7 Days
From Casablanca
7-Day Casablanca Tour: Fez, Merzouga & Marrakech
The complete first-timer's loop from the Casablanca gateway.
from€649 /person
View tour
Imperial cities, the Sahara and the High Atlas to Marrakech.
Imperial cities, the Sahara and the High Atlas to Marrakech. This 7-day private journey begins in Fez and is designed to give you the best of the route without the rush — with hand-picked accommodation, an English-speaking driver-guide and plenty of freedom to stop wherever catches your eye.
Highlights include guided fez medina, erg chebbi dunes & nomads, aït ben haddou & marrakech. Like every Edita itinerary it is fully flexible: we can lengthen or shorten it, upgrade your riads and desert camp, or change the start and finish cities to fit your flights.
Keep exploring: Morocco Tours from Fez · all 39 Morocco tours · Fez to Merzouga: Desert Route Guide
Today we dive into Fez el-Bali, the largest living medieval medina in the world and a UNESCO treasure of some 9,000 lanes where donkeys and handcarts still do the work of trucks. With a licensed local guide we thread through the maze to its landmarks: the Chouara tanneries, where leather is still soaked and dyed by hand in honeycombs of stone vats exactly as it was a thousand years ago; the Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in 859 and recognised as the oldest continually operating university on earth; and the exquisitely tiled Bou Inania and Al-Attarine madrasas. We visit the coppersmiths hammering in their square, weavers at their looms and the fragrant spice souks. It is an intense, unforgettable immersion, and your guide makes sense of the beautiful chaos at every turn.
One of the great road days in Morocco, carrying us from the medieval north to the edge of the Sahara across ever-changing landscapes. We climb into the Middle Atlas to Ifrane, a curiously alpine town of pitched roofs and gardens nicknamed 'little Switzerland', then into the cedar forests around Azrou where troops of wild Barbary macaques gather at the roadside. Beyond Midelt the mountains give way to the dramatic gorges and endless palm groves of the Ziz Valley, a ribbon of green threading through bare desert rock. By late afternoon the first dunes of Erg Chebbi appear on the horizon. We swap the vehicle for camels and ride out over the sand as the light turns molten, reaching a Berber camp for tea, dinner and drumming beneath a blaze of stars.
A full, unhurried day in the heart of the Sahara at Erg Chebbi, Morocco's most spectacular sea of dunes, some rising 150 metres from the plain. You can begin by climbing a high ridge for sunrise, when the sand shifts through pink, gold and deep orange. Later we explore deeper by 4x4: a visit to the village of Khamlia to hear the hypnotic Gnawa music of its Saharan community, calls on nomad families who still live by their herds, stops at desert wells and fossil-strewn flats, and a look at the old routes once walked by camel caravans. There is time to rest in the shade, try sandboarding, or simply sit with the immense silence. As evening returns you ride out once more to camp for a second magical night under the stars.
Leaving the great dunes behind, we set off west along the fabled Road of a Thousand Kasbahs. First we pause in Rissani, the market town built on the ruins of Sijilmassa, once a wealthy caravan capital at the gateway to the Sahara, and pass through Erfoud, centre of the date and fossil trade. The route then climbs into the Atlas foothills to the magnificent Todra Gorge, where sheer rose-coloured limestone walls soar 300 metres and close to just a few metres apart above a clear river — we walk a stretch on foot, dwarfed by the cliffs. Continuing through Tinghir's palm oasis and a string of earthen ksour, we reach the Dades Valley in the late afternoon, checking in near the dramatic gorge with its famous switchback road for the night.
A gentler, more leisurely stage that lets us savour the highlights between the gorges and Marrakech rather than rushing past them. From the Dades Valley we drive back down through the Skoura oasis, stopping at the beautifully restored Kasbah Amerhidil, one of the largest earthen fortresses in Morocco and a wonderful place to understand how these mud-brick strongholds were built and lived in. We continue to Ouarzazate to visit the Taourirt Kasbah and, for film buffs, the famous Atlas Studios where much of Hollywood's desert cinema is made. The day ends at Ait Ben Haddou, the storied UNESCO ksar, where we stay nearby so you can wander its car-free lanes and climb to the hilltop granary at golden hour — enjoying this magical place in soft evening light, long after the day-trip crowds have gone.
After a relaxed start we take a final walk through Ait Ben Haddou in the fresh morning light, crossing the river to explore the honey-coloured towers, alleyways and kasbahs of this remarkable fortified village before the tour buses arrive. From here the road turns north for the great mountain crossing of the day: the Tizi n'Tichka, the highest major pass in Morocco at over 2,200 metres, which snakes up through the High Atlas past terraced Berber villages, walnut groves and viewpoints that seem to reach forever. We stop for photographs and perhaps a mint tea at a mountain cafe where argan oil and local honey are sold. Descending the far side, the landscape softens into the Haouz plain and we arrive in Marrakech in the afternoon, with time to relax before the evening.
A full day exploring the Red City with your guide, uncovering the monuments and hidden corners behind the bustle. We visit the iconic Koutoubia minaret, the 12th-century tower that is Marrakech's symbol, then the sumptuous Bahia Palace with its painted ceilings and tranquil courtyards, and the Saadian Tombs, a royal necropolis of exquisite tilework rediscovered only a century ago. We step into the Ben Youssef Madrasa, once North Africa's largest Quranic school and a masterpiece of carved cedar and zellige, and wander the souks quarter by quarter — dyers, metalworkers, leather and spices. As evening falls we arrive at Jemaa el-Fnaa, the great square that transforms into open-air theatre: storytellers, snake charmers, musicians, henna artists and a hundred smoking food stalls. Few places on earth feel so vividly alive after dark.
“The best trip we have ever taken. Our guide felt like a friend by the end, the desert camp was magical and everything ran perfectly.”
“Impeccably organised and completely private. We changed the plan twice and Edita made it effortless. The Sahara sunrise was unforgettable.”
7 Days
The complete first-timer's loop from the Casablanca gateway.
7 Days
Desert and Atlantic combined on a round trip from Marrakech.
6 Days
A relaxed one-way crossing with two nights around the Sahara.