg Chebbi.

Day 7

Merzouga > Todra Gorge > Dades valley > Ouarzazate:

Anyone who wants to can wake before dawn: the sun rising over Erg Chebbi is worth the early alarm. After breakfast at the camp we ride back to Merzouga on camelback and set off west in the minibus along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. We cross the Tafilalet and the palm grove of Tinghir, then drive up the Todra Gorge, a canyon where the limestone walls narrow to about ten metres and rise more than three hundred: there is time to walk beside the stream and drink a tea in the shade. We continue into the Dades valley, past mud-brick kasbahs, the "monkey fingers" rock formations and the hairpin bends climbing the gorge, and we stop at Kalaat M'Gouna, the valley of roses, and in the Skoura oasis. In the evening we arrive in Ouarzazate, the gateway to the desert and the capital of Moroccan cinema. Overnight in Ouarzazate.

Day 8

Ouarzazate > Aït Ben Haddou > Tizi n'Tichka > Marrakech:

Before leaving Ouarzazate we look at the Taourirt kasbah, once the residence of the Glaoui pasha, and at the film studios that made the town famous. Some thirty kilometres further on lies Aït Ben Haddou, a fortified earthen ksar on the bank of the Ounila, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the setting for films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and Game of Thrones: you cross the river and climb through the lanes to the agadir at the top, which overlooks the whole valley. In the afternoon we tackle the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres, with photo stops above the Berber villages clinging to the slopes. The descent to the Haouz plain brings us into Marrakech in the evening: if you still feel like going out, Jemaa el-Fna square is at its liveliest at that hour. Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 9

Guided visit of Marrakech:

A full day in the "red city" with a local guide. We start at the Koutoubia minaret, 77 metres high and the model for the Almohad towers, then visit the Bahia Palace, with its marble courtyards, painted ceilings and orange gardens, and the Saadian Tombs, rediscovered only in 1917, where the hall of the twelve columns holds the graves of the Saadian dynasty. We also see the ruins of the El Badi Palace, now home to a colony of storks, and walk through the Mellah with its spice market. In the afternoon you can choose between the Majorelle Garden and its blue villa (ticket not included) and the craft souks, where coppersmiths, slipper makers, lantern makers and carpet sellers work side by side; for more ideas, see our tours from Marrakech. The day ends on Jemaa el-Fna among orange juice stalls, storytellers and Gnaoua musicians. Overnight in Marrakech.

Day 10

Departure from Marrakech or transfer to Casablanca airport:

The group tour ends in Marrakech. After breakfast, depending on your flight time, we take you to Marrakech Menara airport, about twenty minutes from the centre, or, if you fly home from the airport you arrived at, we drive you back to Mohammed V airport in Casablanca: that is roughly three hours on the motorway, so in this case we recommend a flight from late afternoon onwards. If you still have a few hours, you can leave your luggage at the hotel and spend them in the Menara gardens or on a last walk through the souks. Remember that this trip starts in Casablanca and ends in Marrakech: booking an open-jaw ticket, arriving in Casablanca and departing from Marrakech, saves you time and often money too. Here ends your ten-day journey between the Atlantic, the Rif, the imperial cities and the Sahara.