Casablanca Trip Overview
Starts from Casablanca, this tour package gives you the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Morocco including the visit of the cultural capitol Fes, The red city Marrakech, Merzouga desert to experience camel ride crossing the dunes and a magical night in a luxurious desert camp, as well as discovering Kasbahs.
Additional Info
* Duration: 7 days
* Starts: Casablanca, Morocco
* Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
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What to Expect When Visiting Casablanca, Casablanca-Settat, Morocco
Starts from Casablanca, this tour package gives you the opportunity to discover the hidden gems of Morocco including the visit of the cultural capitol Fes, The red city Marrakech, Merzouga desert to experience camel ride crossing the dunes and a magical night in a luxurious desert camp, as well as discovering Kasbahs.
Itinerary
Day 1: Casablanca – Fes
Pass By: Fes, Fes, Fes-Meknes
Pickup from Casablanca airport, and transfer to Fes via the highway. Overnight stay in Fes.
No meals included on this day.
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Fes: Riad Ahlam or similar
Day 2: Fes sightseeing
Pass By: Fes, Fes, Fes-Meknes
Following breakfast at the hotel, our accredited local guide will accompany you on a walking tour of Fes to learn more about our culture and history. We visit rich historical landmarks like The royal palace, The Jewish quarter, Borj Nord, Madrasa Bou Inania, Chaouwara Tanneries, and much more
Stop At: Royal Palace of Fez, Avenue Omar Ibnou Khattab, Fes 30004 Morocco
The entrance to the palace is stunning, an example of modern restoration, but the 80 hectares of palace grounds are not open to the public. We must suffice with viewing its imposing brass doors, surrounded by fine zellij and carved cedarwood.
After breakfast, a licensed guide takes you on a journey to visit Fes starting with the royale palace. The entrance to the palace is stunning, an example of modern restoration, but the 80 hectares of palace grounds are not open to the public. We must suffice with viewing its imposing brass doors, surrounded by fine zellij and carved cedarwood.
We walk through the Jewish quarter (Mellah). In the 14th century, Fes became a refuge for Jews, thus creating a Mellah (Jewish quarter). Their old houses remain, with their open balconies looking onto the streets a marked contrast to Muslim styles.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Borj Nord, Avenue des Merinides, Fes 30030 Morocco
We head up here for one of the best panoramas of the city. Like its counterpart on the southern hills (Borj Sud). Borj Nord was built by Sultan Ahmed al-Mansour in the late 16th century to monitor the potentially disloyal populace of Fes.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Bou Inania Medersa, Rue Talaa Sghira, Fes 30110 Morocco
It is the finest of Fes theological colleges. It was built by the Marinid sultan Bouinan between 1350 & 1357. The madrasa underwent extensive restoration a few years ago, and the results are amazing: elaborate zellij and carved plaster, beautiful cedar, and massive brass doors.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Chouara Tannery, Hay Lablida Chouara, Fes 30030 Morocco
One of the three tanneries in the city of Fez, Morocco. It is the largest tannery in the city and one of the oldest. The tanning industry in the city is considered one of the main tourist attractions. The tanneries are packed with round stone vessels filled with dye or white liquids for softening the hides. The leather goods produced in the tanneries are exported around the world.
Duration: 20 minutes
Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Fes: Riad Ahlam or similar
Day 3: Fes – Ifran – Midelt – Errachidia – Erfoud – Merzouga
Pass By: Fes, Fes, Fes-Meknes
After breakfast, early departure to Merzouga desert through Ifran Midelt, Errachidia & Erfoud.
Stop At: Ifrane, Ifrane, Fes-Meknes
Tidy, & modern, it feels more like Switzerland relocated to the Middle Atlas than North Africa. the French-built Ifrane in the 1930s, deliberately trying to recreate an alpine-style resort. It has neat red-roofed houses, blooming flower beds, and lake-studded parks, all kept impeccably tidy.
Ifran’s famous landmark is the stone lion that sits on a patch of grass. It was carved by a German soldier during WWII when Ifrane was briefly as a prisoner-of-war camp and commemorates the last wild lion, which was shot near here in the early 1920s.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Azrou Cedar Forest, Azrou Morocco
The Cedar forests are notable as a habitat for a sub-population of Barbary macaques, we might be lucky to spot a troupe foraging in the woods
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Midelt, Midelt, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Midelt sits in apple country between the Middle and the High Atlas. The landscape offers some breathtaking views, especially of the eastern High Atlas, which seem to rise out of nowhere. Midelt consists of little more than one main street (Ave Mohammed V in the north, which becomes Ave Hassan II to the south), and a modest souq
Pass By: Errachidia, Errachidia, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Garrison towns are not generally known for their hospitality or culture, but Errachidia is trying to change that with the hospitality of its people. Besides Errachidia is home to a sizable military population stationed here to keep an eye on the nearby border with Algeria, it is also home to the enormous theatre that hosts performers from throughout the Sahara at the festival du Desert.
