14 Days Morocco Trip from Marrakech

When you arrive in Marrakech, our representative meets you and takes you to your hotel or riad. Relax and settle in — you spend the night in Marrakech.

Visit the famous city of Marrakech, known as the “southern pearl of Morocco”. It’s the second-oldest imperial city and has drawn travelers and traders for centuries. Your tour includes the Menara Gardens, the famous Jardin Majorelle, the Bahia Palace, and the Saadian Tombs.

See the Koutoubia Mosque, whose 77-metre minaret dominates the city centre. Then head for one of Marrakech’s main attractions: Jemaa el Fna, the renowned UNESCO-listed square at the cultural heart of the city. Take a break at one of the many cafés around the square and watch the show, then keep exploring the vibrant souks. You spend the night in Marrakech.

Leave Marrakech for the beach city of Essaouira, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on a scenic drive dotted with argan oil cooperatives.

This windswept coastal fishing port — with its wide beaches and old medina walls carved into the cliffs — has long been a favourite destination. Soak up the laid-back vibe: explore the small but lively medina, walk the beach or the ramparts, or head to the port to watch the day’s catch come in.

In June, Essaouira hosts the Gnaoua Music Festival. You stay the night in a local riad — your first evening outside Marrakech on this 14-day journey.

Depart Essaouira for Oualidia, stopping in Safi, a former Portuguese town. Safi is the heart of Morocco’s sardine exports and is best known for its pottery.

Then relax in Oualidia, a small beachside town with a protected lagoon, an estuary, and the wild Atlantic right on your doorstep.

Walking, birdwatching (Oualidia sits in the middle of Morocco’s richest bird habitat, especially in spring and autumn), kayaking, fishing, swimming, kite surfing, plain surfing — you have plenty to choose from. You spend the night in Oualidia.

Leave Oualidia for Rabat along the Atlantic coast. You pass through El Jadida, a small port city once ruled by the Portuguese and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and stop in Casablanca to see Mohammed V Square and the stunning Hassan II Mosque.

Then discover imperial Rabat: the Mechouar (the walls and ramparts around the Royal Palace), the stunning Mohammed V Mausoleum, the Hassan Tower, and the Oudaya Kasbah overlooking the Atlantic, with fabulous views and galleries of Moroccan artists. You spend the night in Rabat.

We leave Rabat and follow the breathtaking coast road to Tangier. On the way, we explore Asilah, an amazing seaside town of whitewashed homes, blue doors and walls, and colourful murals. Tangier itself is the gateway between Europe and Africa, and has always been a melting pot of cultures from around the world.

Take a tour of Tangier, stroll through the vibrant medina, and admire the view of the place where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. You spend the night in Tangier.

Leave Tangier for the beautiful mountain town of Chefchaouen, traveling through the lush valleys of the Rif Mountains.

Chefchaouen is famous for its blue-washed houses and is hugely popular with both tourists and Moroccans, especially in the hot summer months.

Explore its narrow streets and winding lanes, full of souks selling food and craftwork — woollen goods with intricate embroidery and goat’s cheese you won’t find anywhere else in Morocco.

Take a break in the square, visit a nearby farm, or walk in the surrounding parks. You spend the night in Chefchaouen.

After breakfast at the hotel, a picturesque drive takes you from the highlands of the Rif Mountains through fertile farming hills to the Roman ruins at Volubilis — an open-air museum.

Volubilis may be less imposing than some Roman sites around the Mediterranean, but it’s a wonderful, easy way to explore a crucial chapter of Morocco’s past.

We continue to Meknes, Morocco’s fourth imperial city and a 17th-century treasure. We break for lunch, walk the ancient walls of the medina, admire Bab Mansour, and visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail.

After the visit, we drive straight on to Fes, where you stay for the night.

Today you enjoy everything Fes has to offer on a guided city tour.

Fes is the biggest and best-preserved city of the medieval world, and its medina is a heady blend of sounds, aromas, and sights.

