5 day Casablanca Desert Tour

Your 5 day Casablanca Desert Tour - "Culture & Camels" starts when we pick you up at the Casablanca airport or your hotel.

We’ll take you to visit the impressive Hassan II Mosque at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in the city of Casablanca. The mosque is the one of the largest in the world and showcases beautiful Moroccan Islamic architecture, colourful Zelig tile mosaics, and intricate plaster carving.

Next, we’ll drive about 1 hour north to Rabat, the current capital & Imperial City of Morocco. We’ll visit the 12th century Hassan Tower and mosque there. The tower has been restored, and you can walk amongst the ruins of walls and pillars of the mosque, which create an open-air square.

Across from the tower is the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, built for the king, who died in 1961. His son and successor, Hassan II, who died in 1999, is also entombed here. Here you’ll find more stunning examples of intricate Moroccan carving & zelig tilework.

We’ll have a welcome dinner in a local restaurant and you’ll spend the night in Rabat.

After breakfast, we’ll leave the Atlantic Coast and head to Fes, the oldest of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities. We’ll arrive in Fes by mid-morning.

After checking into your riad, you’ll go on a guided walking tour of the Fes medina (old walled city), with its narrow winding alleys. It's like stepping back in time. Fes was established in the Middle Ages and in many ways still functions as a medieval city today. Around every corner there’s something fascinating to see. As part of your guided tour, you’ll visit the famous Fes tanneries, where centuries-old natural methods are still used today to cure and dye leather, which is then fashioned by local craftspeople into world-renowned leather clothing and accessories in every colour of the rainbow.

You’ll have lunch in the medina with your guide. After the tour, you’ll have some free time in the afternoon to explore on your own.

We’ll have dinner at a restaurant in the medina.

After breakfast, your 5 days from Casablanca to Marrakesh tour continues. You’ll see the amazing change in the landscape as we travel through the Middle Atlas Mountains and head to the Sahara Desert.

On the way, we’ll pass through Ifrane, a popular ski resort town known as the "Switzerland of Morocco", with its steeply-peaked rooves designed to shed show easily. We’ll stop for a rest at Azrou to see the Barbary apes that live in the cedar forests that cover the mountainsides.

After lunch in Midelt, the “apple capital” of Morocco, we’ll drive alongside the meandering Ziz Valley. We’ll stop at a panoramic lookout point so you can take photos of the impressive palm-filled Ziz Oasis that stretches for hundreds of kilometres along the valley floor.

As we get closer to the Sahara, we’ll pass through Erfoud, famous for its annual Date Festival in October and its abundant fossils. Eventually, we’ll leave the highway to drive off-road across the flat desert to the Merzouga region of the Sahara Desert and the magnificent dunes of Erg Chebbi. Erg Chebbi has the highest dunes in North Africa, and the sight of them rising suddenly out of the desert floor never fails to impress!

When we arrive at the desert hotel in the late afternoon, your camels will be waiting. You’ll leave civilization behind and camel-trek into the high dunes, watching the sands change colour as the sun moves across the sky. You’ll have time to explore, take pictures, and watch the sunset before camel-trekking back out of the big dunes.

When you arrive at the nearby desert camp, you’ll enjoy a traditional Moroccan meal followed by African drumming entertainment around a campfire. You’ll spend the night in tents surrounded by small dunes.

The next day we’ll leave the dunes behind. We’ll drive to Rissani to visit the local souk (market). This is where local people do most of their shopping. On Tuesdays, the travelling market arrives, and people flock from nearby villages to shop.

After visiting the souk, we’ll drive to Tinghir and the Todra Gorge. Tinghiris a green oasis of palm trees and gardens - very different from the dunes of the Sahara! Nearby Todra Gorge has almost vertical rock walls about 300 metres tall and a shallow river, creating a cool, shady spot that's popular for picnics in the hotter weather.

After lunch at a nearby restaurant, you’ll have a chance to walk along the river.

In the afternoon, we’ll travel through the winding Dades Valley, known as the "Valley of the Thousand Kasbahs", which winds through the Atlas Mountains. We’ll take a detour to reach the impressive Dades Gorge and the nearby rock formation “Monkey Toes”. You’ll spend the night in a Berber guesthouse overlooking the gorge.

Day 5 of your 5 days from Casablanca tour is full of interesting activities. After breakfast, you’ll have time to walk along the gorge before we head back to the main road. Our first stop is Kalaat M’Gouna, the “Valley of the Roses”, Morocco’s rose-growing region. Every year, millions of rose petals are harvested & processed into a wide variety of rose-infused products. The harvest is celebrated in May with the annual Rose Festival – worth attending if you can arrange your visit around this popular festival. We'll make a brief stop here so that you can see, smell, and, if you wish, purchase some culinary or cosmetic products made from local roses.

Our next stop is Ait Ben Haddou, the oldest Kasbah in the south of Morocco, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although the village was originally built in the 17th century, it’s still a thriving community today. Homes are built right into the rock or with mud & straw bricks, which are made locally using the same methods as in ancient times. Ait Ben Haddou has been featured in many films, including The Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.

After lunch in the village, you’ll have time to explore the Kasbah. It’s a gentle climb through winding streets to the top, where you can see in all directions.

In the afternoon, we'll head into the High Atlas Mountains. We’ll visit the ruins of Telouet Kasbah (Palace of Glaoui) before crossing over Morocco’s highest road pass – the Tizi-n-Tichka pass at 2260m. We’ll pause at the top of the pass for refreshment and to take pictures of the stunning views before descending towards Marrakesh.

We’ll reach the Imperial City of Marrakesh in the evening. Your 5 day Casablanca Desert Tour, "Culture & Camels" ends with a final night in Marrakesh at a traditional riad in the medina. (Breakfast the following morning is included.)

Since you’ll have the evening free, you may want to visit the world-famous Jmaa El Fna square, which fills every night with tourists and Moroccan families alike, out to enjoy fresh-cooked food and be entertained by storytellers, musicians, and dancers. It’s a carnival-like atmosphere and not to be missed!