Pass By: Erfoud, Erfoud, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Fossilized bathtubs and moist, sweet dates are Erfoud’s current claims to fame, though it was once the end of the road. In September or October Erfoud has an increasingly well-attended date festival, with dancing and music. The market at the southern end of town sells local dates alongside fresh produce.
Stop At: Erg Chebbi, Erg Chebbi, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Our journey ends in Merzouga desert. After a glass of mint tea, We will leave our luggage in a room of our guest house, and take only what you will need for the night in the camp, then take the camels to a Berber camp in the middle of Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes, about 32 km long and 9 km wide it is also reputed as the highest sand dunes in North Africa. The camel trek takes about 1hr 30 min to the camp where we continue the spirit of the nomadic Berber lifestyle.. There you will enjoy the sunset and the silence of the Sahara desert . After dinner we gather round the fire and enjoy the desert night with traditional Berber drums.
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight at Tiziri luxurious desert camp
Day 4: Merzouga – Dades Valley
Pass By: Merzouga, Merzouga, Draa-Tafilalet
Your camel Guide will wake you up early in the morning to watch what well may be the best sunrise in your life. You’ll peacefully camel-trek back to the village of Merzouga. En-route you won’t fail to appreciate the unique beauty of the spectacular Erg Chebbi sand dunes – changing with the light as the day progresses.
Pass By: Tinejdad, Tinejdad, Meknes-Tafilalet Region
Early wake up to watch the magical colors before it. Breakfast, then traveling to Skoura via Tinjdad, Tinghir & Bouamlne Dades.
Back when caravans arrived loaded with gold and dazed after months of Sahara sun, they were understandably skittish – but Tinjdad (Nomad in the Berber language) put them at ease. Five Berber and Saharan tribes crossed paths at this hitching post, quenching thirsts at the Sources of Lalla Mimouna.
We visit also Musée de oasis
Stop At: Musee des Oasis, Ksar Elkhorbat, Tinejdad, Morocco
A fascinating museum that traces movements of tribes through artefacts of seminomadic life: saddles worn shiny; contracts inscribed on wooden tablets in Hebrew and Arabic, Tinejdad jars for water and preserved butter; Heavy silver jewellery; and to protect it all from would-be thieves, inlaid muskets and handcuffs.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Todgha Gorge, R 703 near the town of Tinerhir, Tinerhir 45520 Morocco
Being stuck between a rock and a hard place is a sublime experience in the Todra Gorge, where the massive fault dividing the High Atlas from the Saghro mountain is at some points just wide enough for a crystal-clear river and single-file trekkers to squeeze through. The road from Tinghir passes green Palmeras and Berber villages until, 15km long, high walls of pink and Grey rock close in around the road. The approach is thrilling and somehow urgent, as though the doors of heaven were about to close before you.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Boumalne Dades, Boumalne Dades, Souss-Massa
We’ll drive through the Dades Valley, where you’ll see the majestic sand castles and the amazing rock formations known as “monkey toes”. Overnight accommodation will be in a fancy traditional guesthouse overlooking the Dades valley with dinner and breakfast.
Duration: 10 hours
Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Boumalne Dades: Riad Dar Blues or similar
Day 5: Dades valley – Ait Benhaddou – Marrakech
Pass By: Ouarzazate, Ouarzazate, Draa-Tafilalet
After breakfast, we drive to Marrakech via Ouarzazate.
Strategically located and has gotten by largely on its wits instead of its looks. For centuries, people from Atlas, Draa & Dades valley converged to do business at Ouarzazate’s sprawling Taourirt kasbah, and a modern garrison town was established here in the 1920s to oversee France’s colonial interests. The movie business gradually took off in Ouarzazate after the French protectorate left in the 1950s, and ‘Ouallywood’ movie studios have built quite a résumé providing convincingly exotic backdrops for movies supposedly set in ancient Rome, Somalia, and Egypt.
Stop At: Taourirt Kasbah, Avenue Mohammed V, Ouarzazate 45000 Morocco
Unlike other Glaoui kasbahs, Taourirt escaped ruin by moonlighting, as a Hollywood backdrop and attracting the attention of Unesco which was carefully restored small sections of the Glaoui inner sanctum.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Cinema Studio Atlas, Km 5, BP 28 Route de Marrakech, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco
The first ‘Oullywood’ studio displays sets and props from movies filmed here, including Jewel of the Nile, Kingdom of Heaven and Kundun.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou, Souss-Massa
The Unesco protected kasbah seems suspiciously frozen in time: with Hollywood touch-ups, it still resembles its days in the 11th century as an Almoravid caravanserai. Movie buffs recognize this red mudbrick kasbah 32km from Ouarzazate from Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth (for which much of Ait Benhaddou was rebuilt), Jewel of the Nile and Gladiator.
