15-Day North to South Morocco Adventure from Casablanca

Fifteen days unlocks the full length of Morocco — from Tangier and the Strait of Gibraltar in the north to the remote Saharan dunes of Erg Chebbi and the ancient Drâa Valley in the south, and back along the Atlantic coast. This private circular tour from Casablanca is our most geographically comprehensive two-week journey, covering every major landscape, city, and culture the kingdom contains.

Day 1 — Casablanca › Rabat › Asilah

Hassan II Mosque visit. Rabat: Hassan Tower, Mohammed V Mausoleum, Kasbah des Oudayas. Afternoon drive to Asilah — a small Atlantic walled town of extraordinary charm: 15th-century Portuguese ramparts, clifftop ocean views, and a medina whose walls are repainted each year with large-scale murals by international artists during the annual cultural festival. Overnight Asilah or Tangier.

Day 2 — Tangier › Tétouan › Chefchaouen

Tangier morning visit: the American Legation Museum (the first US public property outside the USA), the Kasbah quarter with its panoramic terrace over the Strait of Gibraltar, and the legendary Café Hafa where the Rolling Stones and Jack Kerouac once drank tea. Drive south via Tétouan — a UNESCO-listed medina of Andalusian exiles with pure whitewashed walls and elegant courtyard mansions. Arrive Chefchaouen for the afternoon. Overnight in blue-medina riad.

Day 3 — Chefchaouen: Blue Medina Guided Day

Full guided day: Plaza Uta el-Hammam, the 15th-century kasbah and ethnographic museum, dyers’ quarter, Ras el-Maa waterfall, Spanish Mosque panoramic hike. Optional afternoon cooking class with a local family — learning to prepare traditional Rif dishes including chermoula-marinated fish and walnut-honey pastilla. Overnight Chefchaouen.

Day 4 — Chefchaouen › Meknès › Volubilis › Fez

Drive via Ouezzane to Meknès: Bab Mansour gate, Moulay Ismail Mausoleum, Heri es-Souani granaries. Volubilis Roman ruins: mosaics, triumphal arch, Capitol. Arrival Fez. Overnight riad.

Day 5 — Fez El-Bali Guided Medina Tour

Expert local guide: Chouara Tanneries, Bou Inania Madrasa, al-Qarawiyyin quarter, Attarine souk, Nejjarine Fondouk, Jewish Mellah. Afternoon free for Fez Pottery Cooperative visit or independent exploration. Overnight Fez.

Day 6 — Fez › Middle Atlas › Merzouga

Ifrane alpine town. Azrou cedar forest and Barbary macaques. Midelt lunch. Ziz Valley palm corridor to Merzouga. Overnight desert lodge.

Days 7–8 — Erg Chebbi: Two Full Desert Days

Day 7: Khamlia Gnawa music village, nomadic family visit in open desert, salt lake flamingo habitat, sandboarding. Sunset camel trek to luxury Berber camp. Tagine dinner, drumming, stargazing. Overnight desert tent.

Day 8: Pre-dawn sunrise climb on the highest dune. After breakfast, a 4×4 deep desert excursion to the Algerian border dunes — vast and completely untouristed — and a visit to the ancient fossil beds where trilobites and ammonites protrude from the desert floor. Return to lodge. Overnight Merzouga area.

Day 9 — Merzouga › Rissani › Todgha Gorge › Dadès Gorge

Rissani Alaouite market. Tinghir oasis. Todgha Gorge canyon walk. Dadès Gorge scenic road. Overnight Boumalne Dadès.

Day 10 — Rose Valley › Skoura › Ouarzazate

Valley of Roses and rose distilleries. Skoura palm grove and Amerhidil Kasbah. Ouarzazate: Atlas Studios, Kasbah Taourirt. Overnight Ouarzazate.

Day 11 — Drâa Valley › Zagora

Drive south through the ancient Drâa Valley — Morocco’s longest river, its banks lined with thousands of palm trees and dozens of earthen ksours. Stop at Agdz for photos above the valley, continue to Zagora (‘Timbuktu: 52 days by camel’ reads the famous road sign), where the Sahara was the departure point for trans-African trading caravans. Overnight Zagora.

Day 12 — Zagora › Tamegroute › Aït Ben Haddou › Marrakech

Tamegroute: visit the 17th-century Nasiri Zaouia library holding illuminated Quranic manuscripts, and the workshop producing distinctive green-glazed pottery. Drive to Aït Ben Haddou UNESCO Kasbah via Foum Zguid — a spectacular desert road. Heritage guide visit. Continue via Tizi n’Tichka to Marrakech. Overnight riad.

Day 13 — Marrakech Full Guided Day

Koutoubia, Bahia Palace, Saadian Tombs, souk quarters, Majorelle Garden. Evening Jemaa el-Fna. Overnight Marrakech.

Day 14 — Marrakech › Essaouira

Morning drive through argan forest to Essaouira: UNESCO medina ramparts, blue fishing harbour, argan cooperative, Skala sea fortress, and the vibrant gallery quarter where painters and sculptors inspired by Gnawa music fill workshop windows with colour. Overnight Essaouira.

Day 15 — Essaouira › El Jadida › Casablanca

Morning walk along Essaouira’s windswept Atlantic beach before departure. Stop at El Jadida: the extraordinary 16th-century Portuguese underground cistern — a vaulted chamber of reflected arches immortalised by Orson Welles in his 1952 Othello. Continue north to Casablanca airport or hotel drop-off.

What’s Included

• Private air-conditioned vehicle (fuel included)
• Casablanca pickup and drop-off
• Licensed guides in Chefchaouen, Fez, Aït Ben Haddou, and Marrakech
• 12 nights in hotels/riads (breakfast & dinner)
• 2 nights in desert camp (dinner & breakfast)
• Camel trek and sandboarding at Erg Chebbi
• Complimentary bottled water throughout
• All applicable taxes

Not Included

• Flights tickets
• Entrance fees to
• Monuments of any
• Lunches and drinks
• Anything not mentioned in the itinerary