Day 01: CASABLANCA – MARRAKECH (230 km) :
1
Jemaa el-Fnaa
Arrive to Casablanca Mohamed V airport. Meet and welcome by our staff.
Transfer to Marrakech.
Lunch in Moroccan restaurant in Marrakech.
In the afternoon, free discovery of the famous Jamaa El Fna square.
Dinner & overnight at the hotel.
Duration: 60 minutes
Day 02: MARRAKECH – OUARZAZATE (198 km) :
1
Marrakech
After breakfast, Sightseeing of Marrakech, you will visit the famous Saadian Tombs, Koutoubia mosque, Bahia Palace and the Medersa Ben Youssef.
Duration: 3 hours
2
Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou
After lunch, Drive to Ouarzazate (4H00) via Taddert and the Tichka mountain-pass. A spectacular route offering wonderful scenery of the Atlas mountains.
Visit of the Kasbah Aït Ben Haddou (subject to sunset time).
Duration: 2 hours
3
Ouarzazate
Dinner & Overnight at the hotel in Ouarzazate.
Duration: 8 hours
Day 03: Ouarzazate – Tineghir – Merzouga ( 368 Km) :
1
Taourirt Kasbah
After Breakfast, panoramic tour of the city, optional visit of Taourirt Kasbah, cinema studio (Gladiator movie).
Duration: 2 hours
2
Todgha Gorge
El Kelaâ M'Gouna, known as the Roses city (possibility of buy the local roses fragrance and its esthetic products) then continue to Todra gorges / Dades Canyons.
Duration: 60 minutes
3
Merzouga Desert
You will appreciate the local habitant’s hospitality, the charming canyons along with a series of Ksours and kasbahs throughout the road as well as the magnificent view of the High Atlas mountains.
Then, we leave Tinghir heading to Erfoud city via Tinjdad. Next, we keep on the journey to Merzouga by 4x4 vehicles.
After arriving at Merzouga dunes (Erg Chebbi) , you will ride camels to witness the charming Sahara sunset.
Dinner & overnight under Tent in the desert.
Duration: 9 hours
Day 04: Merzouga – Midelt – Ifrane – Fes (466 km)
1
Erfoud
After breakfast departure to Erfoud, visit to the fossil museum.
Duration: 45 minutes
2
La Source Bleu de Meski
Blue Source of Meski. This is a beautiful place, lost in the middle of nowhere.
Flowing in a basin built by the legionnaires under the French protectorate, the blue spring of Meski is born in a rocky cavity. Resurgence of Oued Ziz, it flows to form a majestic pool, surrounded by lush vegetation. The locals lend to this oasis healing virtues. Legend has it that bathing in water from this source helps to be more fertile. This is obviously a local belief and the blue source of Meski is primarily a bathing place for the happiness of young and old, tourists and locals alike.
Duration: 60 minutes
3
Ifrane
Ifrane called the Switzerland of Morocco, was built during the French protectorate by the French as a hill station or “home away from home”. Not only were buildings designed in a similar style to French Alpine villages but plants and trees were also imported to give the city a European feel. The name however is taken from the local Amazigh language Tamazight and means caves. We visited during the spring but I'm certain with snow the contrasts are even more stark.
Duration: 60 minutes
4
Fez
Dinner & overnight in the hotel in Fes.
Duration: 8 hours
Day 05: FES
1
Bou Inania Medersa
Also known as the Merinid Medersa, it was built between 1350 and 1357 under the auspices of Sultan Abou Inan and is the largest Medersa in Fez. Its sculpted plasterwork, cedar woodwork (now faded), bronze, marble and onyx ornamentation and windows often capped with mukarna are all typical of Merinid architecture. The walls of the interior patio are adorned with zellij topped by stuccowork and a canopy of green tiles. The prayer room is notable for its superb old stained glass windows and magnificent minbar. Now in use as a mosque, the medersa is one of the few religious buildings in
Morocco open to non-Muslims.
