7-Day Casablanca to Marrakech Desert Tour

Day 1: Casablanca ⇒ Rabat

Your journey begins the moment your driver meets you at your Casablanca hotel or at Mohammed V Airport. The drive north to Rabat takes just under an hour along the motorway, so you arrive with the whole afternoon ahead of you. If time permits before departure, the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is worth a brief visit: one of the largest mosques in the world, built on a promontory over the Atlantic, and the only one in Morocco open to non-Muslim visitors.

Rabat is consistently one of the most underrated stops on any Morocco itinerary. As the country's capital, it has all the grandeur of a seat of government without any of the tourist pressure of Marrakech or Fes. Make your way to the Kasbah of the Udayas, a walled medina that sits on a promontory above the Atlantic. The lanes inside 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 Roman-era necropolis of Chellah, the Atlantic corniche, and the unhurried quality of the old medina all reward an afternoon of exploration. Overnight in Rabat.

Day 2: Rabat ⇒ Chefchaouen

An early start from Rabat to make the most of the day. The drive north-east climbs into the Rif Mountains, the landscape shifting from the dry Atlantic plain to cedar forests, terraced farmland, and mountain villages. You arrive in Chefchaouen in the early afternoon, precisely the right time to check into your riad, rest briefly, and then step into the medina as the light softens towards evening.

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

Day 3: Chefchaouen ⇒ Fes

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 are quiet and cool and almost entirely yours. The Plaza Uta el-Hammam is calm, the light is soft, and the Ras el-Maa spring at the edge of the medina, where local women still wash clothes in the running water, is an easy, lovely place to spend the first hour of the day before departure.

The drive from Chefchaouen to Fes heads south-east through the Rif foothills and then across the broad Saïs plain. You arrive in Fes by early afternoon, which is the ideal time to check into your riad in the medina and begin getting a feel for the city before the full guided day tomorrow. The Fes medina, Fes el-Bali, is genuinely disorienting for first-time visitors. Its 9,000 lanes follow no grid pattern whatsoever. This evening, simply wander out from your riad, find a rooftop restaurant, and enjoy the noise and scent of the city as dusk falls. 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 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 in 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. 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.

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 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 ⇒ Ifrane ⇒ Cedar Forest ⇒ Ziz Valley ⇒ Merzouga

This is the longest driving day of the tour, covering approximately 380 kilometres from the medina of Fes to the edge of the Sahara Desert. An early start is essential, ideally on the road by 8am. The route heads south into the Middle Atlas and the scenery changes quickly and dramatically.

The first stop is Ifrane, the alpine town at 1,665 metres above sea level built by the French colonial administration in the 1930s, with its tiled rooftops and central stone lion. A brief and curious stop. From Ifrane the route continues to the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques live wild among the Atlas cedars along the road. These are the only wild primates on the African continent north of the Sahara, and a short stop to watch them is something both children and adults find memorable.

After the cedar forest the road descends through the Ziz Gorge, a dramatic series of switchbacks carved into the rock above the Ziz River, and then opens onto the Ziz Valley. This is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in Morocco: a long green corridor of date palms and ancient mud-brick ksour running south through an otherwise barren plateau. 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. Moving through the dunes on camelback as the sky shifts from pale gold to deep orange and then 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 6: Merzouga ⇒ Todra Gorge ⇒ Dades Valley

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 is finished. Spend the early morning at your own pace in the dunes before returning for breakfast.

After breakfast, the drive heads west. The road that now opens ahead of you is entirely new terrain. This tour never retraces a road. The first significant stop is Todra Gorge, reached after approximately two hours of driving. 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 and the river runs cold between them. Todra is also one of North Africa's most respected rock-climbing destinations. Allow at least 45 minutes for a proper walk into the canyon.

From Tinghir the road west follows the Dades Valley, known throughout Morocco as the Route of a Thousand Kasbahs. Ancient kasbah towers and ksar walls in tawny red earth rise against the canyon cliffs on both sides. The further west you go the more dramatic the landscape becomes, particularly around Boumalne Dades where the road enters the Dades Gorge itself. You arrive in the Dades Valley in the afternoon with time to walk the gorge at your own pace before dinner on a canyon terrace. Overnight in the Dades Valley.

Day 7: Dades Valley ⇒ Ait Ben Haddou ⇒ Tizi n'Tichka ⇒ Marrakech

A relaxed morning in the Dades Valley before the final drive west. There is no need to rush today and a slow breakfast on a terrace overlooking the canyon is one of the pleasures that guests often mention. Once you are ready, the road heads west through Ouarzazate, Morocco's so-called Hollywood, a desert city that has served as a backdrop for productions including Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia, and Babel.

The most important stop of the day is Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage ksar on the banks of the Ounila River and arguably the most impressive earthen citadel in Morocco. Cross the river on foot and walk up through the successive layers of the ksar to the granary at the summit, where the views over the valley and the semi-desert beyond are outstanding. Allow at least 90 minutes here.

After Ait Ben Haddou the road heads north and climbs over the High Atlas via the Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260 metres above sea level. The pass road is spectacular, winding through Berber villages, argan orchards, and dramatic mountain scenery before descending through the foothills into the Marrakech plain. You arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon, with your driver dropping you at your riad or hotel. Your tour ends here.