Day 1: (Sat.) Board your overnight transatlantic flight.
Day 2: Arrival in Casablanca, Morocco.
(Sun.) After you check into your hotel, there’s time to rest or start exploring Morocco’s pulsating business capital. At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a welcome dinner. (D)
Day 3: Casablanca–Rabat–Meknes–Fez.
(Mon.) Follow the infamous Barbary Coast to the imperial city of Rabat, once lair of the corsairs and now the country’s capital. Sightseeing focuses on the Royal Palace and residence of King Mohammed VI; MOHAMMED V MAUSOLEUM, Hassan Tower, and the fortified Kasbah des Oudaias. Visit the fine ROMAN RELICS OF CHELLAH. Today’s second imperial city is Meknes with its monumental gates and city walls, known as the unfinished dream of Sultan Moulay Ismail. Visit the impressive OLD GRANARIES and STABLES, which housed up to 12,000 horses, and stop at the Market Square to admire Bab el-Mansour, the finest gateway in North Africa. Continue your journey to Fez. (B,D)
Day 4: Fez.
(Tue.) Snap pictures of the magnificent entrance to the Royal Palace, drive through the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, and travel on to beautifully ornate Bab Bou Jeloud, the traditional entrance to Old Fez. Follow your Local Guide and visit the labyrinthine MEDINA and exquisite MEDERSA BOU INANIA. Enjoy a pleasant drive around the ancient fortifications that protect the city. Back to your hotel with time to relax by the pool. Tonight, your Tour Director may suggest an optional folklore dinner at a typical Moroccan restaurant. (B)
Day 5: Fez–Erfoud.
(Wed.) An unforgettable scenic journey through ever-changing landscapes on your way to the mystical deep south. Morning break in the quiet Swiss-style village of Ifrane. Verdant cedar forests give way to volcanic mountains and wind-swept plains as you motor across the Middle Atlas range to Midelt. Pass fortified mud-and-straw villages and spot young shepherds driving their flocks to scant pastures. Descend into the spectacular Ziz Gorges and arrive in Er-Rachidia, an important crossroad once controlled by the French Foreign Legion. Afterwards, the landscape becomes progressively more arid and you enter a stony desert. On your last stretch to Erfoud, an unexpected and breathtaking surprise: the miraculous and peaceful oasis of Ziz Valley, dotted with palm-fringed towns, fortified strongholds, and scenes of timeless rural life. (B,L,D)
Day 6: Erfoud.
(Thu.) A short drive takes you to holy Rissani, gateway to the Sahara Desert, where a few bowing date palms recall what was once a luxuriant oasis. For a thousand years this was the principal trading post for caravans from the Niger River, where gold was exchanged for salt and sugar. See the Grand Gateway of the town and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ali Sharif, the first ruler of the Alawite Dynasty. A thrilling experience is the visit to the colorful SOUKS, the desert tribes’ market, where Tuareg, Berber, and Blue People meet and animatedly swap silver jewelry and rugs for vegetables, salt, and other goods, by slapping one another’s hands. Weather permitting, your Tour Director will offer you an exciting optional excursion to the 450-foot-high Erg Chebbi sand dunes for a close-up encounter with the Sahara Desert. (B,D)
Day 7: Erfoud–Ouarzazate.
(Fri.) Motor along the eastern slopes of the High Atlas mountains to the enchanting oasis of Tinerhir. Follow its lush valley, where crops grow in the shade of date palms, hemmed in by mud-brick villages and barren mountains, to one of Morocco’s most impressive natural sights: Todra Gorge, also known as the “Grand Canyon of the Sahara.” After lunch, explore its narrowest point, just 33 feet wide but some 950 feet high, with a crystal-clear river running through it. Drive further west through the Dadès Valley, called “Valley of the Thousand Kasbahs” for its superb and noble fortresses, and “Roses Valley.” Arrive at the resort town of Ouarzazate, famous for its film studios. (B,L,D)
Day 8: Ouarzazate. Excursion to Aït Benhaddou and Taourirt.
(Sat.) This morning, drive through stunning landscapes towards Aït Benhaddou, a small village perched on the south side of the Atlas mountain range. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area became famous as a film location when footage of the surrounding stony desert and oases was used for Lawrence of Arabia and Gladiator. Later, time for a visit to the carefully restored TAOURIRT KASBAH, where outstanding views of the fortified town and valley can be experienced from the terrace. (B,D)
Day 9: Ouarzazate–Marrakesh.
(Sun.) Pass through picturesque villages surrounded by craggy mountains while motoring towards the 7,414-foot-high Tizi-n-Tichka Pass in the heart of the High Atlas mountains. Each new twist in the road leads to a different, more dramatic landscape. Leaving the pass behind, the landscape gradually changes to a green mantle. Lunchtime arrival in the red-colored imperial city of Marrakesh, situated in an oasis of more than half a million palm trees and surrounded by deep walls. In the late afternoon, enjoy a leisurely CARRIAGE RIDE and a stroll through the exquisite YVES SAINT LAURENT GARDENS. (B,D)
Day 10: Marrakesh.
(Mon.) Guided half-day sightseeing includes MENARA PARK with its man-made lake and quaint pavilion, BAHIA PALACE, the elaborately decorated 16th-century SAADIAN TOMBS (if closed, visit BADIA PALACE instead), and Djemaa El-Fna, the bustling town center dominated by the 222-foot-high Koutoubia Minaret. Afternoon at leisure to catch up on your postcards or bargain hunt in the souks. Tonight an optional excursion not to be missed: the 30-horse fantasia and Moroccan feast “Chez Ali.” (B)
Day 11: Marrakesh.
(Tue.) Full day to let your senses truly come alive in this magical “Pink City” or to just relax at the pool. You may wish to join an optional excursion to the beautiful water resort of Essaouira. (B)
Day 12: Marrakesh–Casablanca.
(Wed.) Head across farming country towards Casablanca, Morocco’s modern seaport with a strong French accent, recalling scenes from the film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Sightseeing focuses on the magnificent United Nations Square, the Arab League Park, Anfa’s residential quarters, the SYNAGOGUE, the CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES, and to top it off, the imposing HASSAN II MOSQUE, built in a breathtaking setting on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner celebrating the success of your fascinating Moroccan adventure. (B,D)
Day 13: (Thu.) Your homebound flight arrives today. (B)
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