Duration: 45 minutes
2
La Belle Vue de la Tannerie
Bordering the Fez River, which provides the water necessary for treatment of skins, the Chouara tanneries are a rainbow of vivid colours. From the terraces of the surrounding houses, you get a bird’s eye view of the series of tanks of red and brown dyes and of multitudes of skins drying in the sun.
Wool, animal hides and wax are exported in great quantity to Europe; but the finest skins stay in Fez where they are fashioned by skilled workers into belghas (a type of slipper), cushions, belts, and other luxury items sold throughout Morocco.
Duration: 45 minutes
3
Fontaine Nejjarine
The square takes its name from the cabinetmakers’ souk hidden away behind a wooden door in an alleyway below. Its fountain is of an unusual splendour and at its far end stands the Fondouk En-Nejjarine with its richly decorated façade, probably built in the 17th century and recently converted into a museum (optional visit & mint tea degustation – photo on ).
Duration: 30 minutes
4
Medina of Fez
The Fez medina has been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. This means ongoing efforts are being made to preserve it in its present state and to encourage a return to some of its former uses, such as residential. We went from one end of the medina to the other, but we barely scratched the surface. The Fez medina is Morocco's largest, some 2,700 acres. The medina is closed to motorized traffic, so donkey carts are widely used to ferry goods around. This means you must watch where you walk. It's best to take a guide along as its easy to get lost in such a big marketplace.
Duration: 2 hours
Day 06: FES – MEKNES - VOLUBILIS- CHEFCHAOUEN (259Km)
1
Meknes
After breakfast, departure to chefchaouen via Meknes, sightseeing tour of Meknes, the “Moroccan Versailles" which was founded at the end of the 17th century by Moulay Ismail, a contemporary of Louis XIV. Additional sightseeing includes Bab El Mansour, considered as the finest gateway in Morocco
Duration: 60 minutes
2
Volubilis
Volubilis is a nearby Roman settlement that has slumbered in the Moroccan countryside for over 2,000 years. Dating back to pre-Roman times Volubilis was a thriving city, complete with a forum, a capitol, basilica, triumphal arch, oil presses and spas. Settled on what was probably a Carthaginian city date from the third century B.C., Volubilis was a central administrative city for this part of Roman Africa.
However, the city was not abandoned after the Romans lost their eminence in the region, and even the Latin language survived for centuries before the Arabs conquered North Africa in the late 7th century, and people continued to live in Volubilis for a further 1,000 years.
Duration: 2 hours
Day 07: CHEFCHAOUEN – RABAT - CASABLANCA (332 km):
1
Hassan Tower
Continuation to Rabat, visit Hassan's Tower & The Mohammed V mausoleum The Hassan Tower, the minaret of the great mosque, was the idea of Yacoub el Mansour and at 144 feet (44m) was never completed. He intended it to reach 280 feet (86m) which would have made it the highest mosque in the Muslim world. Two hundred columns mark out where it was to stand, reflecting the glory of the Almohad empire which, in the 12th century, stretched as far as Tunisia and Moorish Spain.
Duration: 2 hours
2
Chellah
Optional visit of the kasbah Chellah, his is the most beautiful of Moroccan ruins built in the 14th century by the Merenids. It stands on the site of the old Roman city of Sala and today houses the best archaeological museum in Morocco.
Duration: 60 minutes
3
Casablanca
Casablanca is remarkable for its number of Art Deco buildings and villas, vestiges of the French protectorate and for its administrative centre, Place Mohammed V. Designed in 1920, this superb square includes much architecture in the neo-Moorish style favoured by the Protectorate: the Prefecture, Law Courts and Post Office. The nearby Ligue Arabe Park, Casablanca’s largest green space, is perfect for visitors wishing to escape the incessant bustle of the streets.
You will go through the wide avenues and long stripes. Later walk through the narrow streets of the Medina. The tour also features visits : the United Nations Square, the Court House, the Medina, various souks, the central market, Habous district and Corniche Boulevard of Ain Diab, and of course: the Hassan II mosque (not opened for tourists on fridays – free entrance for muslims).
Duration: 2 hours
Day 8: CASABLANCA APT (35 km):
1
After breakfast, Transfer to Casablanca airport for the return flight.
Duration: 60 minutes
