Overview
Seven days. Six nights. The whole of Morocco's heartland, entirely private.
This is the complete first-timer's loop — the imperial cities, the Roman past, the Middle Atlas, the Sahara dunes, the southern kasbah road, and the High Atlas into Marrakech — done as your party alone, with your own vehicle, your own driver-guide, and your own desert camp. The market sells this route as a fixed coach tour with a fixed group on a fixed clock. This is the opposite: you start when you want each morning, you linger where you want, and you sleep in private rooms throughout.
Day 1 begins at Casablanca with the Hassan II Mosque — one of the only Moroccan religious sites open to non-Muslims — then north to Rabat, the capital, for the Kasbah of the Udayas, the Hassan Tower, and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. Day 2 takes in Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, and Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco, before arriving in Fes for two nights. Day 3 is a full day in Fes el-Bali — the world's largest car-free urban area — with a local guide through the tanneries, the madrasas, and the speciality souks.
Day 4 turns south: the cedar forests and Barbary macaques of Ifrane and the Middle Atlas, the long descent through the Ziz Valley palmeries, and the arrival at Erg Chebbi as the light goes gold. You meet your camels, ride into the dunes, and reach your private desert camp — proper beds, private facilities, a Berber dinner, drumming, and a sky with no light pollution for a hundred kilometres. Day 5 begins with the dune sunrise, then the kasbah road west: the Todra Gorge walked on foot, the Dades Valley of a thousand kasbahs, and an overnight in the Dades or Skoura area. Day 6 continues to Aït Benhaddou, the UNESCO mud-brick ksar on the old caravan route, and over the High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass into Marrakech. Day 7 is a guided Marrakech medina morning — Bahia Palace, the Koutoubia, the souks — before the trip ends.
Best for: first-time visitors who want the imperial cities and the Sahara in one well-sequenced week, travellers who want the whole trip to themselves, anyone who rejects the fixed-coach version of this route, couples and families who want to set their own pace city by city.
Not the right fit if: you want a slow, low-mileage holiday (this is a complete-the-country week with two long Atlas-crossing drive days; the longer versions add nights and cut daily driving), you want more than one night in the desert (see the longer products), or you want to start and finish in the same city (this is a one-way Casablanca-to-Marrakech routing by design — though we can run it in reverse or as a round trip on request).
Hakim founded Morocco Way in 2014 with one rule: every guide is born in the region they show you. Your driver-guide knows the imperial cities, the Atlas passes, and the desert country as home ground — and a private trip means the week bends around you, not around a coach timetable shared with strangers.
Day by Day
Salaam Aleikum. Welcome to Morocco.
Your driver-guide collects you from Casablanca — the airport (CMN) or your hotel, your party only, included in the trip price. Provide your flight or hotel details at booking so we can time the pickup.
The day opens at the **Hassan II Mosque** in Casablanca — completed in 1993, partly built out over the Atlantic, with a 210m minaret (one of the tallest in the world) and a prayer hall for 25,000 worshippers. It is the only Moroccan religious site open to non-Muslims as part of a guided visit; we tour the interior with a licensed guide (about 60 to 90 minutes). Modest dress required.
Then north by private vehicle to **Rabat** — about 1.5 hours — the political capital of Morocco and an imperial city in its own right, far calmer than Casablanca or Marrakech. With your driver-guide you visit the **Kasbah of the Udayas** (a blue-and-white Andalusian quarter above the river mouth), the **Hassan Tower** (the unfinished 12th-century minaret), and the **Mausoleum of Mohammed V**. Time for lunch in Rabat at your own choice (typical bill 100 to 200 MAD per person).
Depending on the season and your pace, you overnight either in **Rabat** or continue to **Fes** for the first of your Fes nights — your booking confirmation specifies which, and your driver-guide will confirm the plan on Day 1. Dinner is included tonight at the hotel or riad.
Night: private room at a hotel in Rabat, or a riad in Fes el-Bali (1 night, en-suite, your party only). Dinner included; lunch in Rabat at your own choice; no other meals on Day 1.
The imperial-and-Roman day. Breakfast at the hotel or riad, then to **Meknes** — the imperial capital under Sultan Moulay Ismail (1672–1727), whose monumental gates and walls define the city. With your driver-guide you see **Bab Mansour** (the great ceremonial gate), the medina, and the scale of the imperial works — the granaries and the stables that once held thousands of horses.
