DAY 1: CASABLANCA → RABAT

Your 8-day private tour of Morocco begins with an airport pick-up at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca. After a visit to the awe-inspiring Hassan II Mosque — whose 210-metre minaret stands as one of the tallest in the world — you head north to the capital, Rabat.

In Rabat, you explore the monumental Hassan Tower, the neighbouring Mausoleum of Mohammed V with its intricate zellige tilework and carved cedar, and the ancient Oudayas Kasbah. The evening is spent in Rabat, where the pace is considerably calmer than in Morocco’s larger cities.

DAY 2: RABAT → CHEFCHAOUEN

Departing Rabat after breakfast, the road takes you northeast along the Atlantic coast before turning inland toward the Rif Mountains. The ascent into the hills is gradual and beautiful, with cedar forests and mountain villages lining the way.

Chefchaouen greets you with its famous blue medina — a maze of blue-painted alleyways, arched doorways, and rooftop terraces draped in flowering plants. Arrive in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day wandering at will. The town is best experienced slowly — every corner offers a new photograph, every café a new conversation.

DAY 3: CHEFCHAOUEN → VOLUBILIS → MEKNES → FES

A morning stroll through Chefchaouen before departing south toward Morocco’s ancient heartland. Your first stop is Volubilis — the best-preserved Roman archaeological site in Morocco, set on a hilltop above the Meknes plain. Its mosaics, triumphal arch, and ancient forum are remarkably intact, and the site has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage treasure.

From Volubilis, you continue to Meknes — Morocco’s fourth imperial city. Often overshadowed by Fes and Marrakech, Meknes rewards those who stop: its Bab Mansour gate is among the most spectacular entrance gates in the Islamic world, and its medina is lively and relatively uncrowded. A final stretch of road brings you to Fes for the night.

DAY 4: GUIDED TOUR OF FES

A full day in the ancient medina of Fes — the most complex and captivating of all Morocco’s urban environments. With a specialist local guide, you navigate the web of over 9,000 alleyways that make up Fes el-Bali, a UNESCO World Heritage Site founded in the 9th century.

Highlights of the day include the Chouara Tanneries (viewed from a balcony above the vivid dye vats), the magnificent Bou Inania Madrasa, the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque complex — home to the world’s oldest continuously operating university — the Andalusian Quarter, the metalwork and textile souks, and the lively Attarine spice market. It is an immersion in living Moroccan heritage that no museum could replicate.

DAY 5: FES → IFRANE → MIDDLE ATLAS MOUNTAINS → ZIZ VALLEY → MERZOUGA DESERT

An early departure from Fes launches the desert chapter of your journey. The route climbs south through the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas — where Barbary macaques roam freely near Azrou — and through the alpine town of Ifrane, whose European-style architecture sits incongruously in the Moroccan Atlas.

As the mountains give way to the Ziz Valley, the landscape shifts from green to gold. The valley’s long corridor of date palms and ancient mud-brick villages leads the way to the pre-Saharan plains and, finally, to the base of the Erg Chebbi dunes in Merzouga. Arriving in the late afternoon, you mount your camel and ride into the dunes as the sun descends in spectacular fashion.

The evening at your luxury desert camp features a traditional dinner, live Berber music, and a private tent with its own en-suite bathroom beneath one of Morocco’s darkest and most star-filled skies.

DAY 6: MERZOUGA DESERT → RISSANI → TODRA GORGE → DADES GORGE

An early alarm for the desert sunrise — then breakfast at the camp before heading west. Rissani, at the edge of the Sahara, is worth a brief stop, particularly on market days when the town’s ancient trading traditions come alive. From here, you drive to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge, where the canyon’s towering walls close in above a cool mountain stream — one of Morocco’s most dramatic and photogenic natural settings.

The afternoon drive west brings you through river oases and pre-Saharan valleys to the Dades Gorge, where your hotel is set against a backdrop of spectacular layered canyon walls. A quiet dinner and a well-earned rest close this rich day.

DAY 7: DADES GORGE → OUARZAZATE → AIT BEN HADDOU → HIGH ATLAS MOUNTAINS → MARRAKECH

The final day on the road. The morning drive west passes through the rose-growing region of Kelaat M’Gouna and into Ouarzazate — Africa’s Hollywood, where the Atlas Film Studios have hosted productions ranging from Lawrence of Arabia to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. From Ouarzazate, a short detour takes you to the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary earthen towers and fortified lanes that remains one of Morocco’s most iconic landmarks.

After exploring the kasbah, the road climbs back through the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka Pass, with sweeping views across the mountains, before descending into Marrakech in the evening.

DAY 8: GUIDED TOUR OF MARRAKECH

Your final day is devoted to Marrakech — one of the world’s great cities, a sensory explosion of souks, palaces, gardens, and squares. With a specialist local guide, you navigate the medina and discover its most remarkable sights: the 16th-century Bahia Palace, the ornate Ben Youssef Madrasa, the ancient tanneries, the vibrant Mellah (Jewish Quarter), and the legendary Jemaa el-Fnaa Square — a UNESCO-listed public space that transforms at dusk into an open-air theatre of storytellers, musicians, acrobats, and food stalls.

After the guided tour, the afternoon is yours to explore independently — browse the souks, visit the Majorelle Garden, or simply rest before your onward journey. Your return airport transfer is included.