11 Days Morocco Private Tour: Marrakech to Casablanca

Your driver meets you at Marrakech airport and takes you to your riad or hotel. After the flight, take time to rest in the courtyard with a glass of mint tea.

If you still have energy in the evening, walk to Jemaa el-Fna, the great square of the medina, when the food stalls, musicians and storytellers come out. If you prefer a quieter first evening, ask us about a stroll in the Gueliz new town or the Menara gardens instead.

Moment to remember: the smoke, lights and music of Jemaa el-Fna at nightfall.

A local guide spends the day with you in the medina. You see the Koutoubia Mosque and its minaret from outside, the carved cedar and tilework of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, and the courtyards and gardens of the Bahia Palace.

Between the monuments you walk through the souks, where each lane has its own craft: leather, lanterns, spices, carpets and metalwork. In the late afternoon you have free time, and you can return to Jemaa el-Fna as the evening crowds arrive.

Moment to remember: the painted ceilings and quiet courtyards of the Bahia Palace.

You leave Marrakech for the High Atlas and climb to the Tizi n'Tichka pass, with stops for views over Berber villages and terraced valleys. On the southern side you reach Aït Ben Haddou, a fortified earthen ksar listed by UNESCO and used as a backdrop in many films. You walk up through its lanes to the top for the view, then stop for lunch nearby.

In the afternoon you pass Ouarzazate, with the Taourirt Kasbah and the film studios, which you can visit if you wish. The road then follows the palm groves of Skoura and the Rose Valley around Kelaa M'Gouna, famous for its rose products, before reaching your hotel in the Dades Valley.

Moment to remember: the first view of Aït Ben Haddou rising above the riverbed.

After breakfast you drive to Tinghir and its long palm oasis, then into the Todra Gorges, where the canyon narrows between rock walls that rise high above the river. You have time to walk through the narrowest part before lunch.

In the afternoon the landscape opens out towards Erfoud, known for its fossils, and Merzouga at the edge of the Erg Chebbi dunes. Your camel and guide are waiting there. You ride into the dunes, stop on a ridge to watch the sunset, and continue to your desert camp for dinner and a night under the stars.

Moment to remember: watching the dunes turn orange and red from the top of a ridge at sunset.

Wake up early to climb a dune for sunrise over the Sahara, then ride back to Merzouga for breakfast and a shower. The rest of the day is for the area around the dunes.

With a 4x4, you can visit a nomad family for tea in their tent and learn about life in the desert, and see the remains of old mining sites. In the village of Khamlia, musicians with roots in West Africa play Gnawa music, and you can have lunch there. In the afternoon you can stop at the seasonal lake near Merzouga before spending a second night in the camp or in a hotel.

Moment to remember: the silence of the dunes in the first light of the morning.

You head north through Erfoud and Errachidia and follow the Ziz Valley, where a ribbon of palm groves and earthen villages runs along the river between rocky hills. The road climbs over the Tizi n'Talghamt pass to Midelt, a good place for lunch at the foot of the Middle Atlas.

In the afternoon you drive through the cedar forest near Azrou, where you may see Barbary macaques, then stop in Ifrane, a mountain town with sloping roofs that locals call the Switzerland of Morocco. You arrive in Fes in the evening.

Moment to remember: the green line of the Ziz palm groves seen from the road above.

A local guide shows you Fes, one of the oldest imperial cities. You start at the golden gates of the Royal Palace and the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, then enter Fes el-Bali, a UNESCO-listed medina and one of the largest car-free urban areas in the world.

You see a carved madrasa, the area around the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university, and the artisans' quarters where copper, wood and textiles are still worked by hand. From a terrace above the Chouara tannery you watch hides being dyed in the stone pits. If you like, we can add a Moroccan cooking class in the afternoon.

Moment to remember: the colors of the Chouara tannery from the terraces above.

Your first stop is Meknes, the imperial capital of Sultan Moulay Ismail in the 17th century, with its monumental Bab Mansour gate and long city walls. A short drive away, Volubilis preserves the ruins of a Roman city, with columns, a triumphal arch and well-kept floor mosaics.

In the afternoon the road climbs into the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen. The town was founded in the 15th century and is known for the blue walls of its medina. You arrive in time for a first walk before dinner.

Moment to remember: the mosaics of Volubilis with the olive groves all around.

Today is free to enjoy Chefchaouen slowly. Wander the blue lanes and stairways of the medina, browse the small shops for woven blankets and goat cheese, and stop in Outa el-Hammam square, beside the kasbah and the octagonal minaret of the Grand Mosque.

In the afternoon, follow the stream to the Ras El-Ma spring, then walk up to the Spanish Mosque on the hill for the sunset view over the town and the mountains. We can also arrange a home-cooked family lunch if you would like one.

Moment to remember: sunset over the blue town from the Spanish Mosque.

You drive south to Rabat, the capital. You see the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, then walk through the Kasbah of the Udayas, a fortress above the river mouth with blue and white lanes and views over Salé and the Atlantic.

After lunch you continue to Casablanca, the country's commercial center. You visit the Hassan II Mosque on the ocean front, one of the largest mosques in the world, and finish with Mohammed V Square or a walk along the Corniche.

Moment to remember: the Hassan II Mosque standing over the Atlantic waves.

After breakfast, and depending on your flight time, your driver takes you to Mohammed V airport for your flight home.

If your flight is late in the day, you can spend the morning in Casablanca, for example in the Habous district or on the Corniche, before the transfer.

Moment to remember: looking back on eleven days from the medinas to the dunes.