You can follow one of five themed tourist routes to find your way around. There are many palaces and mosques to see — keep in mind that in Morocco, only Muslims may enter the mosques themselves.

After exploring the dye pits, tanneries, and food stalls, we return to the hotel to freshen up before a night of Moroccan entertainment and dinner at a restaurant in town.

After breakfast, we begin a beautiful drive over the Middle Atlas towards Ifrane, passing hills covered in cork oak forest and huge cedars — home to Barbary apes.

Through quiet, beautiful passes in the Middle and High Atlas ranges, you catch your first glimpses of the amazing architecture of the south. After lunch in Midelt, the road crosses a stark plain of desert and scrub.

The peaks of the High Atlas rise behind the town, creating a stunning backdrop. Crossing Tizi n’Talremt — the Pass of the She-Camel — we plunge into desert terrain along the Ziz Valley.

We then travel south to Erfoud and Rissani, a vast oasis of more than six million palm trees flanked by many ksour, the region’s fortified villages.

Following a stunning route that marks the edge of the desert, we arrive at a beautiful kasbah hotel at the border of the golden dunes. Lounge by the pool — and at night, enjoy a fantastic live desert blues band.

Enjoy sunrise in the desert, then ride your camel back to the hotel, where a shower and breakfast are waiting.

After about an hour to relax, you set off on an off-road 4×4 tour of the dunes: the Merzouga oasis, a nomad storehouse, and Khamlia village, home to the Gnawa community, whose ancestors were brought to the region from sub-Saharan Africa. Listen to their spiritual music, then meet desert nomads living in tents and gain a new perspective on their way of life.

Close by is Merzouga Lake with its birds. Then you head to Rissani — once called Sijilmassa, a gathering point for the salt caravans bound for Timbuktu in Mali. Stroll through its souk, where stalls sell spices, fruit, and clothing.

After lunch in Rissani, we drive to our kasbah, where a glass of tea welcomes you. Unwind, then get ready to ride camels through the pink sands of Morocco’s most awe-inspiring dunes.

You have time to explore the dunes before sunset. Dinner comes with traditional music, and you spend the evening in a nomad tent.

Leaving the middle of the desert, we head for the Todra Gorge — Morocco’s Grand Canyon, enclosed on all sides by limestone cliffs rising a sheer 1,000 feet.

Now it’s your turn to explore the gorge, from its deepest reaches to its dizzying heights. Todra’s appeal lies in its shifting colours, changing slowly as the sun moves from east to west. Then we head to the breathtaking Dades for the night.

After breakfast, we drive through the villages of this beautiful region, past fields tended by Berber women, with the High Atlas mountains as a fitting backdrop.

The journey continues towards Ouarzazate, with a detour off the track to visit Berber nomads in their caves and share a cup or two of tea. From there, we carry on through the Valley of the Roses — famous for its Rose Festival in May — and past the kasbahs of Skoura.

After visiting the film museum in Ouarzazate, “the Hollywood of Morocco”, we cross the riverbed to Ait Benhaddou. Climb the hill past the old buildings: the agadir (grain store) at the top gives you stunning views over the village and the countryside.

You can also step inside one of the homes and share a glass of mint tea with the residents to get a feel for their way of life. In the afternoon, you drive north into the High Atlas mountains.

The road, paved by the Foreign Legion in 1936, climbs over the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m) with stunning panoramic views over the ranges, then winds down through Berber villages to the plain around Marrakech.

Even now, the name Marrakech conjures images of the Arabian Nights — alleyways, souks, stalls, and markets. This fascinating city, founded in the 11th century, never fails to satisfy a curious traveler.

The elegant minaret of the famed Koutoubia is the landmark of the skyline.

Today we make the most of your remaining time. Wander the souks of Marrakech for souvenirs for your friends, then transfer to Marrakech Menara airport for your flight home — the end of your 14-day Morocco excursion.