Private · 7 days · Honest drive times
Two routes that work in one week, the hotels we book on each, and what it really costs.
Private Morocco travel
The best Morocco itinerary for 7 days is Marrakech, the High Atlas and the Sahara as one loop: Marrakech, Ait Ben Haddou, the Dades Gorge, a night in the Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga, and back over the Tizi n'Tichka pass. If you would rather not spend 20-plus hours of the week in a vehicle, do the imperial north instead (Casablanca, Rabat, Chefchaouen and Fes) and save the desert for a longer trip. Both routes are below, day by day, with real drive times, the hotels we book in each travel style, and prices from about USD $2,380 per person.
Seven days is enough for one region of Morocco done well. It is not enough for the whole country. So every Morocco itinerary for 7 days starts with one decision: do you want the Sahara or not?
If you want the desert, take Route A: Marrakech, the Atlas, the Dades Gorge and a night in camp at Merzouga. Most first-time visitors choose it. It is also about 21 hours in the vehicle across the week if you fly in and out of Marrakech, about 27 via Casablanca. We think it is worth it. You should know the number before you book.
If you would rather see more and drive less, take Route B: Casablanca, Rabat, Chefchaouen and Fes. No day is longer than about five hours in the car, and you get two nights in both Chefchaouen and Fes.
What we will not sell you is both in seven days. The reason is below, under what to skip.
Six nights, one private driver all week, licensed guides in Marrakech and at Ait Ben Haddou. Drive times are driving only; stops come on top.
Arrive, and do nothing clever
Your driver meets you at the airport. From Marrakech Menara the medina is 20 minutes. From Casablanca's Mohammed V airport, where the nonstop North American flights land, it is about 3 hours by motorway. Sleep, then Jemaa el-Fna at dusk. Night 1: Marrakech.
The guided day
A licensed guide for the morning, before the heat: Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs, El Badi and the souks. Afternoon free for the Majorelle Garden (book ahead), a hammam or a roof-terrace lunch. Driving: none. Night 2: Marrakech.
The long crossing
Over the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2,260 m) to Ait Ben Haddou, about 3.5 hours. Walk the fortified village with your guide, lunch across the river, then Ouarzazate and about 2.5 hours east through Skoura and the Valley of Roses. About 6.5 hours of driving, close to a 10-hour day. The hardest day of the week. Night 3: Dades Gorge.
Into the dunes
About 1.5 hours to the Todra Gorge to walk between its 300-metre walls, then about 3 hours to Merzouga. Camels at the edge of Erg Chebbi in the late afternoon, about 45 minutes to camp (or a 4x4; nobody minds). Dinner by the fire. About 4.5 hours of driving. Night 4: Erg Chebbi camp.
Sunrise, then west
Sunrise from the dune behind camp, breakfast, then about 360 km west: 5 to 6 hours of driving, closer to 8 with stops, by the quiet southern road through Alnif and N'Kob or back along the Todra road. The day people underestimate. Night 5: Ouarzazate.
Back over the Atlas
About 4 hours to Marrakech, plus about 1.5 hours if you detour to the Kasbah of Telouet. Afternoon for what you missed: the Ben Youssef Medersa, the Mellah, or the pool. Night 6: Marrakech.
Home
Twenty minutes to Marrakech airport. For a Casablanca flight, allow about 3 hours plus airport time: leave around 7 a.m. for a midday departure.
Our 9-day Marrakech, Atlas & Sahara journey, cut to seven days. Hotels by travel style below.
Some operators run Merzouga straight back to Marrakech in one day: about 560 km and 9 to 10 hours before a single stop. We would rather you slept in Ouarzazate and crossed the Atlas with something left in the tank.
Every property below is in our own library and booked directly. Which one you get depends on your dates, and we confirm the specific room, not only the property. Torn between a riad and a hotel? Read our riad vs hotel guide.
Madu Premium Camp is tented suites with proper furnishings, not a sleeping bag on the sand. See Merzouga vs Erg Chigaga luxury camps and what to expect on your first desert night.
Our travel styles are priced per person per day, two sharing: private vehicle and English-speaking driver, airport transfers, hotels with breakfast, licensed guides, listed entrance fees, the camel trek and the desert camp with dinner. Flights, most meals, drinks and tips are extra. For seven days:
These are guidance figures from our per-day style prices, not a quote; your exact price is in your proposal. Season and hotels move it, and four travellers usually pay 10 to 15% less per person than two. See what a Morocco tour costs and how much a private Morocco tour costs.
We do not publish a 7-day tour, because nearly everyone who asks for one is happier with nine days. The two closest are both from $3,060 per person (Classic, two travellers): the 9-day Marrakech, Atlas & Sahara, which is Route A with an extra Ouarzazate night and a free Marrakech day, and the 9-day Imperial Cities through Casablanca, Rabat, Fes and Marrakech. Every trip is 100% private and tailor-made, so either can be cut to seven days.
Family9 days · 8 nights
Marrakech → Ouarzazate → Dades Gorge → Merzouga → Ouarzazate → Marrakech
Experience Morocco on a 9-day private tour from Marrakech, crossing the High Atlas to Aït Ben Haddou, Dades and Todra Gorges, with a camel trek to a luxury Erg Chebbi Sahara camp and a free custom proposal within 48 hours.
From USD 3,060/ person · 2 travellers sharing
Family9 days · 8 nights
Casablanca → Rabat → Fes → Bin el Ouidane → Marrakech
Morocco imperial cities on a 9-day private tour: Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes and Marrakech.
From USD 3,060/ person · 2 travellers sharing
For travellers who care more about medinas, food and craft than dunes. Casablanca in, Casablanca out.
The mosque, then the capital
Met at Mohammed V airport. The Hassan II Mosque if you have the energy, otherwise straight to Rabat, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Evening in the Kasbah of the Udayas. Night 1: Rabat.
