9 DAYS GREAT TOUR OF THE IMPERIAL CITIES & THE SOUTHERN MOROCCO

Generally, most riads and guest houses serve breakfast either up in the roof terraces or the beautiful courtyards, and generally, breakfast starts at 9 a.m. Thus our trip will start after your breakfast; we will join you in the Riyad and assist you with the luggage. The trip will take Casablanca as the first point, the famous city, the economic capital of Morocco, and one of the greatest Moroccan cities. It is a drive of 3 hours through the highway. Once we get there, we will make you visit the famous Masjid (place of prayer) of Hassan II and Oudayas Kasbah. Lunch will be in an appropriate restaurant (according to your taste and choice). After that, we drive to Rabat (1 hours drive) to spend the night there in a hotel or guest house.

The second day of this trip will start after you have breakfast in your hosting place. We will leave Rabat for Meknes, another imperial important city, known in old times as the Ismaelian capital during the dynasty of Moulay Ismail (one of the Alaouite sovereigns). In Meknes, the famous Bab Mansour will welcome you first, then you will quench your desire to travel in the beautiful tank of Sahrij Souani, and then we will visit the shrine of Moulay Ismail. After lunch, we will head off to Volubilis, only an hour from Meknes, but it is as if you enter the portal of time. Once arrived, you will be enjoying the Roman prints left ever since 25 BC. The tender breeze will tell you a thousand stories of the place. Many spiritual music concerts were established in this area. After that, and throughout the foothills of Rif, we will get to Fes in the afternoon. Overnight will be in a luxurious Riyad in the old Medina.

As usual, the program starts after breakfast to explore the oldest city of Morocco. We will start by walking around the narrow streets of the old medina (it does not allow car access so most of the tour will be walking). We will begin by visiting the Palace of Porte Royal (the Royal door): the Jewish general neighborhood and the first Mellah ever constructed in Morocco during the 16th century. We will make sure that you will be visiting all the important spots that hold cultural and historical importance including the Qaraouine University (the most ancient building in the area), the tanneries, the Attarine museum, and the shrine of Moulay Idriss.

After breakfast in your Riyad, we will leave Fes towards Merzouga via Midelt and the Valley of Ziz. During this day, we will start our trip by visiting the village of Ifran a magnificent village by the mountains; this village is named “Moroccan Switzerland” so much it is different from the local different other cities of Morocco. Through this trip, you will be witnessing the middle Atlas and the high Atlas and will stop in Azrou for pictures in a beautiful Berber village right in the heart of the biggest forest in Morocco. The trip will carry on to Midelt throughout the long beautiful cliffs and the Atlas Mountain. Afterward, through the fascinating Tiz Ntalghmat, passing by the Ziz Gorges, you will be enjoying the natural landscapes of the High Atlas. It is so touching and heartily whelming how the scenery changes from green color to the Saharian color once you get by the Errachidiya city. Stop for lunch, and then we will carry on through the luxuriant valley of Ziz; towards Merzouga, we will visit the village of Erfoud and Rissani and get to Merzouga by late afternoon. As usual, the fresh local tea will be waiting for you to wish you a heartily welcome.

We will explore the area of Merzouga after your breakfast. you will be visiting the Gnawa people, originally coming from Soudan (as slaves in ancient times). You will be discovering their lifestyle and their spiritual music, which will take you to another world. Not very far lies the lake of Merzouga with its famous population of birds. In the program also visiting some Berber antique houses where you may find items that are generally more expensive in the big cities. Camel ride in the afternoon, guided by an experienced guide, you will be discovering the sea of golden sand in Merzouga. When the night is here, you will be served diner in a romantic setting right in front of your tent (highly equipped).

This day will start really early. Your camel guide will wake you up early in order for you to be able to be on time to enjoy the sunrise, maybe the best sunrise ever seen. After that, on a camel ride, you will go to the village of Merzouga to appreciate the spectacular beauty of Erg Chebbi dunes: the colorful dunes get harmoniously changing as if the sun is playing music on those sandhills. Breakfast will be served in the Riyad and off to Rissani, Tinghir, and gorges of Todra –the highest and straightest gorges in Morocco. Lunch will be served in the heart of those mystic gorges and we will carry on to the Valley of Dades where the majestic castles of sand and the rocks form an outstanding landscape name the monkey toes. You will pass your overnight in a hotel or Kasbah in the gorges of Dades. In this place, the setting changes as time flows, the evolution of the sun in the sky will decorate the gorges accordingly and it will leave astonished by the marvelous landscape.

The trip will start after your breakfast towards the valley of Dades, the Rose valley – Kalâat Mgouna- and Ouarzazate. On the way to the Valley of Dades, you will find the way of thousands of Kasbahs. This will enable you to take those magnificent pictures as nature will leave you imprisoned under its spell. We will stop in Kalâat Mgouna, the capital of Roses, and the journey will flow throughout the oasis of palm trees in Skoura. Once arrived at Ouarzazate, lunch will be served in a typical restaurant then we will move to the famous Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou, the outstanding mud houses constructed in the 18th century under the order of the king of Marrakech at that time, Ethami Glaoui. The trip will carry on throughout the Tizi n Tichka pass and the Atlas Mountains and will eventually arrive at Marrakech.

After that you are served your breakfast in the Riyad, we will start to explore the city of Marrakech, the red city, the city of joy, as the locals love to name it. The guide will join you in your Riyad and he will make sure that you will visit all the spots and corners that hold historical and cultural importance. This visit will be including the Saadian tombs, Bahia Palace, Badii Palace as well as the oldest Koranic School: the Madrassa Ben Youssef. Lunch will be in one of the restaurants near the palace and the afternoon will be dedicated to the gardens. What makes the locals think of Marrakech as the city of joy is definitely by the light and sweet spirits of their inhabitants as well as the gardens all spread over the Red city; Namely the Majorelle Garden (eventually bought by Yves Saint Laurent) the Menara Garden and the Koutoubia gardens. Dinner can be booked in one of the various charming restaurants in the city. After dinner, you will be amazed by the scents, the music, and the hectic atmosphere of the Jamâa El Fna Square, where all the storytellers, the fortune tellers, the Henna women, the snake charmers, and the merchants of alimentary good and beauty products of different areas in Morocco. After such a long trip and day, We will drop you off to enjoy the last night in your luxurious hotel.

Depending on your flight schedule, our driver will be more than happy to pick you up two hours before the flight and will drop you off at the airport with your luggage and hopefully a big mass of beautiful memories to tell your loved ones during holidays and in family gatherings.