11-Day Moroccan Highlights Tour from Casablanca

Welcome to Morocco. Your driver will meet you at Casablanca airport and take you to your hotel. Settle in and rest after your flight. If your arrival time allows, take a short city tour, including the Corniche and the outside of Hassan II Mosque. An interior visit can be arranged around the mosque’s visitor schedule.

After breakfast, travel to Rabat. Visit Hassan Tower, the unfinished minaret of a 12th-century mosque, and the nearby Mausoleum of Mohammed V when access allows. Walk through the Kasbah of the Udayas above the Bou Regreg River, then continue through the countryside to Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains. Settle into your accommodation and enjoy a first walk through the blue lanes if arrival time allows. This is a full travel day, so visits are arranged around opening times and the drive.

Enjoy a short morning walk through Chefchaouen before leaving for Volubilis. Explore the archaeological site with a local guide. Its house mosaics, basilica and triumphal arch offer a glimpse of life in a Roman town. Continue to Meknes, the imperial capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. See the old city and monumental gates, then drive to Fes. Access to individual monuments depends on restoration work and opening hours.

Explore Fes with your local guide. Walk through Fes el Bali, where workshops, markets and neighbourhood fountains still shape daily life. Visit a historic madrasa when open, see Nejjarine square and its fountain, and stop at a tannery viewpoint.

View Al Quaraouiyine from the permitted public areas. Later, see the Royal Palace gates and the Mellah, the historic Jewish quarter. Your guide will adjust the route to opening hours, your interests and your walking pace.

Leave early for the Sahara. Cross the Middle Atlas, stopping in Ifrane and the cedar forests near Azrou. If Barbary macaques are nearby, observe them from a distance without feeding them. Continue through Midelt and the Ziz Valley, with viewpoints over palm groves, then pass Erfoud on the way to Merzouga. This is one of the longest driving days, with regular breaks and time for lunch. Arrive at your desert hotel and rest before dinner.

Explore the Merzouga area by private 4×4. Visit Khamlia to hear Gnawa music and learn about the village’s musical traditions. A tea visit with a local family may be arranged when hosts are available and happy to welcome guests. Enjoy your included lunch, then return to prepare for the dunes. In the late afternoon, take a camel ride towards camp, with time to enjoy sunset when conditions allow. Dinner is served at your desert camp, where your tent has a private bathroom.

Wake early if you would like to see sunrise over the dunes. After breakfast, leave Merzouga and stop in Rissani, a historic trading town near the old caravan routes. Market activity varies by day. Continue towards Tinghir and walk through Todra Gorge, where high limestone walls rise above the river. Travel on to Dades Valley for dinner and your overnight stay. Your driver will allow regular breaks for photographs, lunch and time outside the vehicle.

Travel through the Valley of Roses and the Skoura area towards Ouarzazate. Continue to Ait Ben Haddou, a fortified village of earthen buildings on an old trade route between the Sahara and Marrakech. Walk through the lanes and climb to a viewpoint if you wish. Cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass, with breaks along the way, then arrive in Marrakech. A film-studio visit or extra kasbah stop can be considered if time allows; this is already a full travel day.

Explore Marrakech with your local guide. See the Koutoubia Mosque from outside, then visit Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs, subject to opening hours. The palace shows the work of Moroccan artisans, while the tombs belong to the dynasty that ruled Marrakech in the 16th century. Walk through the medina’s workshops and souks and finish around Jemaa el-Fna square. Keep the afternoon flexible rather than rushing through too many sights. Majorelle Garden can be arranged separately with advance reservations.

Drive into the High Atlas to Imlil. Meet your local mountain guide for a walk through villages and terraced fields, with the length and difficulty suited to your group. Learn about local Amazigh life and enjoy your included lunch before returning to Marrakech for your final night. Bring comfortable walking shoes and layers; mountain weather can change quickly. If you prefer Ouzoud Waterfalls, this can be arranged instead, with different driving times and activities agreed in advance.

Enjoy breakfast and any free time your flight schedule allows before your private transfer to Marrakech airport. Your driver will confirm pickup around your departure, allowing time for traffic and check-in. Breakfast is included at your accommodation; availability before an early pickup depends on the hotel’s breakfast hours. If you plan to fly from Casablanca, tell us before booking so we can adjust the final night and transfer.