Into the Rif
The Hassan Tower, the Mohammed V Mausoleum and the Chellah, then about 4 hours north to Chefchaouen for the late light in the blue lanes. Night 2: Chefchaouen.
A slow day in the blue town
Nothing before 10. A local guide for the medina and Ras el-Ma, then the 30-minute walk up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset. Driving: none. Night 3: Chefchaouen.
Rome and Moulay Ismail on the way
About 3 hours to Roman Volubilis and its mosaics, lunch in Moulay Idriss, Bab el-Mansour in Meknes, then an hour to Fes. Around 5 hours of driving, well broken up. Night 4: Fes.
The medina with a guide who grew up in it
Fes el-Bali on foot: the Attarine Medersa, the Chouara tanneries, the Nejjarine fountain, the Mellah. Wear shoes with grip; it is the hardest walking in Morocco. Night 5: Fes.
Back to the Atlantic
About 3.5 hours by motorway. The Hassan II Mosque now if you skipped it, then dinner on the Ain Diab corniche. Night 6: Casablanca.
An easy exit
About 45 minutes to the airport. No three-hour transfer on the morning you fly.
The cities of our 9-day Imperial Cities journey, plus Chefchaouen.
The same per-day style prices apply, so Route B also runs from about $2,380 per person in Classic.
Only by giving something up. From Fes there is one sensible road to the Sahara: Ifrane and the cedar forests, Midelt, the Ziz valley, Erfoud, Merzouga. About 470 km and 7 to 8 hours of driving. We never route Fes straight to Ouarzazate: desert first, then the gorges, then the Atlas. So Fes plus the Sahara in a week means Rabat, Fes, a full day to Merzouga, one night in camp, Dades, Marrakech, home. It is our 10- or 11-day crossing, compressed.
If this is your only trip to Morocco and the desert is why you are going, take Route A and accept the drives. If you think you will come back, or anyone in your party dreads long car days, take Route B now and give the Sahara its own trip. The one plan I talk people out of is all of Morocco in a week.
Route A: March to May and late September to November are best: warm days, cool desert nights, a clear Atlas pass. December to February is good if you pack for camp nights near freezing; Tizi n'Tichka can close for a few hours after snow. From June to August the dunes pass 40°C by early afternoon. We still run it with dawn camel rides and a long midday rest, but we would not pick it for you.
Route B: works most of the year. Spring is best. July and August in Fes are hot, often in the high 30s, and Chefchaouen in January can be cold and wet. Month by month: best time to visit Morocco.
Three extra days change the trip more than the price. With 10 days you cross the whole country one way, Casablanca to Fes to the Sahara to Marrakech, with no day over about 8 hours in the car: our best 10-day Morocco itinerary. Two weeks adds Chefchaouen, a slower desert and Essaouira: our 2-week Morocco itinerary. Still deciding? Read how many days you need in Morocco.
As of September 2026, Royal Air Maroc flies nonstop to Casablanca from Montréal, Toronto, New York JFK, Washington Dulles, Miami and, since June 2026, Los Angeles; check royalairmaroc.com for current schedules. Eastbound flights are overnight and usually land in the morning, so Day 1 is always an arrival day. From Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton you connect through Toronto, Montréal or Europe; a European connection straight into Marrakech suits Route A and saves the Casablanca transfer at both ends. See Morocco tours from Canada, from the USA, travelling to Morocco from Canada and our visa guide, and confirm entry rules on travel.gc.ca or travel.state.gov.
Seven days is enough for one region of Morocco at a sensible pace: either Marrakech with the Atlas and the Sahara, or the imperial north of Rabat, Chefchaouen and Fes. Doing both in a week means around 30 hours in a vehicle and very little time anywhere. For the whole country, plan 10 to 14 days.
Yes. The 7-day desert loop runs from Marrakech over the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Ait Ben Haddou, the Dades Gorge and one night in camp in the Erg Chebbi dunes at Merzouga, returning via Ouarzazate. Expect about 21 hours of driving across the week, or about 27 if you fly in and out of Casablanca.
Casablanca, Rabat, Chefchaouen and Fes, in and out of Casablanca: one night in Rabat, two in Chefchaouen, two in Fes with Volubilis and Meknes on the way, and a last night in Casablanca near the airport. No day is longer than about five hours in the car.
As guidance, a private week with Gateway2Morocco runs from about USD $2,380 per person in Classic, about $2,730 in Platinum, about $3,430 in Luxury and from about $5,250 in Ultra-Luxury, two sharing. That includes private driver, hotels with breakfast, guides and the desert camp. Your exact price is in your proposal.
For the desert route, Marrakech saves about three hours of driving at each end, but from North America it usually means connecting in Europe. The nonstop flights from Canada and the US land in Casablanca. For the imperial north, always use Casablanca. We plan days one and seven around your actual flights.
On our Route A, about 21 hours in total flying in and out of Marrakech, about 27 via Casablanca. The longest day is Marrakech to the Dades Gorge via Ait Ben Haddou, about 6.5 hours. We avoid the 9-to-10-hour Merzouga to Marrakech run by sleeping in Ouarzazate.
Yes on an imperial-north week, where it sits naturally between Rabat and Fes and deserves two nights so you see it early and late, without the day-trippers. No on a desert week: Chefchaouen and Merzouga are at opposite ends of the country, and joining them costs a full day of driving.
For a desert itinerary, March to May and late September to November give warm days and cool nights; December to February works with warm layers for camp. Avoid June to August in the dunes if you can. For the imperial north, spring is best; Fes is hot in summer and Chefchaouen wet in winter.
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and which route appeals. You will get a complete private proposal with named hotels and an exact price, and there is no deposit until it is right.
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