The 10 Days Morocco Tour from Casablanca adds the Atlantic to the standard north-and-desert circuit. After the mountains and the Sahara, the last stretch drops down to Essaouira, a walled fishing port with a working harbour, wide beaches and constant wind off the ocean.
Before that, the route does everything the shorter loops do and gives the desert two nights: a camp on the sand at Erg Chebbi and a free day for nomad camps, the black desert and Gnaoua music at Khamlia.
The result is a trip with three different climates in it, mountains, desert and coast, and enough free days that you are not living out of the car.
Pickup at Casablanca airport, port or hotel, starting with the Hassan II Mosque if your arrival allows.
North along the coast to Rabat for the Udayas Kasbah, the Hassan Tower and the mausoleum of Mohammed V.
Then up into the Rif to Chefchaouen, arriving in time to climb to the Spanish mosque above the town for the view over the blue rooftops at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Chefchaouen
Morning in the medina, which is small, steep and painted every shade of blue. The Ras el Maa spring at the top of the town is a short walk.
After lunch, down out of the Rif to Volubilis, the Roman provincial capital, with its mosaic floors and triumphal arch below the hill town of Moulay Idriss.
A stop in Meknes for the Bab Mansour gate and the granaries, then on to Fes.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
A full day inside Fes el Bali, a working ninth-century city with no cars.
The circuit covers the Bou Inania and Attarine madrasas, the Nejjarine fountain and woodwork museum, the Al Quaraouiyine mosque and library, and the Chouara tanneries.
A licensed guide is recommended and can be arranged. The afternoon is free for the souks or the Merenid tombs at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
Across the Middle Atlas through Ifrane and the Azrou cedar forest, where Barbary macaques come down to the road.
Lunch at Midelt, then the drop into the Ziz Valley and its long belt of date palms below red cliffs.
Arrival at Merzouga in the late afternoon, then the camel ride into Erg Chebbi to reach camp at sunset, with dinner under the tent and drums by the fire.
Accommodation: Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi
Sunrise on the dunes, camel ride back, breakfast and a shower.
A 4×4 circuit fills the day: tea with a nomad family on the hamada, the seasonal lake at Dayet Srji, the black volcanic desert and the abandoned mines at Mfis.
Late afternoon at Khamlia for Gnaoua music, then a second sunset at the erg.
Accommodation: Hotel or kasbah in Merzouga
West with stops at Rissani and its covered souk and at Erfoud for the fossil workshops.
The afternoon reaches Todra Gorge, where limestone walls of about 300 metres close to a few paces above the stream. A walk on the valley floor is the right way to see it.
Short drive on to the Dades Valley for the night.
Accommodation: Hotel or guesthouse in the Dades Valley
Along the kasbah road through El Kelaa des Mgouna and the Skoura palm oasis, with Kasbah Amerhidil.
Ouarzazate for lunch and the Taourirt Kasbah, then Ait Ben Haddou and the climb through the ksar to the granary at the top.
Over the High Atlas by the Tizi n Tichka pass into Marrakech in the evening.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Marrakech
A guided morning in Marrakech covering the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian tombs and the Bahia Palace, with time in the souks.
After lunch the road runs west across the Haouz plain and into argan country, where the trees grow only in this corner of the world and goats sometimes climb them. There are cooperatives on the route where argan oil is pressed by hand.
Arrival in Essaouira in the late afternoon, with the wind off the Atlantic and the ramparts turning gold.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Essaouira
A full free day in Essaouira. The medina is walled, blue and white, and flat enough to walk end to end in an afternoon.
The working harbour is the best part: blue boats, gulls, and stalls grilling whatever came in that morning. The Skala ramparts above it look straight out to the Purpuraires islands.
The beach runs for miles south of the town and the wind makes it one of the best places in Africa for kitesurfing. Camel and quad rides along the sand can be arranged locally.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Essaouira
The coast road north to Casablanca takes around five hours, passing Oualidia with its lagoon and oyster beds and El Jadida, whose Portuguese cistern is a short and worthwhile stop.
Arrival in Casablanca with time for the Hassan II Mosque if you have not yet seen it.
Drop-off at the airport, at the port or at your hotel, timed to your flight.
Yes, because it is the only stop on the route where nothing is scheduled. After a week of driving and desert most people are glad of a day with nothing but a harbour, a beach and a medina you cannot get lost in.
Same first eight days, then Essaouira and the coast road instead of a direct return. If you would rather have another day inland, we can swap it for Ouzoud waterfalls or a second Marrakech night.
Yes, the loop can be reversed so the Atlantic comes first and the desert second. It works equally well and can suit certain flight times better.
Steady and strong, especially from April to September. Ideal for kitesurfing, less ideal for sunbathing. Bring a windbreaker even in summer.
Breakfast every day, plus dinner at the desert camp, in Merzouga and in the Dades Valley. Coastal and city dinners are left open, and Essaouira has the best fish on the route.
Yes. The eleven, twelve and fourteen day versions add the Draa Valley, Tangier and Asilah, or the High Atlas villages above Marrakech.
Ten days lets Morocco include an ocean. Most itineraries stop at Marrakech, which means the trip ends on its most crowded day. Ending at Essaouira instead gives the whole thing a quieter close.
It also keeps the desert at two nights and the Fes medina at a full day, so nothing earlier in the route is traded away for the coast.
