Morocco 7 Days Tour From Tangier To Merzouga Desert and Marrakech

Your driver picks you up from your Tangier hotel, the port, or the airport. You tour the Tangier Kasbah and the medina, then continue to Cap Spartel, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, with an optional stop at the Caves of Hercules.

The road heads east to Tetouan, known as the "white dove," to walk its UNESCO-listed Andalusian medina, then south into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, Morocco's famous blue city. In the late afternoon you walk the blue lanes and have dinner overlooking the main square.

You drive south through the Rif Mountains to Meknes, the imperial city built by Sultan Moulay Ismail, pausing at the magnificent Bab Mansour gate, one of the most beautiful in Morocco, and the royal granaries.

Just outside the city, the UNESCO-listed Roman ruins of Volubilis, Morocco's best-preserved ancient site, hold mosaics, a basilica, and a triumphal arch. From there it's on to Fez, where you check into your riad inside the ancient medina.

A licensed local guide leads you through Fez el-Bali, the world's largest car-free urban area, for the full day, taking in the Bou Inania Madrasa with its carved stucco and zellige tilework, and the Karaouine mosque, founded in 859 AD.

The Chouara tanneries are the highlight: leather still dyed by hand, using methods unchanged in a thousand years, the colourful pits best viewed from a leather shop balcony above. Afternoons are free for lunch and shopping in the artisan souks.

It's a long driving day, and a spectacular one. You stop in Ifrane, often called the "Switzerland of Morocco," and the cedar forest at Azrou, where wild Barbary macaques are often spotted, before lunch in Midelt.

The road descends through the Ziz Valley's palm gorge into the pre-Saharan landscape. You arrive in Merzouga in the late afternoon, meet your camels at the edge of the dunes, and ride into the golden Erg Chebbi for sunset.

Dinner is Berber-style around the fire, with drums and a sky thick with stars overhead. You spend the night in a luxury desert camp.

You wake before dawn to climb the highest dune crest for sunrise, one of Morocco's most unforgettable sights. After a Berber breakfast at camp, the drive continues west via Erfoud and Tinghir to the Todra Gorges, where cliffs rise 300 metres straight up on either side.

From the gorges, the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs leads through the Dades Valley, the Valley of Roses, and the Skoura palm grove to Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco's most spectacular UNESCO-listed earthen ksar. Climb to the top of the fortified village for sunset.

The morning light is best for photos at Aït Ben Haddou, then you begin the crossing of the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, switchback after switchback through Berber villages with the mountains opening up around you.

You reach Marrakech by mid-afternoon and check into your riad inside the medina. In the evening, walk to the legendary Jemaa el-Fnaa square as it fills with life.

A licensed local guide takes you through Marrakech for the full day: the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs, and the artisan souks. A visit to the Majorelle Garden is optional.

Your driver transfers you to Marrakech Menara airport at the agreed time, or drops you at your onward accommodation.