DAY 1: Depart from USA
- It is the time to forget about your ordinary everyday life and go on a journey to the other part of the world.
- Board your international flight from the USA to reach Morocco in the next day.
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DAY 2: Arrival to Casablanca (-+0h45min)
- Upon arrival in Casablanca, please proceed through customs and immigration formalities. Please collect your baggage and proceed outside where you are met by our representative and start your sightseeing with an excursion around the port city of Casablanca, Morocco largest metropolis and its industrial hub.
- Highlights include the old French quarter of Habous, beaches lapped by green-blue water. During your tour you visit the Hassan II GrandMosque (exterior). The mosque is among the largest in the world and can house as many as 25,000 worshipers. The mosque minaret is the tallest religious structure in the world. Continue to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
- Meal: Dinner
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DAY 3: Casablanca, Rabat, Fes (-+3h10min)
- After breakfast, depart overland towards Rabat, driving along the main highway which links these two major cities. Embark on a city tour which highlights Rabat cultural influences and the superbly preserved relics of its Moorish past. Rabat most famous site is the 12th-century Hassan Tower (an excellent example of the gorgeous Moroccan style), the incomplete minaret of the great mosque built in the beginning of 12th century. Located alongside is the mausoleum dedicated to Mohamed V, the grandfather of the current king.
- You also pay a visit to the Oudaya Kasbah, which is built on a bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Its gate is one of the most beautiful surviving in the Moorish world, and within its walls youll explore a delightful Moroccan garden, complete with melodious fountain and sweet-smelling orange trees. At the conclusion of your sightseeing, you continue overland to Fez (approximately a 3 hour drive) and on to your hotel. Dinner and overnight.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 4: Fes, City Tour
- Today you take a step back in time to the Middle Ages when you visit one of the most imperial, timeless and untouched cities in the world - Fez El Bali (Old Fez) - the cultural heart of Morocco. You explore some of the 9000 narrow lanes, alleys and souks (open air markets) that make-up the labyrinth of the citys old quarter, originally founded in the 8th century AD.
- The Imperial capital was a renowned center of medieval learning and at its heart still remains the Karaouine, one of the oldest, still functioning universities in the world. In the neighboring building is the Attarine Medersa (Koranic college), a jewel of Hispano-Moorish architecture, built in the 14th century. Your day of sightseeing also includes visits to the Nejjarine Square, with its beautiful fountain with elaborate tile-work mosaics. The nearby Fondouq (Caravanserai) has been converted to a museum of carpentry artifacts. You also visit Fez El Jedid (New Fez), built by the Merinide Dynasty in the 13th century. Here you see the Royal Palace, mosques, madrasas (Koranic schools), souks and the city wall. Most notably, Fez El Jedid is home to the mellah (Jewish quarter), which provides an interesting insight into Jewish architecture. The wrought iron decorated windows and splendid carved wood balconies of the old mansions are particularly outstanding. The medieval Medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Return to tour hotel for dinner and overnight.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 5: Fes, Volubilis, Meknes, Fes
- Journey overland to explore the Roman ruins of Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in North Africa. With its triumphal arches, basilicas and capitals, the Volubilis skyline brims with iconic examples of Roman architecture. Among its greatest treasures, however, are the amazing mosaic floors of former family dwellings, which include depictions of Orpheus charming animals with his lyre, nine dolphins signifying good luck and a portrait of Amphitrite in a seahorsedrawn chariot.
- Upon completing this glimpse into antiquity, visit Meknes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the imperial cities of Morocco. Its impressive monuments recall the splendor of a fortified city, first built in the 17th century by the powerful sultan Moulay Ismail, to rival the court of his contemporary, Louis XIV of France. See the monumental Bab Mansour gateway - considered one of the finest great gates of Morocco.
- Return to Fez for an evening at leisure. Dinner and overnight at the hoteL.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 6: Fes, Ifrane, Beni Mellal, Marrakesch (-+8h10min)
- Transfer to Marrakech, Today journey will take you towards the Middle Atlas Mountains through Imouzzer, the first village between Fez and Ifrane, then Azrou, an authentic Berber village where the locals still live and work like their ancestors.
- Next, stop in Ifrane enjoy the flower-lined paths and the French-style architecture of this quaint little ski resort. Drive through the cedar forest and maybe see some of the Barbary apes leaping from the higher branches.
- Continue through the Holm Oak and Cedar forest, then into the limestone area of the Middle Atlas then south west towards Beni Mellal for a lunch break (lunch on your own) before heading west to Marrakech. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 7: Marrakech, City Tour
- Unearth the secrets of Marrakech, beginning in the medina, the old walled section of town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This thousand-year-old city was long a political, economic and cultural center. Marvel at its architectural jewels, including the soaring Koutoubia minaret.
- Continue to the Bahia Palace, an exemplary specimen of privileged life in the 19th century. Your next stop is at the Tiskiwin Museum (Maison Tiskiwin), which houses an impressive collection of North African arts and crafts. The museum, which was founded by a Dutch anthropologist, is organized into geographically themed exhibits, with each room focusing on artifacts from different towns and regions along the ancient trade route from Marrakech to Timbuktu. The works on display include exquisite hand-woven carpets and textiles, traditional Berber clothing and jewelry, intricate basketwork and tribal handicrafts.
