The 8 Days Morocco Tour from Marrakech puts the desert and the imperial north into one circuit. It is the shortest itinerary that reaches both Erg Chebbi and Chefchaouen without cutting either short.
The first half is the classic southern crossing: the Tizi n Tichka pass, Ait Ben Haddou, the kasbah valleys, Todra Gorge and a night in a camp on the dunes. From Merzouga you head north through the Ziz Valley to Fes, and a full day is set aside for the medina, which is not a place to see in a hurry.
Then the north: Meknes and the Roman city of Volubilis, two nights of blue walls in Chefchaouen, the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat, and the Hassan II Mosque on the Casablanca seafront, before the road turns south again to Marrakech.
Morning pickup in Marrakech and the climb over the High Atlas by the Tizi n Tichka pass, with stops at the viewpoints.
At Ait Ben Haddou you cross the river and walk up through the earthen ksar to the granary. Lunch in the village, then on through Ouarzazate.
The afternoon follows the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs through Skoura and El Kelaa des Mgouna to the Dades Valley, arriving in time for the light on the red cliffs.
Accommodation: Hotel or guesthouse in the Dades Valley
A walk in Todra Gorge between limestone walls that rise about 300 metres above the streambed.
The road runs east through Tinghir and Erfoud, with a stop at a fossil workshop, then out across the hamada until Erg Chebbi appears ahead.
You reach Merzouga in the afternoon and ride into the dunes by camel, arriving at camp for sunset. Dinner under the tent, music around the fire, and a night in a private tent.
Accommodation: Berber desert camp, Erg Chebbi
Sunrise on the dunes, camel ride back, then breakfast and a shower before the drive north.
You stop at Rissani and its covered market, then follow the Ziz Valley, a long band of date palms below bare cliffs, with a viewpoint over the gorge. Lunch at Midelt on the high plateau.
The last stage crosses the Middle Atlas through the cedar forest near Azrou, where Barbary macaques gather by the road, and Ifrane, before arriving in Fes in the evening.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
A whole day for Fes el Bali, founded in the ninth century and still the working heart of the city. Around nine thousand lanes, no cars, and a rhythm that has not changed much.
The usual circuit takes in the Bou Inania and Attarine madrasas with their carved cedar and zellij, the Nejjarine fountain and its museum of woodwork, the Al Quaraouiyine mosque and library, and the Chouara tanneries, where hides are still worked in stone vats as they were eight hundred years ago.
A local guide is strongly recommended for this day and can be arranged for you. The afternoon is free for the souks, the potters quarter, or the Merenid tombs above the city at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Fes
Leave Fes after breakfast for Meknes, the imperial city built by Moulay Ismail in the seventeenth century. You see the huge Bab Mansour gate, the walls, the royal granaries and the mausoleum.
A short drive on is Volubilis, the Roman provincial capital, where the mosaic floors of the merchant houses, the basilica and the triumphal arch sit in open farmland below the hill town of Moulay Idriss.
The afternoon road climbs into the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen, where the old town is painted in every shade of blue. Arrival in time to walk up to the Spanish mosque for the view over the rooftops at sunset.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Chefchaouen
Morning free in Chefchaouen. The medina is small enough to wander without a plan, and the light on the blue walls is best early. The Ras el Maa spring at the top of the town is a short walk if you want to stretch your legs.
After lunch the road descends out of the Rif and runs along the Atlantic coast to Rabat, the capital.
If time allows there is a first look at the Kasbah of the Udayas, whose blue and white lanes end at a terrace over the mouth of the Bou Regreg.
Accommodation: Hotel or riad in Rabat
Morning in Rabat: the Udayas Kasbah and its Andalusian garden, the unfinished Hassan Tower with the mausoleum of Mohammed V opposite, and the ruins of Chellah, a Roman site later used as a Merenid necropolis and now full of storks.
Continue to Casablanca to see the Hassan II Mosque, built out over the Atlantic with a minaret of 210 metres, and drive along the Corniche.
The motorway then runs south to Marrakech, with arrival in the evening.
Accommodation: Riad or hotel in Marrakech
The last day is spent in Marrakech itself. The classic circuit covers the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace, the Ben Youssef Madrasa and the Majorelle garden, with the souks and Jemaa el Fna in between.
A local guide can be arranged for the morning if you want the history rather than just the walk.
Transfer to Marrakech airport or to your hotel at the end of the day, depending on your flight.
It is the minimum that works without a day being wasted. If you want two desert nights as well, take the ten-day version instead of compressing this one.
No, but they are easy to add in Fes, Rabat, Meknes and Marrakech. Fes in particular is worth a guide, both for the history and for not getting lost.
Breakfast every day, plus dinner at the Dades hotel and at the desert camp. In the cities you eat where you want, and your driver can point you at places locals actually use.
The long stages are days one, three and seven, each roughly six to eight hours with stops. Days four, six and eight are mostly on foot.
Yes. Ending at Casablanca airport saves the final southern leg and can shorten the tour by a day. Tell us your departure airport.
Riads and small hotels chosen for location rather than size, plus one night in a desert camp. Upgrades to four and five star properties are available.
Most people who visit Morocco for a week end up choosing between the Sahara and the imperial cities. This route refuses the choice and still keeps the driving reasonable, because the desert leg and the northern leg link naturally through Fes.
Private throughout, and flexible: swap a night, add a guide, or extend in Chefchaouen, and the rest of the plan still holds together.
