13 days Tour from Casablanca to Marrakech: Rabat, Tangier, Volubilis, Ifrane, Merzouga

See the Programme …!

Flight … at

Arrive at Casablanca airport; Meet and greet by your English speaking driver/guide.
Enjoy the city tour of Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco and its largest city. Begin with an inside guided visit of the famous Hassan II mosque, the landmark mark of the city with the tallest minaret in the world (210 metres (689 ft)). Stop next at Mohammed V Square in the city center. Enjoy a nice promenade at Ain Diab Corniche, which is one of the city’s most fashionable districts.
Optional lunch at a local restaurant.
Transfer to Rabat, the capital of Morocco and one of the Imperial Cities.

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Rabat

Breakfast in the hotel.

Enjoy the city tour of Rabat. Visit the Kasbah of the Oudayas. This Kasbah was constructed during the realm of the Almohads dynasty (12th century). Stop next at Mohammed V Mausoleum, which is home to the tombs of the current king’s father and grandfather. Your last stop in Rabat is Hassan Tower, which is a minaret built in 1195 by the Almohades Dynasty.
Transfer to Tangier stopping at Laarache and Assilah on the way.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Arrive at Tangier, the pearl of the north of Morocco and its main gate to Europe.

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Tangier

Breakfast in the hotel.
Enjoy the city tour of Tangier. Stop first at the old town, locally called “The medina”. Visit the American legation, Dar El Oued Makhazen Kasbah, the Mendoubia Gardens, and the Grand and Petit Socco.
Transfer to Cape Spartel, the meeting point of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Spartel was known to the Greeks and Romans as the “Cape of the Vines”. Visit the Cave of Hercules, which is Africa’s most north-westerly promontory with a strange sea window shaped like a map of Africa.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Transfer to Chefchaouen, “the Blue City” and of the most charming towns in Morocco. Enjoy the city tour of Chefchaouen. Start your tour with the kasbah of Chefchaouen. This kasbah belongs to the early 18th century, and was built by the legendary ruler Moulay Ismail (1645 – 1727). Stop next at Plaza Uta el-Hammam, which is the cobbled main square in town and where the striking 15th century Grand Mosque sits.

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Chefchaouen.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Enjoy a day trip to Akchour, which is a hidden paradise, 35km outside of Chefchaouen. Todays experience is a chance to reconnect with mother nature after spending the fist three days exploring ancient cities. It is also a chance to enjoy hiking, waterfalls and canyoneering through the river.
Optional lunch at a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, return transfer to Chefchaouen

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Chefchaouen.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Transfer to the UNESCO-sponsored Roman ruins in Volubilis, a Berber and Roman city partly excavated by the UNESCO. Volubilis was considered as the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania. The city was developed from the 3rd century BC onward as an Amazigh, then proto-Carthaginian, and from from the 1st century AD onward, the city grew rapidly under the Roman rule.
Continue to Meknes, the “Moroccan Versailles” and one of the oldest cities in the kingdom. Enjoy the visit of Meknes. The city was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail (1672–1727), a contemporary of Louis XIV, before it was relocated to Marrakech. Stop at the massive Bab El Mansour gate, which is the grandest of all imperial Moroccan gateways. Bab El Mansour gate was completed by Moulay Ismail’s son, Moulay Abdallah, in 1732. Stop next at Hri Souani, which is a complex of three different buildings built for granaries and stables. This amazing site has been used as a scene for many films, the most famous of which is probably “The Last Temptation of Christ” in 1988 by Martin Scorsese.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Late in the afternoon, transfer to Fes, the spiritual capital of Morocco.

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Fes.

Breakfast in the hotel.

Enjoy the guided full day city tour of Fes. Begin with the entrance to the largest royal palace in Morocco. Continue with a panoramic view of the ancient medina. Enjoy an authentic experience at the traditional ceramic crafts village of Fes after that. Your next stop is Fes El Bali, the ancient town or Medina, which is a medieval part of Fes that has not changed for centuries.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Visit the famous Al-Karaouine mosque, built by Fatima Al Fihria in 857. Al-Karaouine mosque became home to the University of Al-Karaouine, which is the first university in the world and the world’s foremost center of learning at the beginning of the second millennium. The university was built by Fatima Al Fihria in 859, and, since then, it has become one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the Muslim world. In the medina, visit also a Merdersa, which is a Coranic school. Complete the city tour of Fes with the leather Souq and the oldest Leather Tannery in the world. The tannery dates back at least nine centuries.

