9-Day Cultural Tour of Morocco: Tanger to Marrakech

Transfer from the Airport or Port of Tanger to Your Hotel. Our driver will wait for you in the Exit of the airport or Port of Tanger with a sign with your name and transfer you to your Hotel. Overnight in the Hotel in Tanger

Overnight in the hotel

After breakfast in your Hotel, you will meet your driver to start exploring Tanger. It is a day to discover (Tanger) the culture of the city of northern Morocco. The visit allows you to visit Cape Spartel, the impressive Palace of the Sultan, the Necropolis, the caves of Hercules, the Kasbah, the medina and the souk. Once you arrive at the souk, you will have free time to walk through the streets. After visiting the souk in half a day you would have time to have lunch in a typical Moroccan restaurant to taste the best Moroccan dishes.

After lunch you will continue the tour to Chefchaouen.
Chefchaouen or Chaouen, as it is often called by Moroccans, is a popular tourist destination because of its proximity to Tangier and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The name refers to the shape of the mountain tops above the town, that look like the two horns (chaoua) of a goat. « Chef Chaouen » derives from the Berber word for horns, Ichawen. There are approximately two hundred hotels catering to the summer influx of European tourists. One distinction possessed by Chefchaouen is its blue-rinsed houses and buildings.

Chefchaouen is a popular shopping destination as well, as it offers many native handicrafts that are not available elsewhere in Morocco, such as wool garments and woven blankets. The goat cheese native to the area is also popular with tourists.
The growing tourist industry is geared especially towards Spanish tourists, who are especially numerous during great Catholic feasts like Semana Santa and Christmas. Chefchaouen was visited by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in 1967. They adored it finding it « very ‘Golden Bough-ish’ Orton mentions their trip in the Orton Diaries.
There are a number of distinct mosques in the town. Aside from the mosque at Place Uta Hammam in the medina, there is also a mosque dedicated to the patron saint of Northern Morocco’s Jebalah region, Moulay Abdeslam Ben Mchich Alami. His tomb and the village surrounding it is by the way an hour’s drive or so from Chefchaouen on the old road to Larache. There is also a ruined mosque built by the Spanish,

breakfast in the hotel

overnight in the hotel 3 stars

Volubilis: is an ancient Berber and Romanized city, capital of the kingdom of Mauretania, located in the plain of Saiss in Morocco, on the banks of the Wadi Rhoumane, river of the suburbs of Meknes, not far from the holy city of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun where rest Idriss I, founder of the Idrissid dynasty.

Meknes: is famous for its imperial past, with remains such as Bab Mansour, a huge door with voice and mosaic tile. The gateway to the ancient imperial city. The mausoleum of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl, who made his city in the seventeenth century, includes courtyards and fountains. To the south, the vast Heri es-Souani complex once housed stables and food warehouses.

Early in the morning we head to Volubilis and Meknes through the Rif Mountains to enjoy the views of the Magic Mountains till we get Fes the oldest city in Morocco.
On the afternoon you will continue the tour to Fes. Overnight at the Hotel/Riad in Fes.

breakfast in the hotel

Overnight at the Hotel/Riad in Fes.

After breakfast in your Riad, you will start exploring the oldest city in Morocco “Fes”. Fes is so rich in culture, traditions and gastronomy. It is referred in Morocco as the country’s capital culture. This tour will let you walk in its oldest medieval Medina, its alleys and small streets. You will visit the Royal Palace gate, the Blue Gate and the Jewish quarter, the first Mellah ever built in Morocco, built during the 14th century. You will enjoy best sites with cultural and historical interest including the famous Al Qaraouine University, the oldest one in the world, the Tanneries and Moulay Idriss mausoleum. After lunch, you will visit the tiles cooperative and then experience a wonderful panoramic view over the whole Medina of Fes

breakfast in the Hotel

Overnight at the same Riad.

After breakfast, you will leave Fes travelling towards Merzouga via Midelt and the Ziz valley. Today you will travel via the Ifrane city, a beautiful mountain village, named the Switzerland of Morocco. Here you will also stop at the cedar forest on the middle Atlas Mountains.

During this journey you’ll experience glimpses of the Middle Atlas and Higher Atlas mountains and stopping at Azrou, a Berber village in the middle of the famous cedar forest – the largest one in Morocco – where you will have the opportunity to see the Barbary apes. After that, your journey continues to Midelt along the magnificent hills and mountains of the Atlas. After lunch in Midelt, you’ll be travelling through the fascinating Tiz Ntalghamt pass and the spectacular Ziz Gorge

taking in views of the High Atlas plateau, seeing how the scenery changes to reveal hints of the desert as you approach the province of the south-east Errachidia city. Afterwards, you’ll travel along the fantastic Ziz Valley, stopping for panoramic views along the way to Erfoud and Rissani.

