TOUR ITINERARY:

 

 

Day 1: Casablanca airport – Hotel D

Meet and greet at Casablanca airport, then transfer to the hotel to check in. Welcome meeting at the hotel followed by a welcome dinner. Overnight in Casablanca. 

 

Day 2: Casablanca – Rabat BLD

After breakfast, start the city tour of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city and economic capital. Begin with an inside tour of Hassan II mosque, the largest mosque in the country and the 7th largest in the world. Continue to Ain Diab Corniche for a pleasant stroll along the coast. Your next stop is Mohammed V Square in the city center. The city tour of Casablanca includes also the Habous Quarter, one of the oldest areas in Casablanca. The district was built by the French in the 1930s as an attempted solution to the ongoing housing shortage. It marries the best of traditional Moroccan architecture with modern facilities and French ideals. Enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant then transfer to Rabat, the capital of Morocco and one of the Imperial cities. Begin your tour with a short walk around the entrance to the Royal palace. Dinner and overnight in the hotel. 

 

Day 3: Rabat – Meknes – Volubilis – Fes BLD

After breakfast, continue the city tour of Rabat. Stop first at the Kasbah of the Udayas, Rabat’s medina. This kasbah is a fortification constructed on a hill, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The Kasbah of the Udayas was constructed during the realm of the Almohads. Continue to Mohammed V Mausoleum. This Mausoleum is home to the tombs of the current king's grandfather, King Mohammed V, and his two sons King Hassan II and Prince Moulay Abdellah. Inside the mausoleum, mosaics rise from the marble floor to a ceiling of gold leaf and hand-carved cedar wood, while the three ground-floor tombs are carved from white onyx. Next to the Mausoleum, stop at Hassan Tower, which is the towering minaret of the Hassan Mosque. The construction of the site began in 1195. The reminiscents are part of one of the oldest mosques left in existence. Transfer to Meknes, stopping to take pictures of the massive Bab El Mansour gate. Enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant. The city tour of Meknes will include the Harri Souani stables, the medina ramparts, and the entrance to the Royal Palace. Continue along to the UNESCO-sponsored Roman ruins in Volubilis where you will have a guided tour. Transfer to Fes for dinner and overnight.

 

Day 4: Fes (city tour) BLD

Enjoy a guided city tour of the spiritual capital of Morocco, Fes. The first stop of the morning is a visit to the entrance of the largest royal palace in Morocco. This palatial complex rests in the center of the Fes El-Jedid area and is surrounded by high walls with an intricate and elaborately decorated gateway that is permanently closed. The doors are bronze but they shine like gold. The next stop will be the old Medina (Fes el Bali). This medieval centre of Fez has not changed for centuries. Its narrow alleys house hundreds of merchants and craftsmen selling a range of products such as dates, fish, spices, copper urns and musical instruments. One of the most interesting sites in Fez is the Leather Souq and the oldest leather tannery in the world. The tannery dates back at least nine centuries. In the medina you will visit the Jamaa Al-Karaouine (the world’s first established university) and a Medersa (a Koranic school).  Lunch at a local restaurant and dinner at the hotel.

 

Day 5: Fes – Midelt – Erfoud – Merzouga BLD

After breakfast, leave Fes heading to the heart of the desert. Stop first at Ifrane, a charming town and ski resort in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. Ifrane is famous for its Alpine climate, European-style houses and its 1665 metres (5,460 ft) in elevation. The town experiences snow during winter months and a cool climate during summer. Ifrane is also the place where the lowest temperature was ever recorded in Africa, -24 °C in 1935. While in Ifrane, expect to find animals like the threatened Barbary Macaque and local tree species such as the native Atlas cedar, Scrub oak and the introduced London plane. Continue through many Amazigh (Berber) villages before getting to Midelt where you will stop for lunch. Leave through Ziz River, passing through a series of fortified villages before getting to Erfoud. Enjoy 4x4 transfer to the heart of the sahara desert. Dinner and overnight in a charming desert camp (tents) by the dunes.

 

Day 6: Merzouga – Tinjdad – Rissani – Tinghir BLD    

Enjoy an early morning sunrise camel ride along the golden sand dunes in Merzouga. Return to the camp for shower and breakfast before driving to Tinghir via Rissani and Tinjdad. Tinghir is a gorgeous, 40km oasis, which boasts a valley lush with palm trees, olives, almonds and many other crops. Visit Todra gorge, 15km north of Tinghir. Todra Gorge is a 300m wall, carved deep into the High Atlas Mountains. Lunch at a local restaurant and dinner and overnight in Tinghir.

