8 Days Morocco Tour / Tour 8 Days 7 Nights from Rabat / Combined Cities and Desert Tours / Tour from Rabat to Merzouga Desert Erg-Chebbi / 8 Day Tour from Rabat to Marrakech / Morocco Camel Trek from Rabat to Marrakech / Morocco Tour Packages and Sightseeing / Imperial Cities Tour
Day 1: RABAT
Arrival at the airport, reception and transfer to start the visit of the city which is protected by several walls, the medina of Rabat reflects the soul of the ancient city, with its splendid carpets, the artisans of metalwork and the many craftsmen who exercise their art under the gaze of the passers-by. We will be able to visit the Royal Palace, the Mausoleum of Mohamed V and the Hassan Tower among others. Dinner and accommodation.
Day 2: RABAT - FEZ
After a good breakfast our trip will continue towards Meknes, on the way we will stop in the forest of Mamora; a natural area and one of the main cork oak forests of the country, a place of great beauty and peace, birds abound and is a place where it is easy to see birds of prey. We will arrive in Meknes; the humblest of the Four Imperial cities of Morocco, where a simple walk through the souks serves to see that we are in a more modern city than Fez. Our next stop is the UNESCO Roman Ruins of Volubilis; an ancient Roman city where the best preserved and most visited archaeological remains of Morocco can be seen. Before arriving in Fez we will visit the holy city of Moulay Idriss; a town with a special charm, it is encased in the middle of a valley and it is very pleasant to stroll through the narrow streets of stone or in the surrounding hills. We will continue towards Fez where we will arrive in the afternoon. Dinner and accommodation.
Day 3: FEZ - FEZ GUIDED TOUR
Today and after a good Moroccan breakfast you will have the day free to visit this great city, the oldest, richest, cultural, religious, spiritual and mysterious of the four imperial cities of Morocco, where you can see that much of it has not suffered from the passage of time.
The views that define Fes are:
- Chouara Tannery: it is the most extensive and best known of the four traditional tanneries that are still alive in the heart of the medina of Fez.
- Karaouine Mosque: The most important and one of its greatest architectural complexes.
- Bab Boujloud; the most important gate to the Medina, the oldest and most charming in the entire city.
- The Royal Palace of the 14th century is one of the largest and most ancient in Morocco, although you cannot visit inside; it is worth visiting to contemplate its seven gates.
- Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss: A shrine dedicated to Moulay Idriss, king of Morocco between the years 807 and 828, one of the founders of Fez.
- Seffarine square: located in the heart of the Medina, and where one of the oldest professions of Fez still continues; the craft of metalworkers.
- Madrassas; Old Koranic schools, which sometimes house resident students, in Fez there are three, the only one that can be visited is the Medersa Cherratine, which is different from the others because its functional style is a little ornate.
Dinner and accommodation according to selected hotel category.
Day 4: FEZ - IFRANE AZROU - MIDELT - ERRACHIDIA - ZIZ VALLEY - ERFOUD - MERZOUGA
Today we leave Fes and will travel in the direction of Ifrane, one of the most curious towns in Morocco because of its alpine architecture and European ambience. In Ifrane is one of the most famous universities in the country and is the preferred destination of wealthier Moroccans. We will also visit the cedar forest of Azrou, famous for its large cedar named Gouraud; the largest ancient cedar of the region. This forest is home to hundreds of Barbary monkeys which you may feed if you wish. Our route will continue through the Middle Atlas Mountains and enjoying the landscapes that this route offers us.
The next stop will be in Azrou (The Rock), surrounded by hills, is a perfect place for walking and enjoying the excellent views of the city and its environs. The main interests of the city are is its cooperatives where women weave carpets and men carve cedar wood. We will continue to Midelt, where we will stop for lunch, via the pass of Tizi Talghemt, which means: Neck of the Camel, at 1907 meters of altitude with its impressive mountain landscapes. Our route continues in the afternoon to Erfoud and Errachidia along the Ziz Valley; a beautiful landscape with its red gorges that contrast with the green of the valley. The combination of the beautiful palm groves with the impressive gorges result in the traveller being in absolute tranquillity, its long belts of oasis flooded palm groves, its majestic adobe kasbahs and its fortified towns make it a landscape worth admiring.
We will arrive at the door of the desert in the middle of the afternoon, where we will wait for the camels to take us across the great sand dunes of the desert for about two hours. We will stop to enjoy the sunset in the middle of the dunes and then continue our camel ride to arrive at the camp. Everything will be ready for you to enjoy an unforgettable night; the welcome tea, a nomadic lifestyle and dinner, for one night in a haima surrounded by the idyllic silence that the heart of the desert offers us with its miles and miles of sand. The sky above so filled with stars that it seems you can reach up and touch with your hand and wonder at the intense light of the full moon. Dinner and overnight in the tent.