A short drive north brings you to **Volubilis** — the best-preserved Roman ruins in Morocco and the southernmost major Roman city in North Africa, UNESCO World Heritage-listed since 1997. About 40 hectares of ruins: the Basilica, the Capitoline Temple, the triumphal arch, and dozens of intact mosaic floors depicting Roman myths. A local guide or your driver-guide explains the site (about 60 to 90 minutes). Lunch near Volubilis or in Moulay Idriss at your own choice (typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person).
Continue to **Fes** in the late afternoon. Your accommodation is a **riad in the Fes el-Bali medina** — a traditional courtyard house, private to your party. Dinner is your own choice tonight at a Fes restaurant (typical bill 150 to 300 MAD per person), as tomorrow you'll be in the medina all day.
Night: riad in Fes el-Bali (first of two Fes nights — or second night here if you reached Fes on Day 1; either way two nights total in Fes, en-suite, your party only). Breakfast included; lunch and dinner at your own choice.
The Fes day. Breakfast at the riad, then a guided walking tour of **Fes el-Bali** — the medieval walled medina, the world's largest car-free urban area, founded in the 9th century. Your local Fes guide knows the maze as home ground.
The morning takes in the **tanneries** (the centuries-old dye pits, seen from a leather-shop terrace — your guide brings mint to hold against the smell), the speciality souks organised by trade (brassworkers, dyers, woodworkers, perfumers, spice merchants), the **El-Attarine and Bou Inania madrasas** (exquisite Marinid religious schools in carved cedar, stucco, and zellij), the **Al-Qarawiyyin** (founded 859, often called the world's oldest existing university, viewed from the gates), and the **Nejjarine fountain and woodwork museum**. There's a tea or pastry break and time to watch artisans at work.
The walking tour runs about 4 to 6 hours with breaks. Lunch at your own choice — your guide recommends a medina rooftop restaurant (typical bill 150 to 300 MAD per person).
The **afternoon is free**. Most travellers keep exploring the medina at their own pace, visit a specific artisan workshop, take a hammam, or rest at the riad courtyard. Your driver-guide and the riad can suggest options.
Night: second night at the riad in Fes el-Bali. Breakfast included; lunch and dinner at your own choice (the riad can arrange dinner on request).
The desert day, and the trip's first long drive. Breakfast at the riad, then south out of Fes into the **Middle Atlas**.
Stops on the way: **Ifrane**, the "Switzerland of Morocco," an alpine-style hill station with chalets and cedar forests; the **cedar forest near Azrou**, home to troops of Barbary macaques (you'll usually see them by the road); and the long, scenic descent through **Midelt** and the **Ziz Valley**, where a vast palmery threads the canyon floor and a panoramic viewpoint opens over thousands of date palms. Lunch on the way at your own choice (typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person).
The land grows arid and open as you near **Merzouga** and the edge of **Erg Chebbi** — the great sand sea, dunes rising up to 150m. In the late afternoon you meet your camels (well cared-for working animals with a local handler) and ride into the dunes as the sun drops — about an hour in the saddle, with a 4x4 alternative available on request at no extra charge.
Your **private desert camp** sits among the dunes, booked for your party only. Proper beds, blankets, private or en-suite washing facilities. Dinner is a Berber meal around the fire — soup, tagine, fruit, mint tea — followed by drumming and a sky with no light pollution for a hundred kilometres. The Milky Way is visible in season.
Night: private tented desert camp in Erg Chebbi (1 night, proper bed, private/en-suite facilities, your party only). Breakfast at the riad, dinner at the camp included; lunch on the road at your own choice.
Day 5 starts before dawn for the **Erg Chebbi sunrise** — the dunes shifting through grey, pink, orange, and gold as the sun comes up over Algeria to the east. About 30 to 45 minutes. Camel trek (or 4x4) back to Merzouga and breakfast at the edge of the dunes.
Then west along the kasbah road. The morning highlight is the **Todra Gorge** — a canyon where the walls rise some 300m and narrow to barely ten metres apart, with a shallow river and a road threading the gap. You walk a stretch on foot with your guide (flat and easy), about 45 to 60 minutes, with time for mint tea at a gorge café.
The road continues through **Tinghir's** palmery and up the **Dades Valley** — the "valley of a thousand kasbahs," lined with earthen fortresses, rose-growing villages, and (further up) the famous switchback road of the Dades. Lunch on the way at your own choice (typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person).
You overnight in the **Dades or Skoura area** in a private room at a kasbah-style hotel with valley views. Dinner is included tonight at the hotel.
