14 days tours from Fes to Marrakech

We will meet at Fes Saiss Airport and transported to our traditional Riad in the old city of Fes (Medina).

Fully private. A daylong walking tour of Fes El, Bali's medieval medina, with an English-speaking guide.

The journey will take you through the maze of souks and sights, including the famous Fes pottery souqs, musical instrument producers, metalworkers, carpet souks, and tanneries. Chaowara There are almost 9000 ancient cobblestone roads that run past markets, mosques, Koranic schools, riads, and hidden fountains.

Zaouia Moulay Idriss, also known as the shrine, Bad Boujloud's ornate gate, Al-Kairaouine Mosque and University, the world's oldest university, Al-Attain Medrasa, Nejjarine Fountain, King's Place, and the Jewish area or 'Mellah' are all worth seeing.

Your guide will make sure you get the most out of your day. Evening at the Riad.

Chefchaouen, often known as Chaouen, is a famous tourist destination due of its proximity to Tangiers and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

Our day trip to Chefchaouen will begin at 08:00, taking 3 hours to visit the "blue city" and 3 hours to return to Fes. The name comes from the shape of the mountain peaks above the city, which resemble the two horns (chaoua) of a goat.

Chef Chaouen is derived from Shawn, the Berber word for horns. There are over 200 hotels that cater to the influx of European guests during the summer. Chefchaouen is known for its blue-washed houses and buildings. Chefchaouen is also a popular shopping destination since it offers many indigenous handicrafts not seen elsewhere in Morocco, such as woven blankets and wool garments. The local goat cheese is very popular among tourists.

The surrounding terrain is well-known for its abundance of kief. Chefchaouen is a major cannabis-producing area in Morocco.
The growing tourist industry caters primarily to Spanish travelers, who are especially numerous around important Catholic holidays like Holy Week and Christmas. In 1967, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell went to Chefchaouen. They believed it was "quite 'Golden Bough-like.'" Orton describes their adventure in the Orton Diaries.

The city features a number of distinct mosques. In addition to the mosque at Place Uta Hammam in the medina, there is another mosque dedicated to Moulay Abdeslam Ben Mchich Alami, the patron saint of the Jebalah region in northern Morocco. His tomb and the surrounding town are around an hour's journey from Chefchaouen along the historic path to Larache.

There is also a Spanish-built mosque in ruins, with stairs remaining in the tower. Return to Fes in the afternoon.

We'll spend the whole day going from Fes across the Middle Atlas Mountains to Erfoud, the fossil capital of the desert. As you leave Fes, the path progressively ascends, providing beautiful vistas.

Incredible vistas of the Middle Atlas Mountains. In these hilly areas, Morocco's indigenous Berber tribes preserve their culture and traditions. Along the trip, we pass through the Azro cedar trees and get the chance to see the Barbary apes who reside here.

The idyllic community of Midelt, the apple capital, serves as our halfway point and lunch stop. Then we'll travel via the Col du Zad, past the Tizi N'Tairhemt Camel Pass, and into the Ziz Valley and Gorges.

Before arriving in Erfoud, also known as the "gateway to the desert," we'll pass through Meski Oasis on the edge of the immense Sahara. We'll spend the night in our first faux-Kasbah, which is built in the style of traditional Berber and Touareg tribal fortresses and provides both comfort and breathtaking desert views.

Today we officially enter the Sahara. There is just a little distance to travel (approximately 2 hours), so the morning is free to relax at the hotel after yesterday's long drive. Following lunch at your hotel, we will follow the River Ziz through the Tafilalt Oasis and on to Rissani, the last large market town before the Sahara. Along the way, there are fossil workshops and an archeological museum to discover.

You may also take the Touristique route, which takes you past crumbling mud-built settlements, kasbahs, and palm trees that mark the site of the ancient devastated city of Sijilmassa, which was once the richest city in North Africa because to its trade caravans and gold. You may also find time to visit Moulay Ali Shereef's shrine or Zaouia outside of Rissani, which is open to non-Muslims and has stunning mosaic and carved plaster interiors. By late afternoon, you'll arrive at Merzouga, a little village on the outskirts of the Erg Chebbi dunes in the desert.

You may spend the night in a standard or luxury class bivouac, a kasbah-style hotel, a traditional riad/auberge, or a mud-built eco-lodge among the dunes. We recommend desert camping so that you can completely appreciate the desert's distinct atmosphere, as well as the brilliant star constellations and breathtaking daybreak over the dunes. Those who wish to enjoy the tranquility of the dunes must finish their journey on a camel. A typical Berber camp at night, under the stars.

Breakfast in a desert camp in the center of the Sahara desert, followed by a camel ride back to your 4x4. After spending the night under the desert sky, we journey from Merzouga Village to the Dades Gorges via the ochre cliffs of the Todra Gorges, the Todra Valley, and the Dades Valley.

Our itinerary includes the Oasis of Tafilalet, as well as the road and valleys of thousands of Kasbahs. The Todra and Dades Gorges, with the high Atlas Mountains to the north and the Jbel Saghro range to the south, provide a glimpse of another kind of Moroccan environment - no less beautiful, but quite different from what we've seen in the previous few days.

