Exotic Morocco —
the complete journey.

Two Capitals on Day One

Your driver meets you at Mohammed V Airport and takes you straight to Casablanca's highlights before heading north. Tour the interior of the magnificent Hassan II Mosque — one of the few in Morocco open to non-Muslims — and explore the Chellah Necropolis in Rabat, a ruined Roman city overtaken by a medieval Islamic cemetery, now inhabited by thousands of storks. End the evening at the Udayas Kasbah, a whitewashed fortress above the Bou Regreg river.

• Hassan II Mosque (interior)
• Chellah Necropolis
• Hassan Tower
• Udayas Kasbah

Imperial Grandeur & Roman Splendour

Explore Meknes — the imperial city Sultan Moulay Ismail modelled on Versailles in the 17th century. Stand before Bab el-Mansour, the most spectacular gateway in North Africa. Continue to the hilltop holy town of Moulay Idriss, Morocco's most sacred pilgrimage site. Then: Volubilis. Walk this vast Roman city — covering 40 hectares — past mosaic floors whose colours have barely faded in 2,000 years. Arrive in Fes as the sun sets.

• Bab el-Mansour
• Moulay Idriss
• Volubilis (UNESCO)
• Fes arrival

Inside the World's Most Complete Medieval City

Fes el-Bali was founded in 789 AD and has barely changed. Your licensed local guide — born in the medina, deeply knowledgeable — takes you through the Al-Qarawiyyin University (859 AD, the world's oldest continuously operating university), the extraordinary Attarine Medersa, the Chouara Tanneries viewed from leather merchants' rooftop terraces, and the silver-worked Nejjarine Fountain. Afternoon free for souks, rooftop tea, or favourite corners.

• Al-Qarawiyyin University
• Attarine Medersa
• Chouara Tanneries
• Nejjarine Museum
• Mellah

The Switzerland of Morocco & the Desert Gateway

Drive south, climbing into the Middle Atlas. Pass through Ifrane — a town that looks so European it's nicknamed "Little Switzerland," with chalets and snowy winters. Continue through cedar forests where Barbary macaques roam freely (the only wild monkeys in Africa north of the Sahara), then descend through the dramatic Ziz Valley — a river gorge lined with thousands of date palms — to Erfoud, gateway to the Sahara.

• Ifrane "Little Switzerland"
• Cedar forest & Barbary apes
• Ziz Valley
• Erfoud oasis

Ancient Markets, Gnawa Music & the Sahara

Begin in Rissani — birthplace of the Alaouite dynasty and once the great terminus of the trans-Saharan gold-and-salt trade. Visit the Ksar Abbar ruins, then the small Berber village of Khamlia for a performance of Gnawa music (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, 2019). Then: the desert. Your camel trek begins at the base of Erg Chebbi as the afternoon sun turns the dunes from gold to amber to deep red. The luxury camp awaits — dinner, drumming, and a sky designed to humble you.

• Rissani market
• Khamlia Gnawa
• Erg Chebbi camel trek
• Luxury Sahara camp

Sahara Sunrise & the Road of Gorges

Wake before dawn. Climb the dune behind camp. Watch the Sahara turn from silver to gold. Then travel west through Berber villages and palm groves to the Todra Gorge — limestone walls rising 300 metres from a canyon floor barely 10 metres wide, a cold river threading through the shade. Continue to the Dades Gorge, a wider valley of red rock formations and ancient kasbahs. Spend the night in a lodge built into the cliff wall above the valley.

• Sahara sunrise
• Todra Gorge
• Road of a Thousand Kasbahs
• Dades overnight

Cinema, Kasbahs & the Atlas Crossing

Travel the ancient caravan road through the Skoura palm oasis to Ouarzazate — the "Hollywood of Morocco" and home to the world's largest film studio complex. Continue to Ait Ben Haddou — a UNESCO World Heritage fortress of sun-dried mud towers featured in Gladiator, Game of Thrones, and Lawrence of Arabia. Walk through its alleys with your guide before crossing the Tizi n'Tichka Pass (2,260 m) and descending into Marrakech.

• Skoura palm oasis
• Ouarzazate film studios
• Ait Ben Haddou (UNESCO)
• Tizi n'Tichka Pass

The Red City — History, Art & Spectacle

Your licensed Marrakech guide covers the city's greatest monuments. The Saadian Tombs — hidden for 300 years and rediscovered in 1917. El Badi Palace — stripped of gold and marble by a later sultan, its vast ruins now a stork colony. The Bahia Palace — built as the most beautiful palace in the world by a 19th-century grand vizier. The colour-coded souks: dyers' quarter, lantern market, spice souk. And the grand finale: Djemaa el-Fna at night, one of the world's great public spectacles.

• Saadian Tombs
• El Badi Palace
• Bahia Palace
• Souks
• Djemaa el-Fna

Your Day to Discover

Today is entirely unplanned, and deliberately so. Morocco has a way of revealing itself best when you're not rushing. Wander back into the souks without an agenda, find a rooftop terrace with mint tea and medina views, or choose one of the optional experiences below — a sunrise balloon over the palmery, a hands-on cooking class, an afternoon hammam, or the extraordinary Majorelle Gardens.

• Optional: Hot air balloon
• Optional: Cooking class
• Optional: Hammam & massage
• Optional: Majorelle Gardens

Return to the Atlantic City

Drive back to Casablanca — a 3-hour journey that gives you a morning in Marrakech and an afternoon at leisure in Morocco's cosmopolitan capital. Walk the Ain Diab corniche, sit at a seafront cafe, and explore the old medina one more time before a final dinner. Casablanca is a very different Morocco from the south — modern, fast, diverse, endlessly fascinating.

• Casablanca Old Medina
• Ain Diab Corniche
• Seafront final dinner

Morocco Complete — Until Next Time

After a final Moroccan breakfast, your private driver takes you to Mohammed V International Airport. You've covered Morocco in its full breadth — Atlantic coast to Saharan desert, ancient Roman city to medieval Islamic medina, imperial palaces to Berber camp. You leave changed.