Imperial Cities & Sahara Desert Trekking Plus Atlantic Coast

Will we collect you from your hotel to visit the Hassan II Mosque before departing to Rabat. In Rabat you can visit to the Mechouar of the Royal Palace, the ruins of Chellah, the Mohammed V Mausoleum and the Hassan Tower. After lunch we will depart to Meknes to arrive early evening. You can take dinner in the restaurant overlooking the square opposite the Bab Mansour gate. Your accommodation will be in a traditional riad in the old medina.

After breakfast we will take a tour of Meknes including El Hdim square, Bab El Mansour, the massive gate which is the entrance to the old city and the Jewish quarter, the Royal Granaries & the city rampart. We will then depart via Volubilis, the Roman ruins and Moulay Idriss, the holy town and an important place of pilgrimage where the founder of Morocco’s first dynasty is buried. We will continue onto Fes. Dinner and accommodation at a traditional riad.

You will have a guided tour to discover the medina and the famous Souks of Fes - its narrow cobbled streets are filled with ancient mosques and towering green-glazed minarets. You will visit the most beautiful palaces and monuments of Fes. The tour will include a visit to the tannery and the ceramics cooperative to see the traditional Moroccan crafts.

Departure from Fes at 8 o'clock, travelling via Azrou, where you can see Barbary apes in the forest of the Middle Atlas. And Switzerland’ of Morocco and the cedar forests of Azrou where we can stop to hand feed the monkeys. Lunch is in Midelt, “the apple capital”.

We continue over the Tizi-n-Talgoumt pass and through the Ziz Valley, which is particularly well-known for its palm trees and the length of the oasis. All along the road there are innumerable “ksars”, small villages of individual houses. From here we reach Er Rachidia and then Erfoud, famous for its date festival and fossils, and to the famous Dunes of Erg Chebbi, After a welcoming glass of tea in a Guest House near the dunes, you can take a walking in the dunes. And then sunset from the top of the dunes is spectacular (250m) and afterwards there is dinner and night in Guest House.

Today we will explore the desert region. We will make a circuit of the desert dunes where you will have the opportunity to see the nomad's way of life and the amazing changing contrasts of the desert. We will visit to the ‘black village’ of Khamlia to see the Gnawa musicians. We will have a traditional Berber pizza for lunch. In the afternoon you will prepare for departure on the camels. Once at the bivouac, you take a camel ride to watch the sunset from the top of the dunes. Back at the bivouac, dinner and overnight in tents at the camp.

We will wake up early to see the spectacular sunrise over the dunes before making our way back to the hotel for breakfast and a shower. We will cross the palm line valleys of Tourog and Tinjdad to arrive to Toudgha Gorge. We will take a walk in the Toudgha Gorges and have lunch in a local restaurant before continuing to our accommodation in the Dades Canyon.

After breakfast a walk in the Dades Gorges is scheduled. Back to the car, the trip to Ouarzazate continues, going off-road along the Boutaghrar piste and Iat Mraou Village to visit Berber nomads in their caves and partake of a glass of herbs tea with them.

From here we continue through the Valley of the Roses, famous for its Rose Festival in 20th to 25th of May, and past the kasbahs of Amridil in Skoura Palm, continue to Ouarzazate via the big lake of El Mansour Edahbi, Dinner and night in a traditional Riad .

You will have the day at leisure for shopping or sightseeing. You can visit the Taourirt Kasbah and the “Hollywood of Morocco”, the Atlas film studios .

After breakfast, the route goes on to Ksar Ait Ben Haddou, a World Heritage site and the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous Ksar in Morocco. From there the road continues to Telouet, along the new asphalted road. Telouet is set right in the midst of the mountains and was once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakesh, El Glaoui, from where the highest pass in Africa, Tizi-n-Tichka was controlled. At the end of the afternoon we arrive in Marrakesh. Dinner and night in your Riad.

You will have a guided tour of Marrakech including a visit to the Menara Gardens, the Koutoubia Mosque, the Saâdien tombs and the Bahia palace. You can explore the amazing medina and the fascinating Jamaa El Fna square with lively entertainment and lovely Souks.

You will have the day to explore Marrakech or you can take an optional day tour to Cascade d’Ouzoud.

We will spend the morning at leisure for shopping or relaxing in Marrakech before departing at your convenience to Essaouira.

Enjoy your day wandering the old fortified fishing port of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast. See the amazing mixture of Portuguese and Berber architecture. Explore the colorful souks, art galleries, the carpentry workshops devoted to cedar and Thuya wood carving and the fortified harbor with its stalls of freshly caught seafood.

We will spend the morning at leisure for shopping or relaxing in Essaouira before leaving early afternoon to arrive in Marrakech by 4pm. Dropping you off in your accommodation. End of our Service.