7-Day Marrakech to Casablanca Desert Tour

Day 1: Marrakech ⇒ Ait Ben Haddou ⇒ Dades Valley

Your driver collects you from your Marrakech riad or hotel early in the morning. The drive heads south-east on the N9, climbing into the High Atlas as the city gives way to cedar scrub, Berber villages, and the switchbacks of the Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260 metres. On a clear day the views north and south over the mountain ranges are extraordinary.

The first major stop is Ait Ben Haddou, reached by crossing the Ounila River on foot. The ksar rises in layers of tawny red earth above the riverbank, its towers and granaries forming one of the most recognisable silhouettes in Morocco. Walk up through the successive levels to the top granary for views over the valley and the semi-desert beyond. Allow at least 60 minutes here.

After Ait Ben Haddou the road continues east through Ouarzazate and along the Dades Valley corridor. Ancient kasbah towers and ksar walls in red earth rise against the canyon cliffs on both sides. You arrive at your Dades Valley accommodation in time for a walk along the gorge and dinner on a terrace overlooking the canyon. Overnight in the Dades Valley.

Day 2: Dades Valley ⇒ Todra Gorge ⇒ Merzouga Desert

Breakfast on the terrace with the canyon walls catching the early light, then a short walk into the Dades Gorge before departure. The gorge road climbs tight hairpin bends between red-rock canyon walls before the plain opens east towards Tinghir.

Todra Gorge is the first significant stop, approximately one hour from the Dades Valley. The gorge is a narrow canyon cut by the Todra River through the eastern High Atlas, with sheer limestone walls rising around 300 metres on either side. In the narrowest section the walls press to within 10 metres of each other. A proper walk into the canyon rather than a brief roadside stop reveals the full scale. Allow at least 45 minutes here.

From Tinghir the road continues south-east through the Draa-Tafilalet region. You arrive in Merzouga in the late afternoon, in time for the camel trek into the Erg Chebbi dunes at sunset. Erg Chebbi rises to 150 metres at its highest point, and moving through the dunes on camelback as the sky shifts through orange and violet is one of those experiences that no photograph adequately captures. Dinner at the desert camp is followed by Gnawa music around the fire and, on clear nights, a Milky Way that simply cannot be seen from anywhere near a city. Overnight in the desert camp at Erg Chebbi.

Day 3: Merzouga ⇒ Ziz Valley ⇒ Cedar Forest ⇒ Fes

Wake before dawn. The Sahara at sunrise is cold and perfectly still, and watching the sand shift from shadow to pale gold to burning orange as the sun clears the horizon is one of those moments guests consistently describe long after the tour ends. After breakfast at the camp, the drive north to Fes begins in earnest. An early departure is essential.

The road north follows the Ziz Valley, one of the most beautiful stretches of driving in Morocco. A long green corridor of date palms and ancient mud-brick ksour runs through an otherwise bare plateau, with the morning desert light falling across it in a way that is unlike anything else. After the Ziz Valley the road climbs back into the Middle Atlas, passing through Midelt and then rising into the cedar forests above Azrou. Here, Barbary macaques live wild along the roadside among the Atlas cedars. These are the only wild primates on the African continent north of the Sahara, and a brief stop to watch them is something both children and adults find memorable.

From Azrou the road passes through Ifrane, the alpine town built by the French colonial administration in the 1930s with its tiled rooftops and central stone lion, a brief and curious stop before the final descent onto the Saïs plain and into Fes. You arrive in Fes in the mid to late afternoon. Check into your riad in the medina, wander out as the city cools in the evening, and find a rooftop restaurant for dinner as the call to prayer echoes across the 9,000 lanes of Fes el-Bali. Overnight in Fes medina, first night.

Day 4: Full Day Guided Tour of Fes Medina

A full day in Fes with a licensed local guide is one of the defining experiences of any Morocco tour. Fes el-Bali is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Morocco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the finest medieval medinas in the world. Without a guide, most visitors end up walking in circles. With one, the city reveals itself as a precise, layered organism that has been functioning in more or less the same way for over a thousand years.

