Morocco Grand Tour: Cultural Cities, Sahara Desert & Atlas Hiking – 10 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
- The complete cities-and-Sahara circuit in the first week
- Two guided hiking days in the Atlas above Amizmiz
- Guided days in Fes and Marrakech
A private 10-day itinerary starting in Casablanca — from €1500 per person with accommodation and guiding included, never shared with a group. You will see Fes, Meknes and Volubilis along the route.
Ten days that join the two trips visitors usually have to choose between: the full cultural circuit — Casablanca, Fes, the Sahara, Marrakech — and two genuine days of walking in the High Atlas above Amizmiz. Cities and desert first, boots on for the finale, and Casablanca’s airport waiting at both ends.
The walking is real but humane: village paths and ridge lines, four to five hours a day, lunches at family tables, a guesthouse night among the terraces. It converts a classic sightseeing loop into something your legs remember too — and it comes after the desert, when your eyes are full and your body wants a turn.
Private vehicle and driver-guide throughout; licensed medina guides; a licensed mountain guide for both hiking days; ensuite camp at the erg.
- The complete cities-and-Sahara circuit in the first week
- Two guided hiking days in the Atlas above Amizmiz
- Guided days in Fes and Marrakech
- Erg Chebbi camel trek and ensuite camp night
- Casablanca in, Casablanca out — one-airport simplicity
Photos from the tour
Itinerary
Open a day to see the detail: transport, accommodation, meals and activity time.
Day 1 Casablanca arrival
Casablanca's one indispensable hour: the Hassan II Mosque, guided, inside — the ocean under glass, the cedar roof that opens, the sense of scale that photographs refuse to carry. Then a Corniche evening and a real night's sleep; the country begins in earnest at breakfast.
Day 2 Volubilis and Meknes to Fes
East with the empire road: Volubilis' Roman mosaics bare to the sky, a viewpoint pause for holy Moulay Idriss, Meknes for the great gate — then Fes by late afternoon, its medina humming behind your riad's studded door.
Day 3 Fes, the medieval city
The full Fes day, guided: the blue gate, the madrasas' carved interiors, the doorway glimpses of the world's oldest university, the tanneries from a mint-scented terrace, the artisan rows working as they have for centuries. Evening on the rooftops as the swallows take over.
Day 4 Across the Middle Atlas to the Sahara
The great crossing: cedars and macaques in the Middle Atlas, the long Midelt plain, the Ziz gorges spilling palms toward the sand. Merzouga at golden hour delivers the ritual in full — camels into the Erg Chebbi, ensuite camp, lantern dinner, drums, stars beyond audit.
Day 5 Oases, gorges and film country
Dune-crest sunrise, then westward through the oasis belt: Todra's canyon walk, the kasbah-lined road, and Ouarzazate — film country — for the night. The Atlas stands ahead, tomorrow's business visible from tonight's terrace.
Day 6 Aït Ben Haddou and the Tichka to Marrakech
Aït Ben Haddou early, guided to the granary viewpoint before the crowds, then the Tizi n'Tichka's mint-tea switchbacks and the descent into Marrakech's pink haze. First souk contact at dusk; Jemaa el-Fna handles the rest of the evening unassisted.
Day 7 Marrakech, guided
Marrakech decoded with a licensed guide — Bahia, the Saadian Tombs, the Koutoubia gardens, souk arteries mapped — with the afternoon free for Majorelle, a hammam, or strategic idleness. Early night advised: tomorrow you climb into cooler air.
Day 8 Into the hills: Amizmiz
Boots on: an hour south to the Amizmiz valleys, where a mountain guide leads the first walk — village to village on mule paths, terraces stacked like green staircases, tea on a rooftop mid-route. The night is a valley guesthouse among the walnut trees, dinner by the stove.
Day 9 Ridge paths and village lunches
The full hill day: ridge paths with the Haouz plain silvering below, hamlets that measure time in harvests, lunch at a family table that refuses moderation — four to five hours of the Atlas at walking speed. Down to the vehicle by late afternoon and back to Marrakech, legs pleasantly spent.
Day 10 Return to Casablanca
North on the motorway to Casablanca, timed to your departure — ten days that stacked cities, desert and mountains in the right order and sent you home with all three still humming.
The hikes need ordinary fitness: 4–5 hours on village paths with the vehicle never far, swappable for valley drives if knees vote otherwise. May–October gives the surest mountain weather; the full route runs March–November happily.
Included in your tour
- Private air-conditioned 4×4 or minivan with English/French-speaking driver-guide — 10 days
- Pickup at Casablanca airport or your hotel
- Night 1: Casablanca hotel — 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
- Nights 6–7: Marrakech riad (2 nights) — half-board
- Night 8: Amizmiz hotel — half-board
- Night 9: Marrakech riad — half-board
- Guided visit of Fes with a licensed local guide (Day 3)
- Guided visit of Marrakech with a licensed local guide (Day 7)
- Guided visit inside the Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca
- Guided visit of the Aït Ben Haddou ksar (UNESCO)
- Camel trek in the dunes
- Drop-off at your Casablanca 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
What is a desert camp actually like?+
Our standard is the luxury ensuite camp: a proper bed with linen, a private bathroom with hot shower, rugs, lanterns, dinner served at camp and music by the fire. It is under canvas and off-grid — but closer to a small hotel in the dunes than to camping.
How long is the camel ride, and is it hard?+
About an hour into the dunes at sunset, at walking pace with a handler leading — no experience needed, and children love it. If camels are not for you, a 4×4 transfer to the same camp takes minutes; just tell us.
How cold does the desert get at night?+
Colder than anyone expects: near freezing on December–February nights, and a sharp drop after sunset in any season. Camps provide thick blankets; you provide a warm layer and something for your head.
Erg Chebbi or Zagora — which desert should I choose?+
Erg Chebbi (Merzouga) is the great dune sea — 150-metre dunes and the classic Sahara picture — but it is a long drive. Zagora's dunes are smaller and a day closer to Marrakech, ideal for 2-day tasters and young children. Our tour pages say clearly which one each route visits.
More answers in the “The desert experience” chapter of our Travel FAQ →
