8 Days Tour From Casablanca to Merzouga Desert, Fes, and Marrakech
8 Days Tour From Casablanca to Merzouga Desert, Fes, and Marrakech Overview
On this Tour From Casablanca to Fes and The Sahara Desert, you will visit highlights of Morocco including imperial cities Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes, and Marrakech passing by the stunning desert dunes of Merzouga in the southeast of Morocco, the one-lifetime experience of sleeping under the stars and enjoying the magical landscapes, sunrise, and sunset in the desert.
DAY 1 WELCOME FROM CASABLANCA – RABAT
Welcome to Morocco! On arrival at Casablanca Airport, you will be met by our representative and transferred to your hotel. While this is an arrival day and you may arrive at any time, please note that hotel rooms are generally only available after midday and that there will a Welcome Meeting with your leader tonight. If you arrive early we will visit the Hassan II mosque the second largest mosque in Africa, Its minaret is the world’s second tallest minaret at 210 meters. Completed in 1993,
Accommodation: Hotel
Included Activities
Casablanca Hassan 2 Mosque –
DAY 2: RABAT – MEKNES – VOLUBILIS – FES
After breakfast, a guided tour in Rabat is scheduled where we will start by the Udayas Kasbah (or as it’s also known Oudayas Kasbah) kasbah, a haven of tranquility, with its flower-filled little streets, Andalusian garden, and Moorish café, the kasbah is the first milestone of the city of Rabat. It’s located at the mouth of the Bou Regreg River, opposite the city of Salé. Another interesting site to visit is the Hassan tower or Sawm’at Hassan in Arabic, referring to the significant minaret shaft following the special Moroccan and Spanish style of architecture of the same time, the minaret is incomplete. Begun in 1195, the tower was intended to be the largest minaret in the world. In 1199, Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died and construction on the mosque stopped. The tower, according to tradition, was designed by an architect named Jabir who used a similar design plan for Hassan’s sister tower, the Giralda in Seville, modern-day Spain.
Afterward, we will start driving to Meknes Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravids as a military settlement, Meknes became a capital under Sultan Moulay Ismaïl (1672–1727), the founder of the Alawite dynasty. The sultan turned it into an impressive city in Spanish-Moorish style, surrounded by high walls with great doors, where the harmonious blending of the Islamic and European styles of the 17th century Maghreb are still evident today.
The Guided Historical Tour of Meknes will include Bab Mansour a 16 meters Gate that was designed as a horseshoe-arched gate and its 52-foot-high wooden doors are located off the sprawling el-Hedim square(Square of Ruins)that we will enter next. The square is lined with modern residential buildings and a covered food souk (market).
Just before sunset, we will arrive at our last stop before Fes, Volubilus also known as Walili, a Unesco World Heritage site, the ancient city was founded in the 3rd century BC by the Berbers and was Romanized during the reign of the roman empire now contains mainly Roman remains (arch of Caracalla, basilica, Capitol, baths of Gallien). They can be seen from the road from Meknes to Moulay Idriss. After visiting Volubilis we will hit the road to Fes to spend the night.
Accommodation: Riad
Included Activities
Rabat – Guided Walking Tour / Chella, Oudaya, Hassan Tower
Guided walking Tour Volubilis
Meals Included
Breakfast
DAY 3: EXPLORE FES
After breakfast, you will have a sightseeing tour where you can Walk through high walled streets, watch the daily procession of mourners entering the tomb of Fez’s founder Moulay Idriss II. the medina of Fez is Founded in the 9th century and home to the oldest university in the world what makes it the spiritual and cultural heart of Morocco. Spend the day exploring the old city, visiting, Mederassa Bou Inania, the tanneries, and the splendid Funduk Nejjarine, a beautifully restored 18th-century inn. return to your hotel to spend the night and enjoy a delicious Moroccan dinner.