The morning begins at the Chouara Tanneries, the ancient leather dyeing vats that have been in continuous operation since the 11th century. The best views are from the terraces of the surrounding tannery shops, where the circular stone vats of white, saffron yellow, poppy red, and indigo blue are laid out below you like an enormous artist's palette. From there, the route leads through the souk of the dyers and on to the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque and University. Founded in 859 AD, Al-Qarawiyyin is widely regarded as the world's oldest continuously operating university. You cannot enter as a non-Muslim, but the carved stucco interior is visible through the open doorways.

Your guide will also take you through the Bou Inania Madrasa, a 14th-century Quranic school with perhaps the finest carved plasterwork in Morocco, the Henna Souk, the Nejjarine Fountain, and the woodcraft museum housed in a beautifully restored caravanserai. The afternoon is yours to return to the souks independently, sit in a medina cafe, or arrange a traditional hammam. Overnight in Fes, second night.

Day 5: Fes ⇒ Chefchaouen

One of the great pleasures of having spent the night in Fes rather than leaving first thing is the early morning. The medina at 7am, before the coaches arrive, belongs almost entirely to its residents going about their daily business. The lanes are cool and quiet, the donkeys loaded, the bread ovens already lit. A brief walk before departure gives the city a different quality from everything you saw with the guide the day before.

The drive from Fes to Chefchaouen heads west across the broad Saïs plain before climbing into the Rif Mountains. The road rises through cedar forest, terraced farmland, and mountain villages as the landscape becomes increasingly green and dramatic. You arrive in Chefchaouen in the early afternoon, with time to check into your riad and begin exploring before the best light of the day arrives.

Chefchaouen is one of the most photographed places in Morocco, and for good reason. The medina's blue-washed lanes, the terracotta-tiled square of Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the old Kasbah, and the natural spring at Ras el-Maa create a city that is unlike anywhere else in North Africa. The evening, when the blue deepens as the light fades and the cafes fill with the local crowd, is the best time to be here. Overnight in Chefchaouen.

Day 6: Chefchaouen ⇒ Rabat

One of the best things about spending the night in Chefchaouen is the morning. By 7am, before the coaches arrive from the coast, the blue lanes of the medina are quiet, cool, and almost entirely yours. The Plaza Uta el-Hammam is calm, the light is soft, and the alleyways that were crowded the evening before are now home only to cats and the first shopkeepers of the day. It is an easy, lovely morning before departure.

The drive from Chefchaouen south-west to Rabat passes through the Rif foothills and then across the northern coastal plain. You arrive in Rabat in the early afternoon with the whole city ahead of you. Morocco's capital is consistently one of the most underrated stops on any Morocco itinerary. The Kasbah of the Udayas is a walled medina that sits on a promontory above the Atlantic, with lanes that are narrow, white, and blue, and at the far end the ramparts open onto the ocean. The Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V are worth an hour of your time. The ancient necropolis of Chellah, the city's Atlantic corniche, and the unhurried quality of the medina all reward an afternoon of exploration. Overnight in Rabat.

Day 7: Rabat ⇒ Casablanca

The last morning of the tour is yours to spend in Rabat however you like. The medina in the morning is excellent for a final walk before departure, the Atlantic corniche is worth a coffee stop, and the Chellah is at its most atmospheric in the early light. Whenever you are ready, your driver takes you south on the motorway to Casablanca, a journey of approximately one hour.

Casablanca's most essential stop is the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the world and the only one in Morocco open to non-Muslim visitors. Its minaret, the tallest religious structure in the world, rises above the Atlantic on a promontory built out over the sea. The guided tour of the interior takes approximately 45 minutes and is well worth the entrance fee. The Art Deco architecture of the old medina and the Corniche neighbourhood reward a final walk before drop-off.

Your driver will take you to your chosen Casablanca accommodation or to Mohammed V Airport at whatever time suits your departure. If your flight is early evening, there is time for the Hassan II Mosque visit and lunch on the Corniche. If it departs later, the city is yours for the afternoon.