10-Day Morocco Grand Tour from Marrakech
The whole country in one journey: the Atlantic at Essaouira, the red city with a guide, the Atlas and its kasbahs, a night in the Sahara, the medieval medina of Fes, the Roman ruins of Volubilis, the blue streets of Chefchaouen, and your flight home from Tangier.
South to north, coast to Sahara to Rif
Ten days is enough to see Morocco whole, if the route is drawn well. This one starts in Marrakech and never doubles back. It goes west first, to the Argan groves and the fishing port of Essaouira, returns for a guided day in the red city, then crosses the High Atlas to the kasbahs, the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorge on the way to Merzouga.
There you ride camels into Erg Chebbi for a night in a luxury camp, and spend the next day among the nomads, mines and oases around the dunes. The route then climbs north along the Ziz Valley, through the cedar forest and Ifrane, to Fes, where a second local guide opens up the oldest medina in the country. The last leg takes in imperial Meknes, the mosaics of Volubilis and the blue lanes of Chefchaouen before dropping you at Tangier airport.
Every night is in a hand-picked riad or hotel, the camp night is in a private en-suite tent, and the whole thing is private: your own driver, your own pace, and two city guides where they matter most.
Four Moroccos in ten days
The country changes completely every two or three days. This tour is built so you feel each one before moving to the next.
Marrakech and the Atlantic
Riad life in the medina, the wind and ramparts of Essaouira, then the palaces, medersa and souks of Marrakech with a local guide.
Atlas, kasbahs and the Sahara
The Tizi n'Tichka, Aït Ben Haddou, the gorges, then camels into Erg Chebbi, a night in a luxury camp and a day among the nomads.
Middle Atlas and Fes
The Ziz oasis, cedar forests and macaques, alpine Ifrane, then the medieval medina of Fes with the second local guide.
Imperial north and the Rif
Meknes and the Roman city of Volubilis, an evening in blue Chefchaouen, and the mountain road down to Tangier.
What you'll remember
Essaouira and the Argan road
Goats in the Argan trees, a women's oil cooperative, then the cannon-lined ramparts, the fishing port and the white-and-blue medina of old Mogador.
Aït Ben Haddou and the kasbah road
A 40-minute walk up through the UNESCO ksar to the granary, then Ouarzazate, the Skoura palm grove and the Rose Valley on the way to the Dades.
Sunset camel trek and luxury camp
Ride into Erg Chebbi, watch the sun go down from a high dune, then dinner, drumming and dancing by the fire and a private en-suite tent.
A day with the people of the desert
Tea in a nomad family's woven tent, Gnaoua music and dance in Khamlia, an old kohl mine, a palm grove and the flamingo lake, all by 4x4.
Fes with a guide
The Royal Palace gate, the Mellah, the view from Borj Sud, then into the medina: Al Attarine, the Qarawiyyin, and the Chouara tanneries.
Volubilis and Chefchaouen
Roman mosaics and columns on a hillside above Meknes, then an evening wandering the blue-washed lanes of the Rif's most photographed town.
The itinerary
Driving times are pure road time. Stops, photographs and lunches come on top, and the longest day is broken by the best scenery.
We meet you at the airport
Your driver is waiting at Marrakech Menara and brings you into the city on a short drive, with a first glimpse of the ramparts and the Koutoubia, to your riad in the medina. Settle in, and if there's daylight left, stroll to Jemaa el-Fna as the food stalls light up. Dinner tonight is yours to choose; we'll recommend a rooftop.
Argan groves and the Atlantic
After breakfast the road heads west across the plains. This is Argan country: you stop at a women's cooperative to see the oil pressed by hand, and with luck at a tree with goats standing in its branches. A viewpoint or two later the wind picks up and Essaouira appears, the old Portuguese port once called Mogador.
The afternoon is free. Walk the sea walls lined with bronze cannons, watch the blue boats unload at the fishing port, and lose yourself in a medina that is calmer and cooler than Marrakech. Grilled sardines on the harbour are the obvious lunch. Night in a riad inside the walls.
