11-Day Tour from Casablanca: Imperial Cities and the Ouzina Desert
Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Fes, Ifrane, Marrakech, Ait Ben Haddou, Todra, Ouzina, Zagora
Duration
11 Days - 10 Nights
Tour type
Tours from Casablanca
Trip info
Accommodation
Riad / hotel and desert camp
Transport
Private with driver
Guide
Spanish-speaking companion
Languages
Spanish, French, English, Portuguese
Meals
Dinner and breakfast
Departures
All year round, private tour
Description
VIAJE AL DESIERTO offers you this tour, but if you would like something different — changing the route, adding or removing days — send us your proposal and we will be delighted to tailor your trip… Your adventure. The price depends on the number of people, the number of days and the accommodation category.
Trip plan
Day 1: Casablanca
Arrival at the airport and transfer to the hotel. Accommodation with breakfast.
Day 2: Casablanca
After breakfast we start with a visit of the city made famous by one of the best-known films in the world, Casablanca. A modern city full of life and the country’s industrial capital. Visit of the exterior of the Royal Palace with its huge gates, the elegant Anfa district and the Corniche, the boulevard along the sea, and the exterior of the famous, monumental Hassan II Mosque. Optionally, you can visit the interior of the majestic Hassan II Mosque (open only until 2 pm; closed on Fridays and holidays for prayer). Accommodation with dinner and breakfast.
Day 3: Casablanca – Rabat – Meknes – Fes
After breakfast we visit Rabat, the country’s political capital. We visit the Mausoleum, a prestigious building erected in memory of His Majesty Mohammed V, made of white marble and cedar wood and adorned with chiselled bronze, as well as the mosque and the Hassan Tower, with its 200 columns and its minaret of beautiful pink stone, and the avenues and grounds of the Royal Palace. Free time for lunch. We then go to Meknes: its vast palaces, barracks, forty kilometres of walls and bastions with monumental gates give the city an immense appearance. The visit ends at the Mausoleum of this Alaouite sovereign, made of stucco and white marble. We continue to Fes. Hotel dinner and accommodation.
Day 4: Fes, World Heritage Site
A full day visiting Fes, the oldest of the imperial cities, founded in 808 as Morocco’s first political, religious and cultural capital. The visit starts at the Golden Gates of the Royal Palace. We then climb to a viewpoint from which the walls and the impressive medina inside them can be seen like a map, before entering it on foot to discover the thousand sensations it offers: mosques and madrasas, caravanserais and religious sites, all the way to the tanners’ quarter. Free time for lunch, then a visit of the craftsmen’s quarters, organised by trade. Their ancestors brought their skills from Spain and have kept the Andalusian art and style alive to this day, earning Fes its well-deserved name of city of craftsmen. Accommodation with breakfast.
Day 5: Fes – Ifrane – Beni Mellal – Marrakech
After breakfast we cross the Middle Atlas through farming villages and towns that form a beautiful landscape, where Morocco’s most famous rivers are born. Arriving in Ifrane feels like entering a Swiss village, with its pointed black-slate roofs, its lake in the centre and the care its inhabitants take of their surroundings. We then go to Beni Mellal for lunch and free time, before continuing to Marrakech. Riad accommodation with breakfast.
Day 6: Marrakech – Telouet – Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou – Ouarzazate
After breakfast we cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass to the Kasbah of Telouet and that of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Renowned films such as Gladiator and The Jewel of the Nile were shot in this spectacular setting. Free time for lunch. We continue to Ouarzazate, considered the gateway to the great desert and the starting point of the great expeditions, with its Taourirt Kasbah and the main palace of the Glaoui, the great pasha of southern Morocco. Accommodation with dinner and breakfast.
After breakfast we drive along a road dotted with kasbahs, each one different. After several stops we reach one of the highlights of the south: the Todra Gorges. The Todra river has carved a canyon of vertical walls of enormous size and great beauty, a climbers’ paradise and a unique place. Lunch at leisure, then on to Erfoud, stopping at a quarry where fossil-bearing rocks are extracted to see how they are worked into different objects. We then take a track to the village of Ouzina. Accommodation with dinner and breakfast.
Day 8: Ouzina – Ramlia – Lake Maider – Zagora
After breakfast we follow the Paris–Dakar track towards Zagora. We stop to visit the ruins of an old Portuguese village and pass several Berber villages with mud-brick houses. In the afternoon we reach Zagora, known for its large date production. Accommodation with dinner and breakfast.
Day 9: Zagora – Marrakech
Departure after breakfast towards Marrakech. We cross the green, lush Draa Valley, known as the largest palm grove in Morocco, stopping at a viewpoint to photograph its beautiful landscape. We cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m). Keep your eyes open: along the way we pass Berber villages of mud brick and stone that blend into the beautiful scenery. Arrival in Marrakech. Riad accommodation with breakfast.
Day 10: Marrakech
Visit of the city, starting with the Menara gardens and their pool, the Saadian Tombs where the city’s founders rest, the Bahia Palace, residence of the former grand vizier, and the Koutoubia, a splendid minaret, ending in the legendary Jemaa el-Fna square: a great souk in the morning and a magical show at night. Riad accommodation with breakfast.
Day 11: Marrakech – Airport
Transfer to the airport at your flight’s departure time and end of our services.
Included / Excluded
Included
Spanish-speaking companion from your arrival at the airport
Airport transfers
Private transport with driver throughout the tour
Riad/hotel accommodation with dinner and breakfast
Not included
Drinks with meals
Tips
Entrance fees to monuments and museums
Mandatory travel insurance
FAQs
Can I change the route?
Yes. All our routes are flexible: we can add or remove days, change accommodation and adapt the itinerary to your pace.
Is it a private trip?
Yes, all our tours are private, just for you and your travel companions.
How do I book?
Send us the booking form with your date and the number of people. We will send you a personalised, no-obligation quote within 24 hours.
Tours from Tangier
Tours from Ouarzazate
Tours from Fes