Optional dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Fes.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Transfer to the heart of the Sahara desert. The journey takes you through the Middle Atlas Mountains. Stop first in Ifrane, a charming town and ski resort. Ifrane is famous for its Alpine climate, European-style houses and its 1665 metres (5,460 ft) in elevation. The town experiences snow during winter months and a cool climate during summer. Ifrane is also the place where the lowest temperature was ever recorded in Africa, -24 °C in 1935. While in Ifrane, expect to find animals like the threatened Barbary Macaque and local tree species such as the native Atlas cedar, Scrub oak and the introduced London plane.
Arrive at Midelt, a Berber town in the high plains between the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas mountains ranges. Midelt is one of Morocco’s principal cities for the mining of several minerals.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Transfer through many Amazigh (Berber) villages and along the Ziz valley to get to Erfoud. Continue to Merzouga, which is the heart of the desert.
Enjoy a sunset camel ride to your charming Desert Camp.

Dinner in the Desert Camp.
Overnight in Merzouga.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Enjoy a 4×4 Jeep tour of the desert. Stop first El Khamlia village. Visit nomad families and share a cup of mint tea with them.
Late in the morning, drive to Tinghir via Rissani and Tinjdad. Tinghir is a gorgeous 40km oasis, which boasts one of the largest palm groves in the country. Stop at the famous Todra Gorge, a 300m wall, carved deep into the High Atlas Mountains. Thanks to its robust rock sides with many uneven surfaces, Todra Gorge is popular among rock climbers. More than 150 routes rated French Grade 5+ to 8 have been bolted in the canyon. Todra Gorge was featured on the premiere of the United States reality show Expedition Impossible.
Optional lunch at a local restaurant..
Leave Tinghir heading to Dades. The drive is spectacular, winding through stunning desert landscapes, villages with the expansive Jebel Sarhro lunar-scape. Dades is known as valley of figs. Dades valley featured prominently in a 2012 advertisement for the Cadillac CTS.

Dinner in the RIAD.
Overnight in Ouarzazate.

Breakfast in the hotel.
After the visit of Dades, transfer to Ouarzazate. The drive is spectacular, with hundreds of Kasbahs lining the route. Stop first at Kelaat M’Gouna, a big town which is famous for cultivating roses. Expect to find many fine, rose-infused products there. Visit Taourirt Kasbah, which is considered one of the most beautiful kasbahs in Morocco. Next, visit the film studios where some of the most famous desert landscapes were and are still being shot. Leave Ouarzazate to the spectacular fortress of Ait Ben Haddou. The village is a great example of earthen clay architecture that has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Ait Ben Haddou is an iconic landscape immortalized in such films as “The Man Who Would Be King (film) (1975)”, “Jesus of Nazareth (1977)”, “The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)”, “Gladiator (2000)”, “Son of God (film) (2014)”.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Cross the High Atlas mountains along the pass of Tizi-n-Tichka to get Marrakech.

Dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Marrakech.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Enjoy the guided city tour of Marrakech. Stop first at the Koutoubia Mosque, which is an old monument built under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184 to 1199). This monument inspired other buildings such as the Giralda in Seville in Spain and the Hassan Tower in Rabat. Stop next at the Bahia Palace. This Palace was built in the late 19th century and was intended to capture the essence of the Islamic and Moroccan style. Stop next at the Saadian tombs, which is a site that dates back to the time of the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603). The tombs were discovered in 1917 and were restored by the Beaux-arts service.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Continue the tour with the world famous Jema El Fna Square where you will enjoy amazing performance of traditional activities by storytellers, snake charmers, peddlers of traditional medicines.
Your last stop is the bustling souks in the old medina.
Dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Marrakech.

Breakfast in the hotel.
Enjoy an amazing full day trip to the High Atlas Mountains, the Amazigh (Berber) villages, three valleys and lalla Takerkoust lake.
Start with the Ourika valley, which is one of the most beautiful valleys in Morocco. Continue through different landscapes and spectacular views to Oukaimeden valley. Oukaimeden is famous for its sky station. Oukaimeden is the highest sky station in Africa at an altitude of between 2,600 metres and 3,200 metres above sea level. Transfer to the third valley, which is Asni valley. The latter is famous by its fruit trees (Apples, walnut, almonds, peachs…). In Asni, you will enjoy the sight of the snowy summit of the Highiest Mountain peak in North Africa, which is Jbel Toubkal (4 167 m). Cross the Kik plateau and get to the Takerkouste Lake used as reservoir of the Atlas Mountains water and also to generate the hydraulic power.
Lunch at a local restaurant.
Late in the afternoon, return transfer to Marrakech.
Dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Marrakech.

Breakfast in the hotel.

Enjoy your day at leisure in Marrakech
Optional Cooking Class.
Dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Marrakech.

Flight…… at ..:..
– Transfer to marrakech menara airport.

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