Arriving in Merzouga in the afternoon you’ll be welcomed with a glass of mint tea. Then take camel ride in the dunes of Sahara Desert of Merzouga to reach the camp where you will have the night.

breakfast in the hotel

Dinner in Berber Camp in Merzouga

overnight in Berber Tent in Merzouga

Today you will have to wake up very early in the morning to see what will may be the best sunrise of your life. You will set over the Sand Dunes of Sahara of Erg Chebbi to watch wonderful sunrise. After watching the sunrise you will go down to the Camp for breakfast. Then you’ll peacefully camel-trek back to the village of Merzouga. While enjoying morning camel ride you couldn’t fail to appreciate the unique beauty of the spectacular Erg Chebbi sand dunes – changing with the light as the day progresses.

Once you arrive the village of Merzouga, you will meet the driver again to continue the tour to Dades. You will have optional stop in Rissani to visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali chref, the founder of the Alaouit dynasty, and then you will continue to Arfoud to visit the fossilized marble factory before continuing to the Todra valley, where you will have lunch

Once in Todra you can highlight a half-hour walk to see the gorges calmly and you will be guided through the palm grove and the Jewish quarter. Todra gorges is the highest, narrowest gorges in Morocco. The Todra River has formed a gorge of enormous vertical walls of great beauty; it is a climber’s paradise and a unique place.

In the evening we will drive through the Dades Valley, where you’ll see the majestic sand castles and the amazing rock formations known as “monkey toes”. Overnight accommodation will be in a fancy guest house overlooking the Dades Valley.

breakfat in Berber Camp in Merzouga

Dinner in the Hotel in Dades Valley

overnight in the hotel

After breakfast in your accommodation, you will start travelling through the Dades Valley towards Ouarzazate and then to Marrakech. The road through Dades Valley is called the way of the thousand Kasbahs – providing numerous opportunities to take some of your best photographic shots of the trip. You will stop at Kalaat M’Gouna -the centre of rose’s valley-, where you will have the option to visit the cooperative for the roses, to purchase the rosewater, which will make your linen smell good a long time after your trip is over.

Continue to Marrakech via the Ait Benhaddou Kasbah. Built by Et Hami El Glaoui, one of the last Berber chieftains during the 19th century, now the Kasbah is a house of many Glaoui people.

Your journey will continue through the majestic Tizi n’Tichka Pass (2260 m) over the High Atlas Mountains, where you will have the opportunity to explore the process of producing the Argan oil- existing only in morocco – by Berber women in their cooperative,

before arriving at your overnight accommodation in Marrakech.

Breakfast in the hotel

Overnight in the hotel in Marrakech

After breakfast in your Hotel/Riad, you can start to explor Marrakech; «the red city of Morocco”. You will visit the most important sites of historical and cultural interest, including the Majorelle Gardens, the Koutoubia Tower, the Saadian tombs, the Bahia Palace and main square place Ljamaa Lfna. After Lunch at a restaurant near the square, you will walk through the souks and view hundreds of handicrafts. On the afternoon, you will have some free time to wonder by yourself the other parts of the city.

Marrakech nicknamed the “Red City” for its old red sandstone city walls and buildings. It has Berber rather than Arab roots and was an important trading capital for tribes of the Atlas mountains. Orient yourself around Marrakech’s bustling Jemaa el-Fna Square: the souks are to the north, the Koutoubia Mosque and Gardens to the west and the kasbah area with the Saadian Tombs, Bahia Palace, and El Badi Palace are to the south. In the new city, you will find the Majorelle Gardens.

Indulge your senses as you explore the complicated labyrinth of souks, tucked behind ordinary restaurants and shops. Check out Souk el Attarin, Souk Chouari, and Souk Smata for a selection of spices, woodwork, and babouche (traditional Moroccan slippers). Visit Souk of Tanneries or the dyers’ souk to see how cloth and yarn are dyed using traditional methods. Next, admire the fine example of Moroccan Islamic architecture of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, a 16th-century Koranic school, and note the ornate detail of its interior: carved cedar ceilings, sculpted plaster, and zellij tiling.

Breakfast in the hotel

Overnight in the hotel