Accommodation
Included Activities
Guided walking tour Fes
Fondouk Nejjarine
Mederassa Bou Inania, Tanneries, Jewish Quarter
Meals Included
Breakfast
DAY 4: FES – MIDELT – ZIZ VALLEY – ERFOUD – MERZOUGA
After the breakfast, we will start our long driving day to Merzouga crossing the Atlas Mountains, on the way we will pass through the clean and the most modern city in the country Ifrane arriving at the trailing edge of the Cedar Forest to – Azrou – a city located on a steep hill through a variety of woods to the famed cedar forests inhabited by endangered Barbary monkeys. We will have lunch in a Berber village before driving down the curves and join the pre-Saharan zone passing first by Errachidia and Erfoud famous for its pottery and the interesting fossil quarries in which we’ll feel the beginning of the Saharan oasis of Tafilalet then From a vast plateau you will get impressed by the vast sand dune of Merzouga appearing from the horizon, you will ride the camel to explore inside the mysterious sand-sea of the Erg-Chebbi, one of the most fascinating sights you will ever see. spend the night in a Berber desert camp and enjoy the stars.
Accommodation: DESERT CAMP
Included Activities
Meals Included
Breakfast
Dinner
DAY 5: MERZOUGA – RISSANI – TODGHA GORGES – DADES
from Merzouga we continue our journey towards Rissani that was the location of the famed desert capital, Sijilmassa, between the 14th and 18th centuries, where fortunes in gold and slaves were traded via caravans crossing the Sahel. We will have a short visit to Zawiya Moulay Ali ash-Sharif and the possibility to explore the Souk (market) and the Fondouks where donkeys gather. then we will drive through the Dades Valley towards$the great canyons of Morocco Todgha Gorges situated beyond the central high Atlas Mountains. Here, the contrasting landscapes remind visitors of Colorado, with its high plateau. we will go along the famous road of 1000 kasbahs, driving through The Dades Valley where we will visit the Dades gorge & valley. and we head to the Berber family for Lunch, cooking course, a walk to discover the valley and spend some time with the Berbers before we head to our hotel near the valley. Overnight in Roses valley. Car: 4 hours – Walk: 2:30 hours /
Accommodation: Hotel
Guided walking tour of the valley and Gorge
Carpets co-operative
Meals Included
Breakfast
Dinner
DAY 6: DADES VALLEY – OUARZAZATE – MARRAKECH
Aït Benhaddou Kasbah has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, this Unesco-protected red mudbrick ksar (fortified village) built in the 11th century and used to be a strategic stop for caravans of camels, often numbering hundreds, on the trans-Saharan trade route from Sudan to Marrakech carrying gold, silver, and slaves and returning with salt, Afterword we will head to Marrakech via the tizin’tichka pass .we’ll stop to visit the town of Telouet and its ancient 17th century Kasbah then we’ll continue exploring the tIzin’tichka road especially its great landscape of Berber’s villages. Overnight in a local riad in the medina of Marrakech.
Accommodation: Riad (2 night)
Included Activities
Visit Skoura
Visit Cinema Museum
Visit Studios
Ait Benhaddou Kasbah
Meals Included
Breakfast
DAY 07: MARRAKECH EXPLORATION
Welcome to Marrakech or “the red city ” situated near the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas Mountain, In Marrakech Europe, Africa and the Middle East mingle and merge as t is two parts one is the old town called “medina” where you will visit with your local guide the interesting monuments of the city like the “Koutoubia mosque”,” the Bahia palace” and the famous square Jama lfna.The other part is the new modern town “gueliz” built during the French occupation.
Tour From Casablanca to Fes and The Sahara Desert
Accommodation: Riad
Included Activities
Guided walking tour Marrakech
Majorelle Gardens
Bahia Palace
Souks
Jamaa lfna & Koutoubia
Koranic madrassa Ben Youssef
Monuments and Heritage Tour
Meals Included
Breakfast /
DAY 8: CASABLANCA AIRPORT TRANSFER
According to your flight details, we will assist and transfer you to the airport of Marrakech or Casablanca, and thank you for visiting Morocco and for choosing Women Best Travel as your trusted travel company. for your tour from Casablanca to Fes and the Sahara desert.
