10-Day Morocco Itinerary

This is the route we recommend most often for a first visit. It follows the country from the Atlantic to the Rif mountains, the imperial cities, the Sahara and the south, and finishes in Marrakech, which is the easiest city to fly home from. You can book it as our Best of Morocco journey and change any night.

Day 1: Casablanca

Your driver meets you at Mohammed V airport. Visit the Hassan II Mosque, one of the few in Morocco open to non-Muslims, and settle into your hotel near the Corniche.

Day 2: Rabat and Chefchaouen

Stop in Rabat for the Kasbah of the Udayas and the Hassan Tower, then climb into the Rif to Chefchaouen in time for sunset from the Spanish Mosque.

Days 3 and 4: Fes

A morning in the blue medina, then on to Fes. The next day a licensed guide takes you through Fes el-Bali: the Chouara tannery, the Bou Inania madrasa and the workshops of the coppersmiths' square.

Days 5 and 6: The Sahara

Cross the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas and the Ziz Valley to Merzouga. Ride camels into the Erg Chebbi at sunset. The second day is free for a 4x4 circuit, the Gnawa musicians of Khamlia or simply the dunes.

Day 7: Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley

Walk the narrow walls of the Todra Gorge, then follow the road of the kasbahs to the Dades Valley.

Day 8: Aït Benhaddou to Marrakech

Visit the ksar of Aït Benhaddou early, before the crowds, and cross the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Marrakech.

Days 9 and 10: Marrakech

A guided morning in the medina and the Bahia Palace, an afternoon in a hammam, and a final day free before your transfer to the airport.

Changing the route

• Arriving in Marrakech? Run the same route in reverse.
• Short of time? Drop Rabat and Chefchaouen and start in Fes.
• More time? Add two nights in Essaouira at the end; see our 14-day itinerary.