Morocco without rushing in 21 days

Itinerary: Morocco without rushing in 21 days

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   Day 1 · Arrival in Marrakech

   We meet you at Marrakech airport with a sign bearing your name and take you to your riad, in the heart of the medina. After welcome tea, if there's time, a first walk to Jemaa el-Fna: at sunset the square fills with stalls, Gnawa musicians and storytellers. Dinner at leisure.

   
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   Day 2 · Marrakech

   A morning in the medina with a local guide: the Koutoubia, the Bahia Palace, the Saadian Tombs and the souks divided by trade. Free afternoon for the Majorelle Garden or a tea on a terrace overlooking the rooftops. In the evening, dinner among the stalls of Jemaa el-Fna.

   
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   Day 3 · Marrakech — Imlil

   An hour and a half's drive south, through Asni, to Imlil, the mountain village at the foot of Toubkal. An afternoon walk among walnut and apple trees and terraced fields. Night in a mountain lodge.

   
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   Day 4 · Imlil

   A walking day with a mountain guide. We climb towards the village of Aroumd and, if you like, up to the shrine of Sidi Chamharouch, among waterfalls and granite boulders. Packed lunch or lunch in a Berber home and back to Imlil in the afternoon.

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   Day 5 · Imlil — Tizi n'Test — Taroudant

   One of the most beautiful roads in the country: the Tizi n'Test pass and the Tin Mal mosque, cradle of the Almohads. Arrival in Taroudant, the 'little Marrakech' with its intact walls.

   
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   Day 6 · Taroudant — Tafraoute

   We climb into the Anti-Atlas on a little-used road, among fortified villages, agadirs (the communal Berber granaries) and fields of almond and argan trees. In Igherm we stop for tea. In the afternoon we reach Tafraoute, a town surrounded by huge pink granite boulders that glow with colour at sunset.

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   Day 7 · Tafraoute

   A day in the Anti-Atlas. In the morning the Ammeln valley, with pink villages leaning against the mountain and date palms; lunch in a Berber home. In the afternoon the rocks painted blue by the Belgian artist Jean Vérame and 'Napoleon's hat', a huge granite boulder. Between February and March the valley is full of almond blossom.

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   Day 8 · Tafraoute — Taliouine

   A long mountain road through Igherm and the Anti-Atlas to Taliouine, the saffron capital. Visit of a cooperative. Night in a kasbah.

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   Day 9 · Taliouine — Ouarzazate — Aït Ben Haddou

   A morning at a saffron cooperative in Taliouine, where the stigmas of the purple crocus are picked by hand. Then the road crosses the plateau between Jebel Siroua and the Anti-Atlas to Ouarzazate. In the afternoon we reach Aït Ben Haddou for sunset. Night in a kasbah.

   
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    Day 10 · Aït Ben Haddou — Draa valley — Zagora

    After Ouarzazate we cross Jebel Bani and reach the Agdz viewpoint, from where you can see the Draa valley: over a hundred kilometres of palms, kasbahs and ksars along the river. A stop at the Tamnougalt ksar and arrival in Zagora in the afternoon.

    
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    Day 11 · Zagora — M'Hamid — Erg Chigaga

    In the morning Tamegroute, a village famous for its green pottery and its Koranic library with manuscripts more than seven hundred years old. We continue to M'Hamid, the last village before the desert, where the tarmac ends. From here, about two hours of 4x4 track among dunes, acacias, nomad camps and the oasis of Sacred, to Erg Chigaga, the biggest and wildest desert in Morocco. Sunset from the highest dune. Night in an isolated camp among the dunes.

    
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    Day 12 · Erg Chigaga — Zagora — N'Kob

    Sunrise on the Erg Chigaga dunes and breakfast at camp. Back along the track to M'Hamid and then up the Draa valley to Tansikht, where we turn east. Arrival in N'Kob, at the foot of Jebel Saghro, in the afternoon. Night in a kasbah.

    
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    Day 13 · N'Kob — Alnif — Merzouga

    We cross Jebel Saghro, with its volcanic rocks and nomadic shepherds, to Alnif, where the fossil hunters show you freshly extracted trilobites. Lunch in Rissani with medfouna and a visit of the souk. In the afternoon we reach the Erg Chebbi dunes. Sunset camel ride and a night at camp.

    
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    Day 14 · Day in Merzouga

    Sunrise on the dunes and a 4x4 tour: nomad families, Khamlia with its Gnawa music and the flamingo lake when there is water. Lunch with medfouna in Rissani. A restful afternoon at the hotel.

    
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    Day 15 · Merzouga — Midelt — Ifrane — Fez

    Sunrise on the dunes and breakfast, then we head north. The road climbs the Ziz valley, passes through the gorges and the Legionnaire's tunnel and reaches Midelt for lunch. In the afternoon the Middle Atlas: the Azrou cedar forest with its macaques and Ifrane, the town of red roofs. Arrival in Fez in the evening (about 8 hours with stops).

    
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    Day 16 · Fez with a guide

    A day on foot in the medina with an official guide who speaks your language. We start from above, at the Borj Nord viewpoint, to understand the layout of the city, and then go down into the lanes: fountains decorated with zellige, the el-Attarine madrasa, the henna souk and the slipper souk. We stop at a weaver's and at a pottery workshop where the famous Fez blue is still painted. After lunch we see the tanneries from above and the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, before returning to the riad.

    
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    Day 17 · Fez — Volubilis — Meknes — Fez

    A day trip to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, the holy town of Moulay Idriss and Meknes, with the Bab Mansour gate and the royal stables. Back to Fez in the evening.

    
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    Day 18 · Fez — Chefchaouen

    About four hours' drive north, through hills of wheat and olive trees and then the green mountains of the Rif. Arrival in Chefchaouen for lunch and an afternoon in the blue lanes: Outa el-Hammam square with the kasbah, the weaving workshops and the goat's cheese shops. At sunset we climb to the Spanish mosque, the best viewpoint over the town.

    
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    Day 19 · Chefchaouen and Akchour

    Morning departure for Akchour, about 45 minutes from Chefchaouen, in the Talassemtane national park. A trail follows the river past emerald-green pools and small cafés under the trees. In 45 minutes you reach the first waterfall; those with strong legs continue to God's Bridge, a huge rock arch over the canyon. A simple lunch by the river and back to Chefchaouen in the afternoon. Sunset from the Spanish mosque, with the blue city at your feet.

    
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    Day 20 · Chefchaouen — Tetouan — Tangier

    A last morning in the blue lanes and departure north. A stop in Tetouan for the white medina and the craftsmen's quarter. Arrival in Tangier in the afternoon: the kasbah, Café Hafa on the cliffs and Cape Spartel, where two seas meet.

    
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    Day 21 · Tangier

    Free morning in Tangier for a last stroll in the medina or a coffee on the terrace of Café Hafa. Transfer to the airport or to the port for the ferry to Spain.