8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS
from CASABLANCA
IMPERIAL CITIES AND DESERT

Classic circuit designed to start at the Casablanca airport and finish at the Marrakech airport

Route IMPERIAL CITIES AND DESERT
Duration 8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS
Start MARRAKECH - AIRPORT
Ends MARRAKECH - AIRPORT
Type of trip Culture and adventure. Landscapes, nature and desert

Program

Day 1 - Casablanca - Welcome at the airport and meeting with the accompanying guide - Visit of the Hassan II Mosque – Rabat

Welcome at the Mohammed V airport in Casablanca and meeting with the accompanying guide.

Get ready to be surprised and inspired!

Visit to the exterior of the Hassan II Mosque, whoever wishes may make the optional visit of the interior. Then we will go to Rabat, the political and administrative capital of Morocco, to visit the Mausoleum of Mohamed V, the Hassan II Tower and the Kasbah Oudayas. Free time and rest or to continue enjoying at your own pace in the city.

Day 2 - Rabat - Meknes – Fez

Breakfast. Departure to Meknes, free visit to the city, that has is name linked to the name of Moulay Ismail, the great sultan of the Alouita dynasty. Visit to the walled Medina of the city, the Bab Mansour gate and the Hedim square.

Next, arrival in Fez, cultural and religious capital of the country.

Free time for a first contact with the city and its medina.

Day 3 - Fez - Visit with local guide

In the morning, at the time previously agreed, departure for the tour with a Fez local guide, the oldest of the Imperial Cities of the country that will lead us to the doors of the Royal Palace, a tour in the Jewish quarter, the impressive Medina, with its typical shops and artisan neighborhoods, the neighborhood of the dyers, the exterior of the Mosque, the Koranic School, Al Bouanania, and El Quaraouiyne University.

Free time in the afternoon to continue enjoying the city.

Day 4 - Fez - Ifrane “Moroccan Switzerland” - Cedar forests and Azrou monkeys - Middle Atlas Mountains - Medalt - Errachidía - Ziz Valley - Merzouga - Dromedary excursion - Night in Berber camp (haimas)

After breakfast, we resume the route to the desert through the university city of Ifrane, better known as the “Moroccan Switzerland”, one of the favorite cities of the king of Morocco, the cedar and monkey forest of Azrou and the Atlas landscapes, until we reach the Ziz Valley, an extensive palm grove. We will arrive in Merzouga and change from our vehicle to the dromedaries to take a ride to the bottom of the dunes, contemplate an unforgettable sunset and spend the night in a Berber camp. Typical dinner at the rhythm of drums. This will undoubtedly be a magical night!

Day 5 - Merzouga - Todra Gorges - Dades Valley

We will say goodbye to the dunes and head towards Erfoud from where we will take the route to Tineghir and Todra. We will make a stop to visit its impressive gorges perched on 1,350 m of altitude and surrounded by a palm grove, and then reach the city of Boumalne, where the other gorges called Dades were formed.

A beautiful tour through valleys, Berber villages, kabashs and a landscape of contrasts between palm trees and vegetation.

Today we will spend the night surrounded by mountains and valleys.

Day 6 - Dades Valley - Rose Valley - Skoura Palm Grove - Ouarzazate - Ait Ben Haddou - Tichka Port (2260m) – Marrakech

After breakfast, and after passing the Valley of the Roses and the city of Ouarzazate, located on a large plateau, we will visit one of the best Ksurs – if not the best – and best preserved in Morocco: Ait Ben Haddou, a fortress town built in adobe, scene of a multitude of films and declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

Continuation of the route through the High Atlas, crossing the Port of Tichka (2260 m) surrounded by stunning mountains. Arrival in Marrakech and transfer to hotel or Riad.

Time for a well-deserved rest or for a first contact with the city.

Free visit of the DJemaa el Fna Square and the medina, the heart of the city. A unique experience, where all the life and night activity is concentrated: dancers, storytellers, jugglers, artisans, merchants and snake charmers. From the terraces of some cafés you get a wide view of the city: mosques and minarets, palaces and gardens, souks and bazaars.

 

DJEMAA EL-FNA SQUARE

This main square of the city and throughout the day attracts tourists and locals who may visit the stalls selling orange juice and water, as well as snake charmers, women painting with henna or the boys with monkeys.

At night the atmosphere changes and you can see dancers, musicians and jugglers, which fill it in its entirety, and that provide an atmosphere of drums and fun.

We recommend sitting in one of the surrounding cafes to enjoy the atmosphere or go to dinner at one of the more than 100 stalls that are placed at this time and with different types of Moroccan food

Day 7 - Marrakech - Visit with local guide

In the morning, at the time previously agreed, the local guide will pick you up at your accommodation to start cultural visit of the most emblematic and tourist places of the city.

The visit of the monuments and tourist places is done by foot and accompanied by an official guide of the city.

The guided tour includes the visit of:

LA KOUTOUBIA, one of the wonders of Almohad art that is located in the center of the city, where formerly there was a stone palace called “Ksar AL HAJJAR”.

PALACIO BAHÍA built in the s. XIX as the residence of the Sultan. Bahia means bright, in fact in the XIX century the Moroccans thought they had built the greatest palace of all time. To get there, we will cross the flea market of the Kasbah, the Jewish Quarter (El malah), the Souk of the Species and the Badia Square.

LAS TUMBAS SAADÍES, one of the most visited places in Marrakech. These tombs date from the end of the 16th century and are located in a closed garden that is accessed through a small hallway. After the entrance, we find mausoleums of great beauty, decorated with mosaics, and different tombs that keep the remains of buried sultans, warriors and servants of the Saadí dynasty.

On this tour, we will enter the ZOCO and we will also visit the BEN YOUSSEF MADRAZA, built in the 16th century and one of the most important Koranic schools. In it, her students lived in austere cells while they finished their religious studies. The most beautiful part of the visit is its inner courtyard with its architecture and mosaics, in harmony with the central pond used to perform the ablutions before the prayer. Here visitors will find extreme tranquility, after having passed through the hustle and bustle of the streets of the Medina.

GARDEN MAJORELLE, this garden was built by the painter Jacques Majorelle and was created as he would create a work of art. As a curiosity, today we speak frequently of the color “bleu Majorelle” in honor of the blue used in the walls and in some details of the garden. In the 80s the mythical designer Yves Saint-Laurent acquired it and increased the amount of plant species to more than 300. It became his favorite corner, and the place where he wanted is ashes to be scattered between bamboos and water lilies.

And finally, the DJEMAA EL FNA PLAZA, which is the central square of Marrakech and the most important place in the medina. Is the center of the public life of Marrakech during the day and night. The best thing about DJemaa el Fna Square is the transformation that is going on during the day.

Day 8 - Marrakech - Free time and at the agreed time, transfer airport

Depending on the expected flight departure time, free time for the last visits and purchases.

Shuttle to the airport at the agreed time.

END OF OUR SERVICES.

We wish you a happy return home, and we hope to see you again soon in Morocco, inchallahl

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To consider

IMPERIAL CITIES

In all cities of Morocco if you wish to have an accompanied visit it is mandatory to hire a local city guide, so we are required to comply with the standard.

The visit included in this itinerary with a local guide is in the Imperial city of Fez, a city that we consider essential to know accompanied by a local guide from this city, and in Marrakech. The rest of the cities included in the program will be carried out freely and at your own pace to give you greater freedom. If you wish to include the visit of other cities with a guide, he must be hired separately as an optional activity.