The 13 Days Around Morocco Tour from Casablanca is a full circuit of the country with a genuine spare day in it. Beyond the coasts, the Rif, the imperial cities and the Sahara, it includes a day out to the Ouzoud waterfalls, which fall around 110 metres through a gorge in the Middle Atlas and are the tallest in North Africa.
The northern leg reaches the Mediterranean at Tangier and Tetouan and gives Chefchaouen a free day. The desert leg gives Erg Chebbi two nights, with a day among nomad camps, the black desert and the Gnaoua musicians of Khamlia.
The south is covered by the gorge road through Todra and the Dades, and the trip finishes on the Atlantic at Essaouira before the coast road back to Casablanca.
Pickup at Casablanca airport, port or hotel, with the Hassan II Mosque first if your arrival allows.
North to Rabat for the Kasbah of the Udayas and the Hassan Tower, then up the coast to Asilah, a small walled town of white houses and painted ramparts. Lunch by the sea.
Arrival in Tangier in the late afternoon, with time for Cape Spartel where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean.
Accommodation: Hotel in Tangier
Morning in Tangier: the Kasbah on the hill, the medina, the Grand Socco and the Caves of Hercules on the coast.
East along the Mediterranean to Tetouan, whose UNESCO-listed medina was built by Andalusian refugees and still feels closer to Granada than to Fes.
The afternoon climbs into the Rif to Chefchaouen, with time for the walk up to the Spanish mosque and the view over the blue rooftops at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Chefchaouen
No driving today. The medina is small, steep and lime blue, and rewards wandering without a plan.
The kasbah in the main square has a garden and a tower; Ras el Maa, the spring at the top of the town, is a short climb above it.
The Akchour waterfalls and the natural arch called the God Bridge are about an hour away and make a good half-day walk.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Chefchaouen
Out of the Rif and down to Volubilis, the Roman provincial capital, with its mosaic floors, basilica and triumphal arch standing in farmland below Moulay Idriss.
A stop in Meknes for the Bab Mansour gate, the walls and the royal granaries.
Arrival in Fes in the late afternoon, evening free.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
A full day in Fes el Bali, a ninth-century medina with no cars and around nine thousand lanes.
The circuit takes in 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. The afternoon is free for the souks, the brass quarter or the Merenid tombs at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
South over the Middle Atlas through Ifrane and the Azrou cedar forest, where Barbary macaques come down to the road.
Lunch at Midelt, then the descent into the Ziz Valley, a long belt of date palms below bare red cliffs, with a viewpoint over the gorge.
Arrival at Merzouga in the late afternoon, then the camel ride into Erg Chebbi to reach camp at sunset, with dinner and drums under the tent.
Accommodation: Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi
Sunrise from the dunes, camel ride back, breakfast and a shower at your hotel.
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 a Gnaoua session, 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 the canyon narrows to a few paces beneath walls of about 300 metres. A walk on the valley floor is the best part of it.
Short drive on to the Dades Valley for the night.
Accommodation: Hotel or guesthouse in the Dades Valley
The kasbah road west through El Kelaa des Mgouna and the Skoura palm oasis with Kasbah Amerhidil.
Ouarzazate for lunch and the Taourirt Kasbah, then Ait Ben Haddou, where the climb through the ksar ends at the granary with a view over the valley.
Over the Tizi n Tichka pass into Marrakech in the evening.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Marrakech
A guided day covering the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Madrasa.
The afternoon is free for the souks, the Majorelle garden and the Yves Saint Laurent museum, or a hammam.
Jemaa el Fna changes entirely after dark and is worth an hour on foot.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Marrakech
A day trip north-east into the Middle Atlas. The drive takes about two and a half hours through olive groves and low hills.
The Ouzoud waterfalls drop around 110 metres in three stages into a green gorge, the tallest falls in North Africa. A path leads down through the olive terraces to the pool at the bottom, where small boats take visitors close to the spray, and Barbary macaques live in the trees along the way.
Lunch is taken at one of the terrace restaurants above the falls before the drive back to Marrakech in the late afternoon.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Marrakech
West across the Haouz plain into argan country, with a stop at a women cooperative where the oil is pressed by hand.
Arrival in Essaouira around midday. The afternoon is free for the harbour, the Skala ramparts and the walled medina, which is flat and easy to walk.
Dinner is best at the port, where the day catch is grilled at the stalls.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Essaouira
North along the Atlantic with a stop at the Oualidia lagoon and its oyster beds, and at El Jadida for the Portuguese cistern beneath the old town.
Arrival in Casablanca in the afternoon, with time for the Hassan II Mosque or the Corniche depending on your flight.
Drop-off at the airport, at the port or at your hotel.
The Ouzoud waterfalls, and a third Marrakech night so the day trip does not cost you the city. It is the only green, wet landscape on the whole route.
Yes. The Ourika Valley or the High Atlas villages around Imlil work as alternatives from Marrakech, and Imlil suits anyone who wants a proper mountain walk.
It is a stepped path through olive terraces, around twenty to thirty minutes down and a bit more coming back. Sensible shoes are enough. There is also a viewpoint at the top for anyone who would rather not descend.
Two: the run to Merzouga and the run to Marrakech, each around seven to eight hours with stops. Four days involve no transfer at all.
Breakfast daily, plus dinner at the desert camp, in Merzouga and in the Dades Valley.
Yes, and it shortens the last two days. Tell us which airport you fly out of and we will reshape the ending.
Thirteen days covers both coasts, both mountain ranges and the Sahara, and still leaves room for a day that is purely for enjoyment rather than distance.
Nothing on the route is driven twice, every long stage is broken by a real stop, and the whole thing runs privately from a single Casablanca return flight.
