Morocco 10 Days Tour From Marrakech To All Imperial Cities

Welcome to Marrakech. Once you check into your riad in the medina, a licensed local guide leads you through the city's landmarks: the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, the Bahia Palace with its painted cedar ceilings, the Saadian Tombs, and the artisan souks piled with lanterns, leather, and spice.

In the afternoon, you can visit the Majorelle Garden and Yves Saint Laurent Museum on your own (entry not included). As the sun drops, Jemaa el-Fnaa comes alive: storytellers, musicians, snake charmers, and food stalls filling the square with smoke and noise.

It's a long driving day, and a spectacular one. The road climbs the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, switchback after switchback through Berber villages with the valley falling away below. You stop at Aït Ben Haddou, Morocco's most famous UNESCO ksar and a filming location for Gladiator and Game of Thrones.

From there the route continues through Ouarzazate, Morocco's cinematic city, then along the Draa Valley's palm groves toward Merzouga. You arrive in the late afternoon, meet your camels, and trek into the golden dunes of Erg Chebbi for sunset, the sand turning orange as the light drops.

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 to the Dades Valley, where wind and water have carved the rock into strange, folded shapes. You spend the night in a kasbah hotel overlooking the valley.

The route heads north through the Rose Valley near Kalaat Mgouna, then climbs back over the Middle Atlas by way of Midelt and the Ziz Valley's palm gorge. You stop in Ifrane, often called the Switzerland of Morocco, and the cedar forest at Azrou, home to wild Barbary macaques.

You reach Fez in the late afternoon and 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. The route winds through narrow alleys to the Bou Inania Madrasa, with its carved stucco and zellige tilework, and the Karaouine mosque, founded in 859 AD as the world's oldest continuously operating university.

The Chouara tanneries are the highlight: leather still dyed by hand, using methods that haven't changed in a thousand years. Afternoons are free for lunch and shopping in the artisan souks.

The road climbs north through the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, Morocco's blue-painted mountain town. In the late afternoon you wander the blue lanes of the medina, then climb to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint for a sunset view over the white-and-blue rooftops below.

You have dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the main square.

Heading south, you reach Meknes, the imperial city built by Sultan Moulay Ismail, and pause at the monumental Bab Mansour gate. Just outside town, the UNESCO-listed Roman ruins of Volubilis preserve mosaics, a basilica, and a triumphal arch.

From there it's on to Rabat, Morocco's royal capital, for an afternoon at the Hassan Tower and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V.

You visit the blue-and-white Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat before driving south to Casablanca, home to the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world and set right on the Atlantic. Afterward, walk the Casablanca corniche.

The coast road continues south to Essaouira, a UNESCO-listed port town of whitewashed walls, blue shutters, and a working fishing harbour.

Today is free in Essaouira, a chance to slow down after the road. Wander the UNESCO medina and the Atlantic ramparts, used as Astapor in Game of Thrones, then the fishing harbour and the Skala fort. Lunch on grilled sardines at the port is worth building the day around.

In the afternoon, choose your pace: an argan-oil cooperative, kitesurfing or horse-riding on the beach, or just a café terrace and the ocean breeze.

After a final breakfast by the sea, the drive east passes through argan forests back to Marrakech, with optional stops at women's argan-oil cooperatives along the way. Your driver drops you at your accommodation or Marrakech Menara airport.