Collect from airport or hotel in Casablanca driving to Fes via Rabat and Meknes. If time permits, visit these cities and the Roman ruins of Volubilis, located at the foot of the Atlas mountains in a valley filled with olive and almond trees. Evening arrival in Fes overnight stay in riad (traditional Moroccan house).
Morning visit to the medina (the old city); the Jewish Quarter (the Mellah) and the yard of the Royal Palace. Onto the famous tanneries and Kairaouine Mosque (second largest in Morocco = view only). Enjoy a traditional Moroccan lunch and panoramic view of the city from lookout. Overnight accommodation at riad.
After breakfast depart for Ifrane also referred to as “the Switzerland of Morocco”. Stopping at Azrou, Berber village in the middle of the famous cedar forest to see the Barbarian apes. Lunch in Midelt before travelling through the Tizi n’Talghamt pass along the magnificent Ziz Gorge carved from volcanic rock and through the spectacular Ziz Valley (stopping to take in the panoramic view). Drive to Erfoud and then Rissani, before arriving in Merzouga. Check into guest house next to sand dunes (+dinner and breakfast).
After breakfast visit the Gnawa people in the village Khamlia, experience their music and lifestyle; then enjoy mint tea with a nomad family. Lunch is the local meal -
Watch the spectacular sunrise before camel trek back to village. After breakfast and shower drive via Tinghir and Todra Gorge (lunch). Drive through the Dades Valley visiting the amazing rock formations known as “monkey toes”. Overnight stay in traditional guest house (+dinner and breakfast).
After breakfast drive through the Dades Valley and Ouarzazate, the route of one thousand Kasbahs. Stop at Kalaat M’Gouna, “the rose city” before passing by UNESCO heritage site of Ait Benhaddou. Drive through the majestic Tizi n’Tichka Pass over the High Atlas Mountains, stopping to discover the process of making Argan oil by the local Berber women. Arrive Marrakech