8-Day Morocco Itinerary: Casablanca, Fes, Sahara & Marrakech

This private eight-day itinerary is our most complete tour of Morocco for travellers with just over a week. It takes in all four imperial cities (Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech), the blue town of Chefchaouen, the Roman ruins of Volubilis, a camel trek and a night in the Sahara, and the gorges and kasbahs of the south. Two of the days are spent entirely on foot with licensed local guides, one in the medina of Fes and one in Marrakech, so you experience the great cities in depth rather than just passing through.

It begins at Casablanca airport and ends with a transfer to your flight home, from Marrakech or, if you prefer, back at Casablanca.

The route at a glance

• Day 1: Casablanca → Hassan II Mosque → Rabat (about 125 km)
• Day 2: Rabat → Rif Mountains → Chefchaouen (about 250 km)
• Day 3: Chefchaouen → Volubilis → Meknes → Fes (about 260 km)
• Day 4: Full day in Fes with a licensed guide
• Day 5: Fes → Ifrane → Middle Atlas → Ziz Valley → Merzouga, then by camel to camp (about 470 km)
• Day 6: Erg Chebbi → Rissani → Todra Gorge → Dades Valley (about 310 km)
• Day 7: Dades Valley → Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou → Tizi n’Tichka → Marrakech (about 350 km)
• Day 8: Full day in Marrakech with a licensed guide, then your airport transfer

Coast and capital

Your driver meets you at Mohammed V Airport or your hotel and takes you first to the Hassan II Mosque, set on a rocky promontory over the Atlantic. On a guided tour, you step inside a prayer hall large enough to hold 25,000 people, with a retractable roof and a glass floor section over the ocean. Then it’s a short drive up the coast to Rabat. You explore the whitewashed lanes of the Kasbah of the Udayas and its Andalusian garden, the 12th-century Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and spend the night at a riad in the city’s quiet medina.

Chefchaouen and the road to Fes

The next day you drive into the green Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, a town of blue-washed houses stacked against the mountainside. The afternoon is yours to explore, ending with the walk up to the Spanish Mosque to watch the sunset.

On day three you head south. At Volubilis, the ruins of a Roman city spread across a plateau among olive groves, with a triumphal arch, columns and mosaic floors still in place. In Meknes, the capital of the tireless builder-sultan Moulay Ismail, you see Bab Mansour, the grandest gate in Morocco, and his mausoleum. You arrive in Fes in the late afternoon.

A guided day in Fes

With a licensed guide, you spend day four inside Fes el-Bali, a medieval city of some 9,000 lanes where donkeys still carry goods and craftsmen work as they have for centuries. You visit the Royal Palace gates, the Mellah, the Al-Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas, the Chouara tanneries and the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university. The tour ends at the Merenid Tombs, high above the city, where the whole medina lies spread out below you.

The Sahara, the gorges and the kasbahs

On day five you cross the Middle Atlas via Ifrane and the cedar forests, descend the Ziz Valley and arrive in Merzouga in the late afternoon. From there, camels carry you into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for the sunset and a night at our luxury camp.

Day six starts with sunrise over the dunes. You pass through Rissani, walk the Todra Gorge between its cliffs and spend the night in the Dades Valley. On day seven you follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs to Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou, cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n’Tichka pass, and reach Marrakech in the late afternoon. In the evening, walk to Jemaa el-Fna, the great square at the heart of the medina, as the food stalls, musicians and storytellers take over.

A guided day in Marrakech

On the last day, a licensed guide shows you the highlights of Marrakech. You start at the Koutoubia Mosque, whose 12th-century minaret is the city’s landmark. Then you visit the Bahia Palace, a 19th-century residence of courtyards, painted ceilings and gardens, and the Saadian Tombs, the richly decorated burial place of a 16th-century dynasty. At the Ben Youssef Madrasa, you see one of the most beautiful Islamic buildings in North Africa, and you finish in the souks, where each lane specialises in a different craft: leather, metalwork, spices, carpets. Your transfer to the airport is timed to your flight.

Where you’ll sleep

• Rabat (1 night): a riad in the medina.
• Chefchaouen (1 night): a riad in the medina.
• Fes (2 nights): a riad in the medina.
• Erg Chebbi (1 night): our luxury desert camp, with a private tent for your booking, en-suite hot shower and flushing toilet, comfortable beds and electricity for charging. Heavy blankets are provided in winter, and family tents are available on request.
• Dades Valley (1 night): a kasbah hotel.
• Marrakech (1 night): a riad in the medina.

Breakfast is included every day, and dinner at the desert camp and in the Dades Valley. City dinners are free, so you can choose where to eat.

Best time to go

March to May and September to November are the best months. Spring is the greenest season in the north, and autumn brings warm, settled weather everywhere. Winter is mild on the coast and in Marrakech but cold at night in the desert and the mountains. In summer, Fes, Marrakech and the desert are hot, so the guided tours start early.

Who this tour is for

Travellers who want the complete Morocco experience in just over a week, with every imperial city, a night in the Sahara and guided days in both Fes and Marrakech. It’s ideal for a first visit to the country.

Good to know

• Longest day: day five, from Fes to the dunes (about 7.5 hours), ends with a sunset camel ride.
• Book your return flight for the afternoon or evening of day eight so you have time for the Marrakech tour.
• Majorelle Garden: it isn’t part of the standard Marrakech tour, but we can add it with timed tickets booked in advance.
• Prefer more desert time? The 9-day itinerary adds a full day around Erg Chebbi.