Duration: 30 minutes
Pass By: Marrakech, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi
Our journey will continue through the majestic Tizi ‘n’ tichka pass (2260 m) over the High Atlas Mountains,. We will have time to stop and enjoy impressive views and visit the argan oil cooperative. We will arrive in Marrakech in the late afternoon and overnight in traditional riad in the medina.
Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Marrakeh: Riad Anya or similar
Day 6: Marrakech sightseeing
Pass By: Marrakech, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi
After breakfast in the riad, you can start exploring Marrakech “the red city of Morocco”. We will ensure that you see the most important sites of historical and cultural interest, including the Majorelle Gardens, the Koutoubia Tower, the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace.
Stop At: Jemaa el-Fnaa, 38 Jemaa el-Fna, Rue El Ksour, Marrakech Morocco
Think of it as live -action channel-surfing. You will discover drama already in progress. The hoopla and halpa (street theatre). The daily performance is underway. Snake charmers blast oboes to calm cobras hissing at careening Vespas; henna tattoo artists, water sellers in fringed hats, and musicians tune up their instruments.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Koutoubia Mosque, Rue el Ksour, Derb Sabai, 13, Marrakech 40000 Morocco
The Koutoubia serves a spiritual purpose, but its minaret is also a point of reference for international architecture. The 12th-century 70m-high minaret is the prototype for Seville’s La Giralda and Rabat’s Le Tour Hassan, and it’s a monumental cheat sheet of Moorish ornament: scalloped keystone arches, jagged merlons (crenellations), and mathematically pleasing proportions. When the present mosque and its minaret were finished by Almohad Sultan Yacoub el-Mansour in the 12th century, 100 booksellers were clustered around its base – hence the name, from Kutubiyyin, or booksellers.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Medersa Ben Youssef, Ben Youssef Square, Marrakech 40000 Morocco
The Ben Youssef Madrasa is an Islamic madrasa functioning today as a historical site, the Ben Youssef Madrasa was the largest Islamic college in Morocco at its height. The madrasa is named after the adjacent Ben Youssef Mosque founded in the 14 th century by the Almoravid Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf. “You who may enter my door, may your highest hopes be exceeded” read the inscription over the entryway. This Quranic learning center was once the largest in North Africa, and remains among the most splendid
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Palacio da Bahia, 5 Rue Riad Zitoun el Jdid, Marrakech 40000 Morocco
What you could build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years, and here you have it: The Bahia palace. The palace is a 19th century building, consisting of rooms decorated with stunning stuccos, paintings and mosaics palace and a set of gardens located in Marrakech, Morocco. intended to be the greatest palace of its time. The name of the Bahia Palace means in Arabic “brilliance”. As in other buildings of the period in other countries, it was intended to capture the essence of the Islamic and Moroccan styles. There is a 2-acre (8,000 m²) garden with rooms opening onto courtyards.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Saadian Tombs, Rue De La Kasbah, Marrakech 40000 Morocco
Anyone who says you can’t take it with you hasn’t seen the Saadian tombs, near the Kasbah mosque. Saadian Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour Ed Dahbi spared no expense on his tomb, importing Italian Carrara marble and gilding honeycomb muqarnas (decorative plasterwork) with pure gold to make the Chamber of 12 Pillars a suitably glorious mausoleum. Al Mansour died in splendor in 1603, but a few decades later, Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail walled up the Saadian Tombs to keep his predecessors out of sight and mind. It was the French who opened them up again in 1917.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Jardin Majorelle, Rue Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech 40090 Morocco
Other guests bring flowers, but Yves Saint Laurent gifted the entire Jardin Majorelle to Marrakech, the city that adopted him in 1964 After a sequence of events that included, in rather unfortunate order: launching hippie fashion, and an obligatory stint in the French Military. Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought the electric-blue villa and its garden to preserve the vision of its original owner, landscape painter Jacques Majorelle, and keep it open to the public. Per his instructions, Yves Saint Laurent’s ashes were scattered over Jardin Majorelle upon his June 2008 passing.
After the guided visit, free time & overnight stay in Marrakech.
Duration: 20 minutes
Meals included:
• Breakfast
Accommodation included: Overnight stay in Marrakech: Riad Anya or similar
Day 7: Airport Transfer
Pass By: Casablanca, Casablanca, Casablanca-Settat
Transfer to Casablanca airport
Meals included:
• Breakfast
No accommodation included on this day.
