Morocco 9 Days Tour from Casablanca, Chefchaouen, Fez, Desert, Marrakech

Your driver picks you up from your Casablanca hotel or the airport in the morning. The day begins at the Hassan II Mosque, set right on the Atlantic and one of the largest mosques in the world, with a minaret that reaches 210 metres. From there the coastal highway leads north to Rabat, Morocco's royal capital, for stops at the Hassan Tower, the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, and the blue-and-white Kasbah of the Udayas above the Bouregreg river.

The road continues into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, Morocco's famed blue city. You arrive in the late afternoon for a sunset walk through the blue lanes of the medina, then dinner at a local restaurant overlooking the main square. You spend the night in a charming riad.

Today is yours to explore Chefchaouen at your own pace. Wander the blue lanes of the medina, climb to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint for a panoramic view over the white-and-blue rooftops, or visit the small kasbah and ethnographic museum on Plaza Outa el-Hammam. If you'd rather slow down, a mint tea on a café terrace does the job.

If you want to add a half-day hike to the nearby Akchour waterfalls and the Bridge of God rock arch, ask your driver to arrange it. The evening is free.

You leave Chefchaouen and drive south to Meknes, the imperial city built by Sultan Moulay Ismail, pausing at the monumental Bab Mansour gate, one of the most beautiful in Morocco, and at the royal granaries of Heri es-Souani.

Just outside the city, the UNESCO-listed Roman ruins of Volubilis preserve mosaics, a basilica, and a triumphal arch marking the empire's southwesternmost edge. 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 the UNESCO-listed medina's alleys to the Bou Inania Madrasa, with its carved stucco and zellige tilework, and the Karaouine mosque, founded in 859 AD and considered the world's oldest continuously operating university.

The Chouara tanneries are the highlight: leather still dyed by hand, using methods unchanged in a thousand years. You view the colourful pits from a leather shop balcony, mint sprig held to your nose against the smell. Afternoons are free for lunch and shopping among the artisans, brassworkers, weavers, and dyers.

You leave Fez and head south through the Middle Atlas Mountains, stopping in Ifrane, often called the Switzerland of Morocco for its alpine architecture and cool climate, and the cedar forest at Azrou, where wild Barbary macaques are often spotted.

Lunch is in Midelt, then the road descends through the Ziz Valley, a deep gorge lined with thousands of date palms, 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 and climb the highest dune crest to watch the sun rise over the endless Sahara, 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 300-metre cliffs frame a clear river below.

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 road heads west through the rose-scented Valley of Roses near Kalaat Mgouna, best visited in May during the annual rose festival, then on to the lush Skoura palm grove and its imposing Kasbah Amerhidil, one of the largest in Morocco.

You reach Aït Ben Haddou in the late afternoon, Morocco's most spectacular UNESCO-listed earthen ksar and a filming location for Gladiator, Game of Thrones, and Lawrence of Arabia. Cross the river into the fortified village and climb to the top for sunset, when the light turns the kasbah walls gold.

The morning is free for photos at the famous ksar entrance before you begin the crossing of the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, one of Morocco's most scenic drives, 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 Jemaa el-Fnaa as it turns at sunset into Morocco's largest open-air theatre: storytellers, musicians, snake charmers, henna artists, and food stalls filling the square.

A licensed local guide takes you through Marrakech in the morning: the 12th-century Koutoubia Mosque, the city's defining landmark, the Bahia Palace with its painted cedar ceilings and tiled courtyards, the Saadian Tombs, and the souks, divided into spice, leather, metalwork, and dye quarters.

In the afternoon, you can visit the Majorelle Garden and Yves Saint Laurent Museum on your own (entry not included), or simply relax at your riad. Your driver transfers you to Marrakech Menara airport at the agreed time, or drops you at your onward accommodation.