The rivers Todra and Dadès provide water for oasis and palms in the region, and we will be able to roam beneath the shade of the date palms and olive groves that line the riverbanks. The day ends in the Dades Gorges, where we will spend the night in either a magnificent guesthouse clinging to the high cliffs or an authentic converted kasbah in the Dades Valley with wonderful facilities and African-themed rooms.

From the Dades Valley, we proceed to the famed Roses Valley and the town of Kalaat Magouna, which produces the bulk of Morocco's roses and rose water. On the route, we will go off-road to BouTharar, a nomadic community where the Ait Atta Berbers dwell in caves cut into the rock.

We will pass through Skoura Village, an oasis, where we will visit the old Berber Place Kasbah Amredel and a small private museum, before concluding the day in Ouarzazate, also known as the "Hollywood of Africa," where you will tour inside the walls of the old Kasbah Taourirt, an authentic 17th-century mud-built house that once served as Pasha el Glaoui's courthouse. It has been transformed into a first-rate boutique guesthouse and is a superb example of traditional construction methods using local materials. Evening in a traditional Riad.

In the morning, guests may select between a self-guided or guided tour of the refurbished Atlas Film Studios before heading back on the road. Our journey leads us via Tazenakht and into the bleak Anti-Atlas Mountains. After a two-hour trip, we will stop here for lunch; you may visit one of the cooperatives that sell the hand-woven carpets that are famous in this region.

The journey next takes us for almost four hours via Taliouin, known for its saffron cultivation, and on to Taroudant, a walled city in the beautiful Souss area. Taroudant, which served as the Saadian empire's capital in the 16th century before being relocated to Marrakech, is known as the "grandmother of Marrakech."

Our journey from Taroudant to the port of Essaouira passes via Agadir, Morocco's most popular beach resort, before continuing north along the rugged Atlantic coast. Along the way, you will encounter sunbathers, surfers, fishermen, and some of Morocco's best bananas! There are undeveloped beaches as well as beaches crowded with Moroccan families throughout the summer months.

The path travels through protected forests of thorny argan trees, where women's cooperatives produce "Berber gold" - argan oil - by extracting this rich oil from the argan nut kernels. On the way, we'll stop for a simple lunch. When you arrive in Essaouira, we offer a selection of traditional riad lodgings inside the 18th-century UNESCO World Heritage-listed medina, as well as a luxury boutique hotel near the beach.

Essaouira Medina, visiting galleries to learn about local handicrafts, appreciating sea views from a seaside café, wandering around the port or along the beach, and eating delicious seafood. For the more adventurous visitors, we can arrange watersports, camel rides, quad biking, horseback riding, and hiking in the neighboring woods and beaches. On request, we may also arrange a morning cooking instruction.

We left early in the morning for our last stop, the fascinating and vibrant "red city" of Marrakech. Yours is the last of the four royal Moroccan towns you will see on your voyage. The journey from Essaouira to the historic Marrakech medina takes around three hours, after which you have the afternoon free to explore and rest.

We propose having lunch at one of the café restaurants with a lovely roof-terrace view of the daily festivities of the bustling main plaza, which include acrobats, snake-charmers, singers, and henna artists. The rest of the day may be spent looking for deals in the world's biggest covered market. For supper, you may choose from one of Marrakech's many restaurants or try the excellent food on the outdoor grills in Place Jemaa el Fna.

A half-day guided visit of the Imperial City of Marrakech, often known as "the red city" because to its famous pink-colored walls. In the morning, our English-speaking city guide will meet you at your hotel and take you through the medieval medina's souks, introducing you to artisans, bakers, carpenters, spice merchants, and apothecaries, as well as visiting landmark monuments like Ben Youssef Medersa, the Bahia Palace, and the Koutoubia Mosque.

Your tour culminates at the famed Place Jemaa el Fna. The rest of the day is free to spend as you want, or we propose riding a horse-drawn carriage to Gelize's new town area to see the exquisite Majorelle Garden, previously owned by Yves St. Laurent and originally the private property of the painter Jacques Majorelle. We suggest returning to the square for dinner at one of the outdoor food grills, where you may have grilled meats, fried fish, fried aubergines, boiling snails, Harira soup, spicy ginger tea, boiled sheepshead, and other local favorites.

Even if you opt to eat elsewhere, the ambiance in Place Jemaa el Fna at night is intoxicating, with smoke rising from the grills, the pounding rhythms of the street musicians, and the call to prayer echoing from the mosques as the people gather for this nightly 'circus'.

Our day trip to Kasbah Ait Benhaddou starts about 8:30. The excursion passes the Atlas Mountains and returns about 6:00 p.m., giving you time to enjoy the beautiful scenery, little settlements, and towering views of the surrounding area. After a few hours of driving, we will arrive to Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, a historic site worth seeing.

Filming a film takes place in locations where multiple films have been shot. They shot Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Living Daylights (1987), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Kundun (1997), Legionnaire (1998), Hanna (2011), and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011). Several sights and activities await you on the tour. Returning to Marrakesh.

Following breakfast at your riad, you will get private transportation to the airport.