Travel To Morocco 8 Days: Monuments, Culture And Desert

The first day of the program starts with your arrival in Marrakech and is designed to give you your first introduction to the country. Our guide/driver will pick you up from the city’s airport in a private vehicle and take you to your accommodation. Depending on the arrival time of your flight, you will either have some free time or join a guided tour with a local guide. In the evening, you will relax in a charming Riad/hotel located in the Medina.

On the second day of the Imperial Cities tour, the overland journey begins. After a delicious breakfast at the Riad in Marrakech, we set off in our private vehicle heading south. We will cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass, at 2,260 meters above sea level, and on the ascent, we will pass beautiful Berber settlements with spectacular panoramic views.

After crossing this impressive natural barrier, we will head to the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou. We will spend time visiting this legendary Berber fortress, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here, we will uncover its historical and artistic secrets and revisit scenes from famous film productions shot on location, such asGame of Thrones. Just a few kilometers away, on the outskirts of Ouarzazate, we will also visit the kasbah of Taourirt.

Both fortresses offer a great introduction to what awaits us for the rest of the day and the following morning: the Route of the Thousand Kasbahs, which passes through the palm grove of Skoura, the Valley of the Roses, and the Dades Valley, all of which are renowned for their stunning scenery. Our Riad, where you will have dinner and spend the night, is located in the latter area.

After charging the batteries with a good breakfast at the Riad, we will follow the route through the Dades Valley, to the Todra Gorges. Here we will discover one of the most spectacular rocky canyons of the country, with natural walls of about 200 meters. Later, our route will pass through beautiful palm groves: those of Tinghir (or Tinerhir), Tinjdad (or Tinejdad) and Touroug, which provide an explosion of greenery in an increasingly arid landscape.

This way, we arrive at Erfouwe famous for its numerous fossil discoveries and its tradition of marble production, which we will learn about during a visit to one of its workshops.

And in the last part of the day we will reach the southernmost point of this journey through the Imperial Cities of Morocco and the desert: Merzouga. Here we will change ‘vehicle’, leaving the 4×4 for the 8×8, that is, the dromedaries that will take us into the desert to the breathtaking dunes of Erg Chebbi.

In the middle of this sea of fine golden sand we will witness the spectacle of the sunset. And in a tent camp we will enjoy dinner and night’s rest under a shining starry sky.

With the sunset and the brightness of the stars still in the retina, you will wake up to enjoy an equally special sunrise, have breakfast, and take another camel ride, this time back to Merzouga. Later in the morning, you’ll have time for a refreshing shower, either at the camp or at a hotel, depending on your package.

Ahead of us lies a new route by road in our private vehicle. We will leave behind the small town of Rissani, drive through the Ziz Valley, cross the Middle Atlas and drive through the beautiful Cedar National Park, also called the Monkey National Park because of the large population of Barbary monkeys that live there.

Ifrane, known as the ‘Moroccan Switzerland’ thanks to its unique gabled buildings, will be our prelude before reaching Fez, one of the key stops on this Imperial Cities tour of Morocco. Upon arrival, you will check in to a charming Riad in the historic center, where you will spend the night.

For its enormous attraction, Fez is worth a full day’s visit. Specifically, the fifth of this tour of the Imperial Cities of Morocco. After a good breakfast at the Riad/hotel, we will meet with an official guide to discover the monumental sites of its historic center. The main landmarks of this guided tour are concentrated in the medina, such as the medersa of Bou Anania, the fountain of Nejjarine, the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss or the Karaouine mosque.

The latter is one of the great cultural centers of islam, home to the University of Fez, one of the oldest in the world. The craftsmen’s quarters of the medina, organized by guilds, will also be visited, especially that of the tanners.

There will also be time to visit the Royal Palace and its gilded bronze doors. At the end of the day, accommodation will again be in the charming riad of the previous night, located in the medina. Summary of the day Breakfast in riad Visit of Fez with local guide Night in Riad.

After another breakfast at the riad in Fez, we will head to the second historical capital of this tour of the Imperial Cities of Morocco. We are talking about Meknes, located just 60 km away by road, a distance that we will travel mainly between olive trees and fertile fields. In Meknes we will find a small but surprising city, with a rich monumental heritage.

This is largely a legacy dating back to the time of Mulay Ismail, the sultan who made Meknes his capital and his eternal resting place: his mausoleum still fascinates today with its rich materials, such as fine porcelain, stone of different colors and the most detailed stucco.

Our visit will also include the gates of the wall, such as Bab Mansur, or the Aghal al pond. Back in the car, we will continue our route west to Rabat, the third historical capital (and current capital since 1912) of our tour of the Imperial Cities of Morocco.

We will spend the whole afternoon there, as it is home to important monuments such as the Dar el Makhzen Royal Palace, the Kasbah of the Oudaias and the mausoleum of Mohammed V, among other places. And at the end of the day, you will rest in a new charming Riad.

After breakfast at the riad and check-out, the following hours will be organized according to the flight schedule. You could take the opportunity to do the last shopping in the center, to visit monuments that were left pending or even to take a guided tour with a local guide, if you did not have time to do it on the first day.

The Kutubia Mosque, the Saadian tombs, or the Ben Youssef Medersa are places worth visiting during your stay in the city. At the scheduled time, our driver will pick you up to transfer you to Marrakech Airport. Our services will end here, but we hope to see you again in the future.