10 Days Desert Tour from Casablanca

Welcome to Morocco! Your English-speaking private driver meets you at Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport and walks you through the plan for your tour. Then you visit Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city and commercial capital.

Enjoy the magnificent architecture of the Hassan II Mosque and the gardens and terrace cafés overlooking the Atlantic coast.

Afterwards, we head to Rabat. You’ll have dinner and spend the night in a riad or hotel.

Today we drive to Chefchaouen. Before we reach the blue city, we make a few scenic stops along the way. Tonight you sleep in an authentic riad inside the medina.

Today we drive to Meknes for a guided tour. On the way through the rolling hills, we visit the impressive Roman ruins at Volubilis — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the best-preserved Roman site in this part of North Africa.

As you gaze up at the marble pillars and admire the mosaic floors, your local guide brings the Roman Empire to life. Then we leave the Romans behind and continue to Meknes.

After lunch, we start with a guided visit to Bab Mansour, the ornate gate of the imperial city, built in the 18th century by Sultan Moulay Ismail.

We continue to the small but stunning Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, pass the entrance of the Royal Palace, and end at the massive Heri es-Souani — the sultan’s personal stables and granary, built for his 12,000 horses. Then we leave Meknes for Fes, where you’ll have dinner and spend the night.

After breakfast in your riad, your tour of Fes begins. The medina is one of the largest walled cities in the world, dating back to the 9th century.

You’ll visit the Royal Palace gate and the Mellah, the Jewish quarter built in the 16th century.

The medina is home to many artisans’ quarters — brass and copper souks, carpenters, butchers, and bakers each have their own corner. The famous Fes tannery is an amazing sight: from a rooftop view, you watch the men at work dyeing and treating the hides.

You’ll also see Al Karaouine University, founded in the 9th century, and several of the city’s medersas. You spend the night at your riad, breakfast included.

Today we leave Fes for Erfoud. On the way, you pass through a beautiful cedar forest and cross the Middle Atlas to the mining town of Midelt, where we stop for lunch. The journey continues through the long, palm-filled Ziz Valley.

Countless ksars — small fortified villages — line the road. We then reach Erfoud, famous for its fossils and its date festival, and after about 7 hours of scenic driving you arrive in the Merzouga desert. You’ll have dinner and spend the night in a kasbah.

From Merzouga, your Saharan adventure begins with a visit to a nomad village and a lunch break at a kasbah hotel beside the Erg Chebbi dunes. Relax by the pool and get ready for the next stage.

As the sun sets, walk or ride a camel across the sands and watch the Erg Chebbi dunes turn a beautiful red.

Enjoy a Moroccan feast under the stars to the beat of Berber drums and songs. Your tent has a bathroom with hot water and a shower — a gala dinner and an unforgettable night camping in the desert.

Enjoy a beautiful sunrise and a delicious breakfast. Then you return to Merzouga and rejoin the car for the drive to the stunning canyons of the Todra Gorge, along the rugged Road of a Thousand Kasbahs.

Hollywood has filmed here for decades — from The Last Temptation of Christ to The Jewel of the Nile. Enjoy the natural beauty of the gorges, where springs run between the rock walls.

Take a short walk through the Todra Gorge between walls of grey and pink rock, then continue through the Dades Valley. We spend the night at a kasbah.

Today you discover Kelaa M’Gouna, the Valley of Roses — the home of Moroccan roses and everything made from them. Continue along the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Skoura palm oasis to Ouarzazate. After a lunch stop there, visit Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO-protected site.

Then cross Tizi n’Tichka, the highest road pass in the Atlas Mountains at 2,260 m, with panoramic views over valleys, mountains, and Berber villages. You arrive in Marrakech at sunset and spend the night in a riad or hotel.

After breakfast, a professional guide takes you on a city tour of Marrakech. You start at the Koutoubia Mosque, a landmark that inspired buildings like the Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat. Next, you visit the Saadian Tombs and the Bahia Palace.

The Saadian Tombs date from the reign of Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur. Rediscovered in 1917 and carefully restored, the mausoleum holds the graves of about sixty members of the Saadian dynasty, which rose from the valley of the Draa River.

You continue to the famous Jemaa el Fna square, alive with food stalls, snake charmers, musicians, and fortune-tellers — the unique heart of old Marrakech. Then wander the souks to see hundreds of handmade crafts. You stay the night in a riad, breakfast included.

Fly home from Marrakech or Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport, taking your stories of Berber days and Arabian nights with you.