- Later you visit Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakech main square, which is filled with orange juice stalls and vendors, along with fire eaters, mime artists, snake-charmers and street musicians performing at every turn. You may also take the opportunity to explore the citys fabled, labyrinthine souks, their bustling alleyways brimming with all manner of wares.
- Following your visit, return to your hotel. The remainder of the day is at leisure, a perfect opportunity to freshen up and get ready for a dinner in a local restaurant. Return to your hotel and overnight.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 8: Marrakech, Skoura, Dades (-+5h35min)
- As you leave Marrakech, the distant haze begins to resolve itself into a jagged mountain range - the High Atlas Mountains, jutting abruptly from the plain. Our route follows the same one caravans used centuries ago, to bring into Marrakech gold and precious wood from the other side of the ocean of sand, the Sahara. Beautiful scenery and small villages built in tiers succeed among oak trees, walnut groves and snow patches before arriving at the Tizi n Tichka pass, at 2260 meters high. Once over the pass a totally different picture is unveiled: the lunar landscape of the Anti-Atlas.
- Later, skirt past Ouarzazate and stop for a lunch (own expense). Past Ouarzazate, our trip tour reaches yet another lush area, nested between the deserted crest and the desolate plateaus: Skoura palm grove. Then, our trip reaches Kelaa des Mgouna, famous for the nearby Valley of Roses and Rose Festival, where at the end of a 3 days celebration usually held in May, a local girl is crowned Rose Queen. The most looked after product is eau-de-rose and two factories in the area distil and export the product. The process uses approximately three thousand kilograms of rose petals to extract a liter of rose oil. Further on, Boulmane Dades follows, the starting point to explore the spectacular Dades Gorge, a lush carpet set against the massive rocks and quite popular among those interested to trek. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 9: Dades, Tinghir, Merzouga (-+3h45min)
- Back on the road, our first stop is Tinerhir (Tinghir), with its extensive palm grove, the ksours built into the rocky hills above it and its mysterious decaying Jewish quarter. Tinerir has been for generations a stop for nomadic Berber tribes travelling from the mountains north of it towards the desert during the winter months.
- A rather inconspicuous hidden gem is the 19th century adobe mosque nested within the old crumbling ksour, a heaven for photography enthusiasts. Todra Gorges, lie only 15 km from Tinghir, presenting an arresting spectacle with its crystal-clear river emerging from it, its huge walls changing color to magical effect as the day unfolds. Its 300 meters (1000 feet) high walls are home to more than 150 bolted routes and at any time of day you can catch a glimpse of someone rock climbing his way up the gigantic walls. Before reaching Merzouga where the tarmac ends, we pass Erfoud and Rissani.
- In Erfoud we may stop for a visit at Musee des Oasis if time allows. Rissani used to serve as last stop on the great caravan routes south and gold and slave auctions were taking place here as late as 1800&rsquos. Before it, the caravan trade and the most important city in Morocco was Sijilmassa, the ruins of which lie opposite Rissani. From its gates, Ibn Battuta and Leo Africanus left Morocco to embark on their illustrious journeys across the Sahara into African countries. Soon after we reach Merzouga and in the distance you glimpse the first leviathans of sand forming the Sahara: the dunes of Erg Chebbi. Dinner and overnight at your hotel.
- NB: you can stay in a desert camp with round trip 4x4 transfers from Erfoud.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 10: Merzouga, Alnif, Tazaarine, Zagora (-+4h05min)
- Enjoy an optional sunrise camel ride along the golden sand dunes in Merzouga.
- Return to your Riad for breakfast before transferring to Zagora via the Amazigh villages of Alnif and Tazarine. The road to Tazzarine sees almost no traffic, providing a scenic link between Tafilalet and Draa Valley. A
- side from the landscape, fossils and prehistoric rock carvings are this region main attraction. The scenery grows wilder as you approach Tazzarine, set in a grassy oasis surrounded by bare mountains.
- Continue to Zagora. Famous for its largest palm valley in Morocco. Dinner and overnight in your hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 11: Zagora, Aadez, Ouarzazate (-+2h35min)
- After breakfast, enjoy the tour of Zagora including some of the oldest villages in Morocco. Stop by Tamegroute to visit the village famous library, which houses ancient Koranic scripts dating back to the 12th century. Visit the pottery section of Tamgroute then transfer to Ouarzazate along the Draa valley.
- Optional lunch-stop at Agdez then continue the trip to Ouarzazate for dinner and overnight.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 12: Ouarzazate, Ait Benhaddou, Marrakech (-+3h50min)
- Begin the day by exploring Ouarzazate, a city originally built as a French garrison in the 1920s. Today, the city is a regional trade center, known for its pottery and carpets. See the Taourirt Kasbah, which now consists of simple clay houses and crenellated towers that are beautifully decorated with geometric motifs.On the way, optional visit of the Film studios.
- Continue to elaborate Ait Benhaddou, dubbed a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of the region most exotic kasbahs, where structures all but defy the laws of gravity as they perch upon the steep slope. Some of these buildings have been featured in films, including Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator.
- You journey over the High Atlas Mountains, observing everyday life in remote rural towns, to the fascinating city of Marrakech. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
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DAY 13: Marrakech, Departure
- After breakfast, we will assist you to Marrakech airport for your return flight.
- Meal: Breakfast
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