14-Day Morocco Itinerary for First-Time Visitors

Two weeks for a first visit: imperial cities, mountains and sand, with enough days between them that nothing is hurried. Fourteen is the length at which Morocco stops feeling like a tour and starts feeling like a trip.

Duration: 14 days / 13 nights
Route: Casablanca → Casablanca
Pace: City days with slack, four driving days of about four hours

Overview

Two weeks with real slack between the stops: imperial cities, mountains and sand, and enough days between them that nothing is hurried. This is the length at which Morocco stops feeling like a tour and starts feeling like a trip.

Photos

Route

1Casablanca
2Rabat
3Fes
4Merzouga
5Atlas Mountains
6Marrakech
7Casablanca

Highlights

Imperial cities, the Atlas and the Sahara in one go
Fourteen days, with nothing rushed
The first visit that covers the country properly
Starts and ends at Casablanca

Day by day

A representative plan. Every trip is adjusted to your dates, your pace and what you want to see.

1
Day 1
Arrival in Casablanca
Land in Casablanca and keep the first day light. Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you into the city, and that is the plan for today.
If the timing works you can walk along the Corniche before dinner. Nothing else is booked.
2
Day 2
A full day in Casablanca
The Hassan II Mosque sits out over the Atlantic and takes the morning. Behind it are the Art Deco streets of the centre and the Habous quarter, both walkable.
You sleep in Casablanca again, so there is no packing and no driving today.
3
Day 3
Casablanca to Rabat
About an hour up the coast, which is the shortest transfer of the trip. The afternoon covers the Kasbah of the Udayas and the Hassan Tower, a short walk apart.
Rabat is smaller and calmer than the other imperial cities, and the Atlantic is at the end of most streets.
4
Day 4
A full day in Rabat
Chellah, the Roman and Marinid ruins south of the centre, takes the morning. The rest of the day is yours: the medina, the Mohammed V Mausoleum, or the long beach across the river at Sale.
Nothing to pack, nothing to drive. This is the first of the slow days the two weeks are built around.
5
Day 5
Rabat to Fes
About two and a half hours inland through hills and farmland. Fes has a car-free medina, so the car stops at your riad and you walk in from there.
Spend the evening on Bab Boujloud and the first few lanes. Seeing all of Fes tonight is not the idea.
6
Day 6
A full day in Fes
The tanneries, the Bou Inania madrasa and the lanes that run for kilometres without a car in them. Walking with a guide on the first day makes it easier to go back alone afterwards.
Another night in Fes, with nothing scheduled at all.
7
Day 7
Meknes and Volubilis
Volubilis, the Roman ruins about an hour from Fes, takes a couple of hours on foot. Meknes is next door, with the Bab Mansour gate and the huge granaries.
You are back in Fes by late afternoon, same bed as last night. If you would rather have a second slow day in the medina, this day is easy to drop.
8
Day 8
Fes to Midelt through the Middle Atlas
About four and a half hours south, with stops at Ifrane, the town built in a French style in the mountains, and Azrou, where the cedar forest starts. The Barbary macaques sit at the edge of the forest and most people pull over for them.
The night is in Midelt, a small working town. It is not a highlight. It exists to break the drive to the desert.
9
Day 9
Midelt to Merzouga
About four hours across the steppe, then down through Errachidia and Erfoud to the sand. The road is straight and fast, and the first dunes come into view in the last hour.
Afternoon is a camel ride out to a camp at Erg Chebbi, and you sleep on the dunes tonight.
10
Day 10
Merzouga to the Dades Valley
Up before sunrise for the hour on the dunes while the sand is still cold, then back to the hotel for breakfast and a shower. After that it is about four hours north, with a stop under the cliffs at Todra Gorge.
The gorge is a narrow wall of rock with a river at the bottom. Walk in it for an hour or just stand there.
11
Day 11
Dades to the High Atlas
Morning starts with the gorges road above the Dades, a run of switchbacks you can drive in twenty minutes. Then about two and a half hours to Ouarzazate and on to Ait Benhaddou for the mud-brick ksar.
After the ksar the road climbs the Tizi n'Tichka pass and drops into a mountain village, where you sleep tonight.
12
Day 12
A full day in the Atlas villages
Most of today is spent in one place. Walk between the villages on the old mule tracks, or take the short road up to Imlil and sit with a glass of mint tea.
No driving, no tickets, no schedule. It is the quietest day of the two weeks.
13
Day 13
The Atlas to Marrakech
Under two hours down from the pass and the plains open up under you. The afternoon and evening are Marrakech: the Koutoubia, Jemaa el-Fna at dusk and the souks running north from the square.
Your riad is inside the medina, so the car stops at a gate and you walk the last stretch.
14
Day 14
Marrakech to Casablanca
About two and a half to three hours back to Casablanca on the motorway, which leaves room for an evening flight.
If you fly out of Marrakech instead, this day disappears and you get one more morning in the city.

Good to know

Pace and driving

Four days sit in one city with no driving at all. Four others carry the real distance, about four to five hours each, and none of them run longer than that.

Best season

Spring and autumn are the mild months for this route. The desert nights are cold from November to February, and the south is hot from June to September.

Who it suits

A first visit, taken at a speed that leaves room to sit still. It works for couples and for families with children old enough to walk a medina.

What's included

Private vehicle and driver for the whole itinerary
Accommodation each night, with breakfast
Airport transfers at the start and end
A local guide in the medinas where a guide adds most
A named contact in Marrakech throughout your trip

Not included

International flights
Lunches, dinners and drinks unless listed
Entrance fees to monuments and sites
Tips for your driver and guides
Travel insurance