The red city with a local guide
A morning drive back to Marrakech, where a licensed guide takes over for about three hours on foot. The 19th-century Bahia Palace with its painted ceilings and courtyards; the Ben Youssef Medersa, the old Koranic school whose carved cedar and zellige are the finest in the city; the souks and their artisans, quarter by quarter; and finally Jemaa el-Fna and the Koutoubia minaret that has watched over it for eight centuries.
The rest of the day is free for shopping or the Majorelle Garden. Night in your riad.
Over the Tizi n'Tichka to the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs
Into the High Atlas. The road switchbacks up through Berber villages to the Tizi n'Tichka pass at 2,260 metres, with stops for the views on the way. On the southern side you reach Aït Ben Haddou, the fortified village that has stood in for ancient cities in Gladiator, The Mummy and Game of Thrones. A 40-minute walk takes you through its lanes to the granary on top.
Lunch in Ouarzazate, the gate of the desert. Then east through the huge palm grove of Skoura and the Rose Valley, whose harvest perfumes the whole region in May, to Boumalne Dades and a kasbah hotel above the river. Dinner included.
Todra Gorge, then camels into the dunes
A stop at the Dades viewpoint, then on to the Todra Gorge, where the river has cut a canyon with red cliffs three hundred metres high and a path along the water between them. You walk it, then continue through the palm groves of Tinejdad and Touroug, with lunch on the way, into the flat, stony approach to the Sahara.
By late afternoon the dunes of Erg Chebbi fill the horizon and your camels are waiting. The trek pauses on a high dune for the sunset, then continues to the luxury camp: welcome tea, a private tent with its own bathroom, dinner, and Berber drumming and dancing around the fire.
Nomads, Gnaoua, mines and the flamingo lake
Get up for the sunrise; it's the reason you're here. After breakfast at the camp, ride or drive back to Merzouga, where your driver takes you off-road for the day. First an old kohl mine, then a nomad family in their hand-woven tent, where you drink tea and hear how the desert is lived in. Then Khamlia, whose people came from Mali, Sudan and Niger generations ago and play Gnaoua music you'll hear nowhere else.
Lunch in a local restaurant, a walk in a palm grove, and a few kilometres on to the wild lake of Dayet Srji, where flamingos gather when there's water. Dinner and the night are in a riad beside the dunes.
The Ziz Valley, the cedar forest and Ifrane
The long day, and the most varied. Leave the dunes for Rissani, the old capital of the Tafilalet and still a trading town, with a souk that fills on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. In Erfoud you visit a workshop where fossil-bearing marble is cut and polished. Then the road follows the Ziz river north, with a stop above the valley to take in kilometres of palms between the cliffs.
Lunch in Midelt or on the way. In the Middle Atlas the cedar forest closes in, and Barbary macaques come to the roadside. A last stop in Ifrane, the alpine-style town the French built and Moroccans call their Switzerland, then down to Fes. The evening is free in the medina.
The oldest medina in Morocco, with a guide
A local guide meets you after breakfast. The day begins by car: the gates of the Royal Palace, the Mellah or old Jewish quarter, the panorama over the whole medina from the Borj Sud fortress, and the ceramics village where zellige is still cut by hand.
Then on foot into Fes el-Bali, a UNESCO site and one of the best-preserved medieval cities anywhere: the Al Attarine Medersa, the Qarawiyyin mosque and university, founded in 859 and often called the oldest in the world, and the Chouara tanneries with their honeycomb of dye pits. Three to four hours later your guide walks you back to your riad. The rest of the day is free.
Meknes, Volubilis and the blue city
An hour west is Meknes, the imperial capital of Moulay Ismail: the monumental Bab Mansour gate, the Sahrij Souani basin, the royal stables and granaries, and the sultan's mausoleum. Lunch in town, then thirty kilometres to Volubilis, the Roman city whose mosaics, columns and arches still stand on their hillside, another UNESCO site.