Day 5: MERZOUGA - KHAMLIA - RISSANI - DRAA VALLEY - OUARZAZATE
In the morning we recommend you get up early to enjoy the sunrise over the desert, a magic hour and where the sun on the horizon illuminates the immense sea of ??sand that stretches for miles and that slowly changes the colours of the dunes that gain prominence with the sunrise, an experience that will surely captivate you. We will return to the hotel to take a shower and a good breakfast. We take a tour into the desert to know how the native people live in this area and share with them a glass of tea, we travel through the door of the great Sahara desert where we can enjoy breath-taking landscapes and contemplate how nature is changing, mountains leave a step to the oasis, and where out of nowhere a small town appears where time seems to have stopped, where people lead a simple life with the essentials, surrounded by horizons of never ending sand and a silence that says so much of these peoples. We will approach the small town of Khamlia where black Africans have created a village, there they survive with their livestock and their lands and where we can enjoy tea while listening to the sound of their music.
Our excursion will continue along the dunes of Erg Chebbi where the Great Dune of Morocco is located with more than 250 meters of altitude and connects with a track of the old Paris-Dakar, and from where we will see the mountains that border with Algeria in the background, we will stop to see the panoramic view of the desert. Our trip takes us to Rissani where we stop to visit the bustling market, where there is a special parking to leave the donkeys with which the locals transport their products like crafts, food, animals etc. to sell in the market, a sight that astonishes to all the travellers and tourists that pass through this city. In Rissani we can try the tasty Berber Pizza which is only cooked here. Our journey continues to Ouarzazate in the Valley of Draa; a long palm grove that caresses the road for many long kilometres accompanied by the longest river in Morocco born in the snowy mountains of the Atlas and which feeds the arid terrain as it passes through the summit of its palm groves, its kasbahs follow each other along this valley, adobe buildings that enliven the landscape with beautiful constructions that seem to emerge out of the same arid land and its magic lanes. We will arrive in Ouarzazate where we will spend the night.
Day 6: OUARZAZATE - AIT BEN HADDOU - MARRAKECH
Today after a good Moroccan breakfast we will visit Kasbah Taourirt; declared a World Heritage Site, it was the residence of one of the most powerful governors of the region, it is currently the headquarters of an organization in charge of the conservation of the Architectural Heritage of Morocco and was one of the most beautiful Kasbahs of Morocco. There is much to admire; inside the walls are of an impressive thickness to maintain the interior temperature and protect from the strength of the wind and sand.
We will continue our tour of about 200 km between Ouarzazate and Marrakech through various Berber villages arriving at Aït Benhaddou; a UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated on a hill and next to the Ounila River, it was the ancient caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, this small town with extraordinary beauty, which typically consists of overlapping houses and surrounded by a wall, is also well known for the filming of many famous movies such as Gladiator, Asterix and Obelix, the Kingdom of Heaven etc. Our route today will follow the High Atlas Mountain pass; a narrow scenic road which follows the old caravan route that linked the two cities through the Ounila Valley, a path carved in the middle of ochre rocks and gorges full of caves. You will be amazed by the great beauty of their ksars (fortified towns), as an impressive landscape of great architecture takes us to the Kasbah of Telouet. What appears to be a ruin from the outside is full of surprises on the inside; we find a series of rooms made by the military with white plaster walls, but the biggest surprise of this kasbah is when a well decorated door appears, which is the opening to the living room of what was a really beautiful palace. The lasting image is a window to the village from where, apart from having an unbeatable view of Telouet and the Atlas, we can take some magnificent photos. We will continue towards Marrakech, contemplating along the way the beauty of the mountains full of Berber villages and the contrasts that the Atlas offers us. Arrival in Marrakech in the afternoon.
Day 7: MARRAKECH - MARRAKECH GUIDED TOUR
Today you will have the day free to discover for yourself this wonderful city: these are some of the interesting sites of this city:
- The Menara Gardens; a mirror of the Muslim Paradise on earth, this peaceful garden is special for walking and its charm is located in the central area around a huge artificial pond, the legend tells that these gardens were used by the sultans for their dating.
- The Saadian Tombs; one of the most visited places of Marrakech, were opened to the public in 1917, the year in which they were discovered. In the same garden you can see more than 100 tombs decorated with mosaics, in them are buried the bodies of the servants and warriors of the Saadian dynasty.
- The Bahia Palace; a palace and gardens built with the intention of being the biggest palace of all times and residence of the former Vizier, it includes a patio decorated with a central basin and surrounded by rooms.
- The Koutoubia Mosque; one of the most representative monuments of the city, it stands out because of its 69 metre high minaret making it the tallest building in the city and a recognisable landmark.
- Djemaa El Fna Square; you will be surprised by its enormous dimensions in spite of being placed in the centre of the Medina with a maze of narrow streets and alleyways leading off. You will also be surprised when the square completely changes its scenery by day as a fabulous souk and at night it turns into a swarm of food stalls where people gather around for dinner. Dinner and accommodation.
Day 8: MARRAKECH - AIRPORT
Transfer to the airport at the agreed time of the flight and end of the trip.