Imperial cities & desert

The route

Itinerary

1. 1
   Day 1

   Arrival in Marrakech

   Pick-up at Marrakech airport and transfer to your accommodation.

2. 2
   Day 2

   Marrakech → Rabat

   Drive to the capital. In the afternoon the Hassan Tower, the royal mausoleum, the royal palace and a walk through the Chellah, the Marinid necropolis built on Roman foundations. Night in a riad.

3. 3
   Day 3

   Rabat → Meknes → Volubilis → Fes

   Meknes, the smallest imperial city with the mightiest buildings: granaries, water basin, mausoleum and Bab Mansour, the largest gate in Morocco. Then via Volubilis and Moulay Idriss to Fes.

4. 4
   Day 4

   Fes

   Exclusive tour with our local partner through the most oriental of the imperial cities. Lunch in an old palace in the heart of the medina. In the afternoon the Andalusian quarter, the blue and green Bab Boujloud gate and the big pottery.

5. 5
   Day 5

   Fes → Ifrane → Midelt

   Across the fertile Saiss plain up into the Middle Atlas. Ifrane, Azrou and the cedar forests, home of the Barbary macaques. A walk by a crater lake. Night in Midelt with a view of Jbel Ayachi.

6. 6
   Day 6

   Midelt → Merzouga

   Over the High Atlas and through the Ziz Valley, Morocco’s largest date palm oasis, to Rissani. At sunset you reach your hotel at the foot of the great dunes.

7. 7
   Day 7

   Merzouga → Todgha → Boumalne

   In the morning the big donkey market in Rissani. Then via Erfoud and Tinjdad into the Todgha Gorge and along the Road of the Kasbahs to Boumalne Dades.

8. 8
   Day 8

   Boumalne → Ait Ben Haddou → Marrakech

   Past the Valley of Roses to Ait Ben Haddou. Then over the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m) back to Marrakech.