The afternoon road climbs north through Ouazzane into the Rif Mountains to Chefchaouen. The evening is yours to wander lanes painted every shade of blue, with dinner in the square under the kasbah. Night in a riad in the old town.
Through the Rif to your flight
Depending on your departure time there's a last morning in the blue lanes, then the scenic road through the Rif Mountains to Tangier, about two hours. If your flight is late we can add a short tour of Tangier itself. Drop-off at the airport, the port or your hotel, wherever the next leg of your journey begins.
Included and not included
Included
- Pick-up at Marrakech airport, drop-off at Tangier airport, port or hotel
- 10 days of private transport in an air-conditioned 4x4 or minivan, fuel included
- English-speaking private driver for the whole tour
- Local guide in Marrakech and local guide in Fes
- 8 nights in excellent riads and hotels, breakfast daily
- 1 night in a luxury desert camp with a private bathroom
- 3 dinners: Dades Valley, the desert camp and the Merzouga riad
- Camel trek, one camel per person, or a 4x4 transfer as the alternative
- Full-day 4x4 excursion around Merzouga
- Sandboards at the camp
Not included
- Flights into Marrakech and out of Tangier
- Lunches, and dinners other than the three listed
- Entrance fees to monuments, medersas and Volubilis
- Drinks
- Quad or buggy rides in the dunes
- Tips for the driver, guides and camp staff
- Travel insurance and personal expenses
Before you go
Best time to travel
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are mild everywhere on the route. Winter is excellent for the desert and pleasant in the south; expect cold nights in Ifrane and Chefchaouen.
The vehicle
A Land Cruiser Prado for up to four, a Mercedes Vito or Ford Tourneo minivan for up to eight, both air-conditioned. Larger groups travel in a minibus for up to eighteen.
Money and meals
Euros and dollars change easily and ATMs are everywhere, but carry dirhams for small purchases. Meals run roughly €5 to €20 a head. Haggling in the souks is expected, even by locals.
Frequently asked
Private. Only the people in your booking travel with you; nobody else joins the vehicle. Our focus is on quality and personal attention, which is why almost everything we run is private.
So you never drive the same road twice. Marrakech to Tangier lets the route sweep west, south, east and north through every region in sequence, and Tangier has direct flights to most of Europe and ferries to Spain. If you'd rather return to Marrakech or Casablanca, we'll adjust the last days.
Yes. The luxury camp has private tents, each with its own bathroom and hot running water. Your main luggage is driven to the camp by 4x4 and is waiting in the tent; you only carry what you need for the camel ride.
Between 40 minutes and an hour and a half, depending on the camp. If you'd rather not ride, the camp's 4x4 takes you and your luggage in and out at no extra cost, and quads can be arranged for an additional fee.
Yes. Children, families and older travellers all do this route. The two long driving days (4 and 7) are broken up with the best stops, the walking tours in Marrakech and Fes are at an easy pace, and the camel ride is optional.
Yes. Tell us in advance and we'll choose lunch stops accordingly and inform the riads and the camp, since several dinners are included.
The vehicle and driver cost is fixed, so the per-person price falls as your group grows. Accommodation category (excellent or luxury) is the other variable. Send your dates, group size and preferred category on WhatsApp or through the form below for an exact quote. A small deposit confirms the booking; the balance is paid in cash to your driver on arrival, or by card or PayPal with a small fee. Deposits are refundable up to a week before departure.
Send us your flights and we'll plan the ten days
Fill in the form or message us directly. You'll get a personalised itinerary and a quote, usually the same day.
- No payment to enquireThe form only asks for your dates and group size. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
- Free to adjustEnd in Casablanca, add a night in Essaouira, upgrade the riads. We build the trip around you.
- Local teamBased in Morocco and reachable on WhatsApp every day, including during your tour.
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