10-Day Private Group Tour: Imperial Cities and Desert

Your private group tour starts in Casablanca. After arrival you see the Hassan II Mosque from outside, a huge mosque right on the Atlantic shore. Then you drive north to Rabat, the capital, which takes about an hour. The evening is free to settle in and have dinner in Rabat.

After a walk through Rabat in the morning, the road leads north to Chefchaouen. The drive takes around four hours and the landscape slowly changes to green hills. In the afternoon you reach the blue city in the Rif Mountains. You spend the night in Chefchaouen, with time to walk its blue-painted streets.

The route continues south to Fes, with stops at the Roman ruins of Volubilis and in Meknes on the way. Volubilis shows old mosaics and columns from Roman times, and Meknes is one of the old imperial cities. The drive takes most of the day. In the evening you check into a riad in the medina of Fes.

Today is a guided day on foot in the medina of Fes. Your guide takes you to the tanneries, where leather is still dyed by hand, and to the Medersa, a fine old Koran school. You also walk through the craft quarters, where coppersmiths, weavers and woodcarvers work in small shops. The medina is a maze of lanes, so the guide makes the day easy to follow.

This is a free day in Fes, with no fixed plan. You can see the Royal Palace from outside, visit the potteries on the edge of the medina, or take a trip to the small town of Sefrou nearby. It is a good day to slow down, sit in a cafe and watch the city go by. You spend a second night in the same riad in Fes.

The long drive south starts today. The road crosses the Middle Atlas and follows the Ziz Valley, with palm groves and red rock along the way. After about seven to eight hours you reach Merzouga, at the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. In the late afternoon you ride a camel into the dunes at sunset and spend the night in the desert camp.

This is a free day in the desert around Merzouga. You can walk in the dunes, visit the village of Khamlia and hear its Gnawa music, or try sandboarding down a dune slope. The Erg Chebbi dunes rise up to 150 metres, so the views from the top are wide and open. You spend a second night in the camp or in a hotel at the edge of the dunes.

The day starts with sunrise over the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Then you drive west to Todra Gorge, where the road runs between high rock walls, and on into the Dades Valley. The valley is known for its rose-coloured rock and small kasbah villages. You spend the night in a hotel in the Dades Valley.

From the Dades Valley the road leads to Ouarzazate and on to Ait Ben Haddou, the old fortified village of clay houses. You have time to look around the ksar before the road crosses the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, at 2,260 metres. In the late afternoon you arrive in Marrakech and check into a riad in the medina.

Today is a guided walk through Marrakech. You start at Jemaa el-Fna, the big square with its stalls and storytellers, and pass the Koutoubia mosque. Then you walk into the souks, the covered markets full of spices, leather and lamps. After the walk the transfer runs as planned and the tour ends.