 

Day 7: Tinghir – El Kelaa – Skoura – Ouarzazate BLD

After breakfast, transfer to Ouarzazate along Dades Valley and Kelaat M’Gouna. The drive is spectacular, with hundreds of Kasbahs lining the route, winding through stunning desert landscapes, villages, palm groves, and with the expansive Jebel Sarhro lunar-scape to the south. Dades valley is known as valley of figs. Lunch at a local restaurant, then continue to Kelaat M’Gouna, a large village which is famous for cultivating roses. Expect to find many fine, rose-infused products there. Transfer to Ouarzazate, also known as “Morocco’s Hollywood,” for dinner and overnight.

 

Day 8: Ouarzazate – Ait Ben Haddou – Marrakech BLD

After breakfast, begin the city tour of Ouarzazate, including Tourirt Kasbah. This kasbah is considered as one of the most beautiful kasbahs in Morocco. Next, visit the cinematographic studios where some of the most famous desert landscapes were and are still being shot. Continue on to Ait Ben Haddou, the most spectacular fortress village in the south of Morocco and the iconic landscape immortalized in such films as, Lawrence of Arabia, The Man Who Would Be King, Jesus of Nazareth, The Jewel of the Nile, The Living Daylights, The Sheltering Sky, Kundun, The Mummy, Gladiator, and Alexander, etc. Lunch at a local restaurant. Leave Ait Ben Haddou crossing the High Atlas Mountains via the spectacular, 2260m long Tiz-In Tichka pass to Marrakech for dinner and overnight.

 

Day 9: Marrakech (city tour) BLD

Enjoy the guided city tour of Marrakech after breakfast. The morning begins with a visit to the Kotoubia Mosque. The mosque is the largest in Marrakech and one of the oldest in the world. The minaret, 77 metres (253 ft) in height, includes a spire and orbs. It was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184 to 1199), and has inspired other buildings such as the  Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat. Continue to the world-famous Jemaa el Fna Square, which houses an array of food, snake charmers, local musicians, and fortune-tellers. There’s nowhere on Earth like the Jemaa el Fna, the square at the heart of old Marrakesh. Your next stop is the Bahia Palace, and the Saadian Tombs. The Saadian tombs in Marrakech date back from the time of the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603). The tombs were discovered in 1917 and were restored by the Beaux-arts service. The mausoleum comprises the interments of about sixty members of the Saadi Dynasty that originated in the valley of the Draa River. Lunch at the hotel and dinner at a charming local restaurant. Overnight in Marrakech.

 

Day 10: Marrakech – Essaouira BD

Enjoy the morning at leisure in Marrakech. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon, transfer to Essaouira, an amazing small, easily navigable city. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. 

 

Day 11: Essaouira (day at leisure) BD

You will have free time in Essaouira to explore the city on your own. Be sure to ask your guide for some city highlights as there are many. Although originally ocupied by the Portuguese, Essaouira was fortified by a French-influenced architect named Vauban, and formed the settling ground for a large Jewish population, so the city has an eclectic, multicultural feel. As a result of these influences, Essaouira has become the premiere destination for artists and intellectuals. The city’s stable microclimate gives it a mild winter and a cool summer, so you can make the most of the beaches year round. Don’t leave Essaouira without visiting the local artisans, who are known for their marquetry furniture––intricate designs inlaid in the roots of cedar. Dinner and overnight in Essaouira.

 

Day 12: Essaouira – Safi – Jadida – Casablanca BLD

After breakfast, transfer to Casablanca via Safi, Oualidia and El Jadida. Safi is one of the most attractive cities in Morocco thanks to its long history and its modern aspects. The city was under protectorate by the Portuguese Empire from 1488 to 1541, while the fortress built to protect the city, under Portuguese rule is still there today. Safi nowadays is the main fishing port for the country's sardine industry, and also exports phosphates, textiles and ceramics. During the Second World War, Safi was one of the landing sites for Operation Torch. After the visit of Safi, continue to Oualidia, another charming sea resort in Morocco. Oualidia is a small village on the Atlantic coast, facing a salt water lagoon and beach where ocean and coast merge. Oualidi is the ideal place to unwind. The magic of the lagoon and the tides provide a constantly-changing back veil. Poised on the edge of the ocean, in a site of great ecological importance, Oualidia will attract, captivate, energise and sooth in equal measure. We will continue via El Jadida to Casablanca for dinner and overnight.

 

Day 13: Casablanca airport B

After breakfast, we will assist you to Casablanca airport for your return flight.