13-Day Morocco Grand Tour from Casablanca

Your driver-guide meets you at Casablanca airport. First the Hassan II Mosque on the ocean, with a 210 m minaret and one of the few mosque interiors in Morocco open to visitors. Then up the coast to Rabat, the capital: the Kasbah of the Oudayas above the river, the Hassan Tower and the Mohammed V Mausoleum.

North along the Atlantic to Asilah, a whitewashed seaside town painted with murals, then inland into the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen, the blue town. Evening stroll through the medina.

A slow day in the blue town: the Kasbah museum, the walk up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset, or an optional trip to the Akchour waterfalls.

Morning in the quiet blue medina before the drive south. At Volubilis a local guide walks you through the best-preserved Roman city in Morocco, with mosaics still in place. In Meknes you see Bab Mansour, the grandest gate in the country, and El Hedim square. You reach Fes in the late afternoon.

A full day in Fes el-Bali, the largest car-free medina in the world, with an official local guide. Bou Inania madrasa, the Al Quaraouiyine mosque and university founded in 859, the Nejjarine fountain, the Chouara tanneries seen from a leather-shop terrace, and the golden gates of the Royal Palace. Free time in the souks before dinner.

A long and beautiful drive across the Middle Atlas: Ifrane with its alpine roofs, the cedar forest of Azrou where Barbary macaques live, lunch in Midelt below the High Atlas, then the Ziz Gorges and a ribbon of date palms down to Erfoud. At Merzouga you swap the car for a camel and ride into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for sunset. Dinner, Berber drums by the fire and a night in your private tent.

Sunrise from the top of a dune, then breakfast at camp. In Rissani, the old caravan capital of the Tafilalet, you walk the local souk. The road follows palm oases to the Todra Gorge, where you walk between cliffs up to 300 m high. Evening in the Dades Valley among red rock formations.

The Road of a Thousand Kasbahs: the Roses Valley, the palm oasis of Skoura and Kasbah Amridil, then Ouarzazate, Morocco's film capital. At Aït Benhaddou you climb through the UNESCO-listed ksar seen in Gladiator. In the afternoon you cross the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2,260 m) and reach Marrakech by evening.

A morning with an official local guide: the Koutoubia minaret, the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs and the souks of the medina. The afternoon is yours, perhaps the Majorelle Garden or a hammam, before the storytellers and food stalls of Jemaa el-Fna come alive at dusk.

West across the plains to the Atlantic, through argan forests where goats sometimes climb the trees. Essaouira is a white-and-blue fortified port with a gentle pace: walk the Skala ramparts, the art galleries and the fishing harbour, and eat grilled fish by the boats.

A free day by the ocean. Walk the medina, try kitesurfing, ride a horse along the beach, or simply sit on a rooftop with mint tea. Your driver-guide is on hand for ideas.

Up the coast to El Jadida, the old Portuguese Mazagan, for its fortress and vaulted cistern, then Casablanca.

Transfer to Casablanca airport.