Morocco Itinerary: 12 Days from Marrakech

Begin the grand tour in Marrakech, the first of Morocco's four imperial capitals, founded by the Almoravids around 1070. After settling into a riad you take an easy first walk through the medina toward the Koutoubia Mosque, whose minaret was a model for Seville's Giralda. As night falls the UNESCO-listed Jemaa el-Fnaa square erupts with food stalls, snake charmers, musicians and storytellers, an introduction to the country's living heritage.

Travel note · Bring small dirham notes for tips and taxis, and agree an early start with your driver for the Atlas crossing.

A full day exploring the Red City's monuments with a local guide. The Bahia Palace showcases late 19th-century craftsmanship in zellige and carved cedar, while the Saadian Tombs, sealed for nearly two centuries and rediscovered in 1917, hold exquisitely decorated burial chambers. The afternoon brings the cobalt Majorelle Garden, restored by Yves Saint Laurent, the adjoining Berber Museum, and the endless colour of the souks for those who enjoy bargaining.

Travel note · Pack a compact overnight bag for the Sahara camp; your main luggage stays in the vehicle on this one-way circuit.

Cross the Tizi n'Tichka Pass at 2,260 metres, the highest sealed road in the country, with Berber hamlets terraced into the mountainsides. On the southern slope lies Ait Benhaddou, the UNESCO-listed earthen ksar that has appeared in countless films, from Lawrence of Arabia to Game of Thrones. After exploring its kasbahs you continue a short way to Ouarzazate, the desert film capital home to Atlas and CLA Studios and the restored Taourirt Kasbah.

Travel note · The pass can be cold and cloudy even when Marrakech is hot; keep a layer to hand.

Today follows the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs east. You stop at the Skoura palm oasis and the elegant Amridil Kasbah, then the Rose Valley around Kalaat M'Gouna, source of the rose water celebrated each May. The Dades Valley reveals its eroded Monkey Fingers cliffs before you reach Todra Gorge, where the river has carved a corridor barely 10 metres wide between walls towering 300 metres above, glowing copper in the late afternoon light.

Travel note · This is a deliberately shorter driving day with frequent stops, easing you into the desert leg.

A morning drive through Tinghir, Erfoud and the old caravan town of Rissani brings you to the edge of Erg Chebbi, a sea of dunes rising up to 150 metres. Erfoud is famous for fossils, and Rissani for its lively souk and sweet medfouna bread. In the late afternoon you meet your camel caravan and ride over the sand to your desert camp, settling in for sunset, a Berber tagine dinner, drumming around the fire and a brilliant canopy of stars.

Travel note · Take only an overnight bag to the camp; closed shoes and a warm layer make the night far more comfortable.

Wake before dawn for sunrise over the Erg Chebbi dunes, then begin the long drive north to Fes. The route climbs through Midelt and the Ziz Valley, crosses the Middle Atlas cedar forests near Azrou where Barbary macaques roam, and passes the alpine-style town of Ifrane. You reach Fes, founded in the 8th century and the spiritual heart of Morocco, by evening, checking into a riad deep within the medieval medina.

Travel note · The longest drive of the tour, but rich in changing scenery; keep snacks and water close.

A full guided day in Fes el-Bali, the world's largest car-free urban area, a warren of around 9,000 lanes. You visit the Marinid masterpieces of the Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas and the gates of Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and regarded as the oldest continuously operating university on earth. From a terrace you overlook the Chouara tanneries, where workers still dye leather in stone vats, and weave through souks grouped by trade, from coppersmiths to weavers and dyers.

Travel note · Stay close to your guide in the medina; it is genuinely easy to lose your way among 9,000 alleys.

A day excursion to the imperial city of Meknes and the Roman ruins of Volubilis. Volubilis, about 33 kilometres from Meknes, was a thriving Roman provincial capital and is the country's best-preserved ancient site, famous for its triumphal arch and in-situ mosaics; UNESCO inscribed it in 1997. Meknes, made capital by Sultan Moulay Ismail in the 17th century, is entered through the monumental Bab Mansour gate and known for the cavernous Heri es-Souani granaries and stables.

Travel note · Volubilis has minimal shade and is most pleasant earlier in the day; bring a hat and water.

Drive about 200 kilometres north into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen, founded in 1471 by Moulay Ali ben Rashid and later settled by Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain. The medina is washed in countless shades of blue, set against green peaks, and the four-hour drive winds through olive groves and farmland. You arrive in the afternoon with time to explore the photogenic lanes, the kasbah and Plaza Uta el-Hammam before the evening light softens the walls.

Travel note · Start the Spanish Mosque climb about an hour before sunset for the best light over the medina.

A relaxed day in the blue city with no long drive, the perfect pause near the end of a busy tour. Spend the cool morning photographing the empty indigo lanes and the Ras el-Maa spring at the medina's upper edge. Energetic travellers can hike into the Rif foothills toward Akchour's waterfalls and the God's Bridge rock arch, while others browse the wool blankets and handicrafts the town is known for or simply linger over mint tea on a terrace.

Travel note · The Akchour trailhead is about 45 minutes from town; bring proper footwear and water if you hike.

Drive roughly 250 kilometres southwest to Rabat, Morocco's capital and the fourth imperial city, in about three and a half to four hours. Overlooking the Bouregreg estuary, Rabat pairs calm elegance with deep history: the Kasbah of the Udayas dates to the 12th century, the Hassan Tower is the unfinished minaret of a mosque begun in 1195, and the adjacent Mausoleum of Mohammed V is a masterpiece of modern Moroccan craftsmanship. The Chellah necropolis adds Roman and Marinid ruins amid gardens.

Travel note · Rabat is calmer and more orderly than the southern medinas, a gentle finale to the imperial circuit.

A final morning in Rabat, perhaps at the Chellah ruins or the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern Art, before the short 90-kilometre drive to Casablanca. There you visit the Hassan II Mosque, completed in 1993, which seats 25,000 worshippers, rises with a 210-metre minaret and stands partly over the Atlantic; it is one of the few mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims. From Casablanca's Mohammed V Airport you connect to your departure flight, closing the grand tour.

Travel note · The Hassan II Mosque runs timed guided tours and closes to visitors during prayer; confirm the schedule and allow time before your flight.