Unique Morocco Experience
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A small camel caravan crossing the Erg Chebbi dunes
← All journeysTAILOR-MADE JOURNEY · 12 DAYS

Path of the Dunes and Dreams

Casablanca → Casablanca

See it day by day
Length12 days · 11 nights
RouteCasablanca → Casablanca
FormatPrivate, no groups
DatesWhenever you choose

It can be done in reverse and adjusted in length and accommodation. It's private: no groups and no fixed dates.

THE ROUTE

The route on the map

12 days · 11 nights · from Casablanca to Casablanca

  1. 01 Casablanca
  2. 02 Marrakech
  3. 03 Aït Ben Haddou
  4. 04 Dades Gorges
  5. 05 Todra Gorges
  6. 06 Khamlia
  7. 07 Rissani
  8. 08 Ziz Valley
  9. 09 Fez el Bali
  10. 10 Volubilis
  11. 11 Rabat
  12. 12 Departure
LaâyouneDakhlaAtlantic Ocean 2111321CasablancaMarrakechOuarzazateMerzougaFezMeknesTodraRissaniVolubilis N 100 km Path of the Dunes and Dreams12 days · 11 nights · numbers show nights
THE JOURNEY, DAY BY DAY

Twelve days, one by one

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca at sunset
Day01

Arrival in Casablanca

Airport → Casablanca

Pickup at Casablanca Airport at your flight's arrival time and transfer to the hotel. A first look at the country's economic capital: the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world, the Corniche promenade, and Mohammed V Square, known as Pigeon Square. If you land at night, the visit moves to the next day.

Overnight: hotel · Casablanca

Jemaa el-Fna square at dusk with the Koutoubia minaret behind
Day02

Casablanca · Marrakech

Casablanca → Marrakech

After breakfast, the drive to Marrakech. The rest of the day is for the medina at your own pace: the souks, where bargaining is part of buying, the quieter corners, and Jemaa el-Fna square, with its musicians, snake charmers, jugglers, and dancers. There's no set tour today, so you can plan the afternoon however you like.

Overnight: riad · Marrakech

The ksar of Aït Ben Haddou, its mud-brick kasbahs climbing the hill
Day03

Marrakech · Telouet · Aït Ben Haddou · Ouarzazate

Marrakech → Tizi n'Tichka · Telouet · Aït Ben Haddou → Ouarzazate

You'll cross the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 m (7,415 ft), and detour to Telouet, the old stronghold of the Glaoui. Then comes Aït Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage adobe ksar and the setting for many films, with time for lunch there. In the afternoon, the drive continues to Ouarzazate for dinner and the night.

Overnight: accommodation, with dinner · Ouarzazate

The winding road of the Dades Gorges at sunset
Day04

Ouarzazate · Skoura · Dades

Ouarzazate → Skoura · Valley of Roses · Boumalne → Dades Gorges

Before leaving Ouarzazate, a visit to the Taourirt Kasbah, once a residence of the Glaoui. The road then heads east through the Skoura palm grove and the Valley of Roses, where the roses for rose water are grown, and passes Boumalne before entering the Dades Gorges, with time in the afternoon to explore the area.

Overnight: riad or hotel, with dinner · Dades Gorges

A village on a rocky plain below the snow-capped Atlas
Day05

Dades · Todra · Merzouga

Dades → Todra Gorges → Merzouga

After breakfast, the road heads east with stops at kasbahs along the way to the Todra Gorges, where the river has cut a sheer-walled canyon and there's time to walk between the cliffs. You'll continue to Merzouga in time to watch the sunset over the Erg Chebbi dunes. This is the first of three nights by the desert.

Overnight: hotel by the dunes · Merzouga

Travelers riding camels across the dunes at dusk
Day06

Erg Chebbi · Khamlia · camp

Merzouga → Tissardmine · Khamlia → Erg Chebbi

A full day around Erg Chebbi, on the track that skirts the dunes with the mountains of the Algerian border behind. A stop at the Tissardmine oasis, rich in fossils, a visit to a nomad settlement, and a viewpoint over the erg. In Khamlia, a village of descendants of enslaved people brought from the Sahel, you'll have tea with a short concert of Gnawa music. At sunset, a camel caravan to camp, dinner by the fire, and a night in a tent.

Overnight: tent at the desert camp · Erg Chebbi

A colorful fruit stall in a Moroccan market
Day07

Merzouga · Rissani · Merzouga

Erg Chebbi → Rissani → Merzouga

An early start to watch the sunrise from the top of a dune. Back at the hotel, a shower and breakfast, then off to Rissani, the cradle of the Alaouite dynasty, with its large market. You'll explore the isolated oases nearby, the black desert, a plain of dark stones, and the Rissani palm grove with its kasbahs. In the afternoon, back to the Merzouga dunes for dinner and your last night by the desert.

Overnight: hotel by the dunes · Merzouga

A whitewashed house among palm trees
Day08

Merzouga · Midelt · Fez

Merzouga → Ziz Valley · Meski · Midelt → Fez

Farewell to the desert and the road north through the Ziz Valley, with its palm grove set deep in the canyon, and a stop at the Blue Spring of Meski. Lunch in Midelt, between the Middle and High Atlas, then across the Middle Atlas to Fez, arriving in the late afternoon with time to rest before the next day's tour.

Overnight: riad or hotel · Fez, 2 nights

Dye pits at a Fez tannery
Day09

Fez, the whole city

Fez → full day → local guide

A guided tour of Fez. You'll start in Fez el Jedid, with the Royal Palace and the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, then go up to the South Tower (Borj Sud) viewpoint to see the whole medina and its minarets. After that comes a walk through the medina of Fez el Bali, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, whose alleys are still organized by guilds of potters, dyers, and other craftsmen, at a pace that has changed little in centuries.

Overnight: same accommodation · Fez

The triumphal arch of Volubilis above green fields
Day10

Fez · Volubilis · Moulay Idriss · Meknes

Fez → Volubilis · Moulay Idriss → Meknes

The drive to Volubilis, the Roman city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Next comes the holy town of Moulay Idriss, where Moulay Idriss I, founder of Morocco's first Islamic dynasty, is buried. About 27 km (17 miles) on, you'll reach Meknes, the imperial city of Moulay Ismail, with a visit to the Bab Mansour gate and El Hedim Square in front of it.

Overnight: accommodation · Meknes

The Hassan Tower and its columns in Rabat at sunset
Day11

Meknes · Rabat · Casablanca

Meknes → Rabat → Casablanca

After breakfast, the drive to Rabat, the kingdom's administrative capital. A walk through the medina, the Hassan Tower, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. In the afternoon, on to Casablanca, the most cosmopolitan city in the country, known for the Hassan II Mosque and its port, with time to see its modern architecture before checking in at your hotel.

Overnight: hotel · Casablanca

Jemaa el-Fna food stalls lit up at night, with the Koutoubia behind
Day12

Casablanca · airport

Casablanca → airport

Breakfast and free time until the agreed time for your transfer to Casablanca Airport. We'll help you check your luggage and show you to the boarding gate. End of our services.

Transfer included · any time

A couple watching the sunset over the desert

Can you picture this trip?

We’ll adapt it to your dates, your pace and the style of accommodation you prefer.

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