A Taste of Morocco: Casablanca to Marrakesh – 7 Days
- Private vehicle & driver — Pick-up at your riad, pace set by you
- Local licensed guide — Licensed guide nº2898 · since 2011
- Book on WhatsApp — Reply within 1 hour · no payment at this stage
- Chefchaouen AND the Sahara in a single week
- The blue city at dawn — you sleep there, day-trippers don't
- Volubilis and Meknes woven into the Fes road
A private 7-day tour from Casablanca: from €1050 per person, with vehicle, driver, licensed guide and accommodation included — no groups, departures on your dates. Along the way: Chefchaouen, Fes and Meknes.
Seven days from Casablanca to Marrakech that refuse to choose between the blue city and the dunes — this route takes both. Chefchaouen on night one, Fes by way of Volubilis and Meknes, the great crossing to an Erg Chebbi camp, and the kasbah road over the Atlas into the Red City. It is the full north-plus-Sahara arc at one-week pace.
What distinguishes it from our other week-long grand tour is the opening: instead of a second Casablanca day, you sleep in the Rif on the first night — which buys a Chefchaouen dawn, the north’s best moment, at the cost of one longer arrival drive. Travellers who love mountains as much as monuments choose this version.
Fully private: vehicle and driver-guide door to door, licensed guides in Fes, ensuite desert camp, riads within the medinas.
- Chefchaouen AND the Sahara in a single week
- The blue city at dawn — you sleep there, day-trippers don't
- Volubilis and Meknes woven into the Fes road
- Guided day in Fes el-Bali, camel trek and Erg Chebbi camp night
- Aït Ben Haddou and the Tichka pass before Marrakech
Photos from the tour
Itinerary
Open a day to see the detail: transport, accommodation, meals and activity time.
Day 1 Casablanca — Chefchaouen
Straight for the mountains: your driver meets you at Casablanca airport and takes the northern road, pausing in Rabat for the Oudayas kasbah and a seafront lunch, then climbing into the Rif as the afternoon softens. Chefchaouen receives you at the blue hour — check into a riad in the lanes, dinner on the square, and set no alarm louder than the mountain light.
Day 2 Chefchaouen — Volubilis — Meknes — Fes
The morning is the payoff: Chefchaouen before the buses, when the alleys hold their deepest colour and the shopkeepers are still arranging the wool. Then south through olive country to Volubilis — a guided hour among Roman mosaics with storks nesting on the columns — and Meknes for the great gate. Fes closes the day, its ten thousand lanes waiting behind your riad door.
Day 3 Fes, the medieval medina
A full guided day inside Fes el-Bali: the blue gate, the madrasas, the tanneries from a leather terrace, the artisan streets where the guild system never ended. Your guide filters the maze into a story; the evening rooftops, swallows included, finish the telling. If you want dinner at a family table tonight, say the word when booking.
Day 4 Fes — Erfoud — Merzouga
The great crossing: cedar forest (Barbary macaques on duty near Azrou), the Midelt plain under Jbel Ayachi, and the Ziz gorges pouring their palm river toward the Sahara. At Merzouga the camels are saddled for golden hour — an hour's sway into the Erg Chebbi, then camp: ensuite tents, dinner under lanterns, drums at the fire, stars in unreasonable quantity.
Day 5 Merzouga — the oases road — Ouarzazate
Up the dune for sunrise — fifteen minutes of climbing, a lifetime of replay value — then west at desert pace: the fossil towns near Erfoud, the Todra Gorge's canyon-floor walk, the Dadès valley's parade of kasbahs. Ouarzazate, Africa's film capital, provides the night and a first taste of the Atlas rising ahead.
Day 6 Ouarzazate — Aït Ben Haddou — Marrakech
Aït Ben Haddou in the quiet of morning: guided through the UNESCO ksar's earthen lanes to the granary viewpoint before the crowds. Then the Tizi n'Tichka — 2,260 m, mint tea at the belvederes — and the long descent into Marrakech's pink haze. Evening free: Jemaa el-Fna at dusk, ten minutes from your riad, is mandatory in the best way.
Day 7 Marrakech and departure
A guided Marrakech morning if your flight allows — Bahia Palace, the souk arteries, the Koutoubia gardens — or simply a courtyard breakfast that refuses to hurry. Airport transfer whenever you must. Seven days: the blue city, the medieval one, the red one, and the desert that connects them.
The first day is the long one (about five hours from Casablanca to Chefchaouen with a Rabat stop) — it buys you the blue city's best hours. Two more long stages frame the desert, both on spectacular roads. October–April is prime; open-jaw flights (Casablanca in, Marrakech out) fit perfectly.
Included in your tour
- Private air-conditioned 4×4 or minivan with English/French-speaking driver-guide — 7 days
- Pickup at Casablanca airport or your hotel
- Night 1: Chefchaouen riad — half-board
- Nights 2–3: Fes riad (2 nights) — half-board
- Night 4: luxury ensuite desert camp — half-board
- Night 5: kasbah hotel, Ouarzazate — half-board
- Night 6: Marrakech riad — half-board
- Guided visit of Fes with a licensed local guide (Day 3)
- Guided visit of the Aït Ben Haddou ksar (UNESCO)
- Camel trek in the dunes
- 4×4 desert excursion
- Drop-off at your Marrakech hotel or at the airport
Not included
- International flights
- Lunches and beverages
- Entrance fees to monuments and historical sites (optional — pay directly)
- Tips for guide and driver
- Personal expenses
- Travel insurance (recommended)
Questions travellers ask
How many days does Fes deserve?+
Two nights minimum — one guided day inside Fes el-Bali barely scratches it. Our favourite pattern is a guided day plus a free morning, which is why several of our circuits sleep two nights there.
What is special about the Fes medina?+
It is the world's largest car-free urban area — some 9,000 lanes where everything still moves by handcart and mule. Founded in the 9th century, it holds the Al-Qarawiyyin university, the great madrasas and craft souks that never became museums.
Are the tanneries worth seeing, and do they smell?+
The Chouara tannery from a leather-shop terrace is one of Morocco's great sights — a honeycomb of dye pits worked as it was centuries ago. Yes it smells; the sprig of mint you are handed at the door genuinely helps.
Can I visit Al-Qarawiyyin?+
The prayer hall is closed to non-Muslims, but the doorways give famous views of the courtyard, and the associated library and the nearby Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas — open to all — show the same artistry up close.
