7 Days from Tangier to Fès and Merzouga Desert

Arrival at the port or airport of Tangier, meeting and departure with the driver/guide in the direction of Chefchaouen crossing the Rif mountains and the city of Tetouan. Arrival in Chefchaouen for a short visit. Chefchaouen is called the “Blue Pearl” because all buildings, doors, windows, fountains and streets are painted in different shades of blue. The city was considered sacred for centuries and it was even forbidden to enter foreigners. Only recently, in the ’50s, things have changed and the city has become a tourist destination that few people know. The medina is a maze of narrow streets and coloured blue and the reason is purely religious and not aesthetic. Inhabited by Berber peoples, it was founded by Spaniards who came from Andalusia, which is why the ancient part of the city resembles the Andalusian villages with narrow streets and walls full of flowers. Most of its inhabitants still speak Spanish today. In the centre of the old city you will see the Outa-el-Hammam Square where the Tarik-Ben-Ziad Mosque is located, which hides an octagonal-inspired minaret inspired by the Torre de Oro in Seville and a splendid fortress. The new city is built further down. Arrival in the evening in Fès. Dinner and overnight in riad/hotel.

Fès is considered the true stronghold of the culture and identity of Morocco, located in the bottom of a fertile valley about 350 m above sea level. The old city, with its markets and mosques, is considered one of the most attractive centres of the entire Islamic world. Among the major cities of Morocco, Fès is the oldest of the four Imperial Cities and owes this prestige to its secular political prevalence and the importance of its ancient university on culture and art. After breakfast, departure with the official guide and the driver for the discovery of the city, Fès is divided into New Town, that is the imperial city built starting from 1200 where there are the station, the Royal Palace and the Jewish quarter, the Old Town or Medina, the oldest walled part of Fès, a real labyrinth of narrow streets with markets of all kinds and the Ville Nouvelle, the area where there are restaurants, bars, cafes and bookshops. We will visit the Madrasa Bou Inania, the Al Karaouine Mosque (closed to non-Muslims), the Medersa Attarine, the Najjarine square famous for its magnificent fountain decorated with mosaics, the Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss and the tombs of the Merenids, We will then reach the famous tanneries in Fès and visit a pottery factory. Return in the afternoon to your riad/hotel.

After breakfast departure with the driver/guide from your riad/hotel in Fès in the direction of Merzouga passing through Azrou where you can see the Barbary apes inhabiting the lush forests of cedars and oaks, then continue to Ifrane, nicknamed the “Little Switzerland “is located at over 1700 m altitude and will cross the Ziz Valley. Arrival in the afternoon in the village of Merzouga. Dinner and overnight in riad/hotel.

After breakfast departure from the village of Merzouga to discover the dunes of Erg Chebbi where you will be able to see and photograph unique landscapes, during the road a short visit will be made to the nomadic families who live in the area in the middle of nowhere. Continue to the Village of Khamlia inhabited by black populations originating from Mali, Senegal and Mauritania where you can attend a concert of gnawa music. Short visit to the Mifiss mines and return to the riad/hotel in Merzouga. Before sunset, departure by dromedary to reach the Berber tents also called “Haima” where dinner will be served under the stars and where you will listen to the traditional Berber music played with the percussion. Overnight at the tented camp.

Wake up at dawn to witness the sunrise in the middle of the dunes, return by dromedary to the riad where breakfast will be served and you can take a hot shower. After a brief stop, departure in the direction of Erfoud located at the gates of the desert, also called the city of fossils, for the territory rich in fossil stones. The journey will continue towards the Gorges del Todra to get to the Dadès Valley. Dinner and overnight in riad/hotel.

After breakfast we leave for the Dadès Valley, crossing the Valley of Roses, famous for the cultivation of damask rose from which the essence is extracted for the production of many cosmetics. We will visit the Gorges of Dades. The journey will continue in the direction of Ouarzazate, located in the Dades Valley, expanded in the twenties by the French as a military and administrative centre. Near the town are Atlas Film Corporation Studios, the “Cinecittà” of Morocco, where several films set in the desert were and are still being shot. We will then continue north towards Marrakech passing through the kasbah of Ait-Ben-Haddou declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, where we will make a short visit and then continue the journey through the mountains of the Grande Atlas up to the Tizi. n’Tichka at 2,260 m (the highest mountain pass in the Atlas). Free dinner. Overnight in riad/hotel.

One of the major cities of Morocco, Marrakech is the most important of the four Imperial Cities and is located at the foot of the Atlas Mountains. After breakfast departure with the official guide and the driver for the discovery of the city also known as “Pearl of the South” and “Red or Ochre City” for the red walls that surround it and for the various buildings of this colour built in the same period using red stones and sand. Visit to the Bahia Palace, El Badi Palace, the Saadien Tombs, the ancient Koranic school of Ben Youssef, the Menara Gardens, the Mosque and the Koutoubia Minaret. Short stop for lunch and a mint tea in one of the terraces overlooking the Jemaa el-Fna square, continuation to the Mosque and the Koutoubia Minaret, the Majorelle Gardens with the possibility to visit the new museum just opened, dedicated to Yves Saint Laurent. Return in the afternoon to your riad/hotel and end of our service.