Night: private room at a kasbah-style hotel in the Dades/Skoura area (1 night, en-suite, your party only). Breakfast at the desert camp, dinner at the hotel included; lunch on the road at your own choice.
The kasbah-road and High Atlas day. Breakfast at the hotel, then west toward Ouarzazate.
Depending on the route and your pace, stops may include the **Skoura palmery** and its kasbahs, the **Valley of the Roses** near Kelaat M'Gouna, and **Ouarzazate** itself — Morocco's film-studio town, with the Taourirt Kasbah for a short stop. Lunch on the way at your own choice (typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person).
The major stop is **Aït Benhaddou** — the fortified mud-brick ksar of stacked kasbahs above the Ounila river, on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech, UNESCO World Heritage-listed and familiar from decades of film. You cross the riverbed, climb through the earthen lanes, and your driver-guide explains the rammed-earth construction and the trade history. About 60 to 90 minutes.
Then up and over the **High Atlas by the Tizi n'Tichka pass** (2,260m), the highest major paved pass in Morocco — switchbacks, long mountain views, and a stop at the best viewpoints. Down the northern side into the Haouz plain and **Marrakech**, arriving in the evening at your riad in or near the medina. Dinner is your own choice tonight — your driver-guide recommends spots from the Djemaa el-Fna food stalls to a riad restaurant.
Night: riad in Marrakech (1 night, en-suite, your party only, often with a courtyard pool). Breakfast at the kasbah hotel included; lunch and dinner at your own choice.
The Marrakech morning. Breakfast at the riad, then a guided walking tour of the medina with a local guide.
The route covers the city's signature stops: the **Bahia Palace** (the late-19th-century palace of carved cedar ceilings, painted stucco, and zellij courtyards), the **Koutoubia Mosque** exterior (the most photographed minaret in Morocco, 77m, 12th-century — Muslims only inside, but the minaret and gardens are open to all), and the **souks** — the medina's network of speciality markets, with time to haggle and explore. About 3 to 4 hours.
The trip ends after the tour. We drop you at your onward Marrakech hotel, or at Marrakech-Menara airport (RAK) for a departure, your party only, timed around your plans (tell us at booking).
If you'd like to extend — extra nights in Marrakech, a day trip to the Ourika Valley or Essaouira, a cooking class, or a continuation to the coast — tell us at booking and we'll build it in.
Breakfast at the riad included. Other meals on Day 7 are at your own choice and expense.
Includes & Excludes
What's included
Not included
Frequently Asked
Morocco has one of the lowest crime rates in the world and, compared to the US and Europe, is considered a very safe destination. Moroccan people are known for their hospitality and they will make you feel very welcomed, for more information on the topic contact us and we’ll provide you with some personal single-traveller experiences.
No. You may wear whatever you feel comfortable in, we only have one exception on tours of the Mosque like Hassan II. To enter you would need to dress conservatively as you would in a church (no shorts, tanks tops, etc.).
As in any country you should use direction with your attire if you want to avoid unwanted attention.
US Dollars, Sterling and Euros are readily exchangeable. We recommend you take a mixture of cash and credit cards. Scottish bank notes and Australian dollar travellers cheques and cash are NOT normally accepted in Morocco.
With accurate information on the schedule of your arrival, our guide and our driver await you at the customs exit at the airport, with a sign with your name and first name. It’s always easy, this appointment. In case of concern, you can contact us by phone with our contact information noted in our emails. We are always at your disposal 24 hours a day
Fully private, from the Casablanca pickup to the Marrakech drop-off. The vehicle is yours alone — your party only, with Morocco Way's driver-guide, never pooled with other bookings. Your rooms are private throughout, and the desert camp is booked for your group, not shared with strangers. This is the key difference from the standard market version of this route, which runs a fixed coach or minibus with a fixed group on a fixed clock. With Morocco Way you set the morning start times, the stops, and the pace city by city, and you never wait for anyone else. The trade-off is cost: a private trip costs more per person than a coach seat, and the per-person price depends on how many of you are travelling (larger parties pay less each).
The one-way Casablanca-to-Marrakech routing is deliberate and efficient: Casablanca (CMN) is Morocco's main international gateway, so most travellers land there, and Marrakech (RAK) is the easiest base for an onward stay or for low-cost return flights — so you finish where you want to be and never backtrack over ground you've already covered. That said, because the trip is private we can run it however suits you: the exact reverse (Marrakech start, Casablanca finish), a round trip returning to Casablanca, or a finish at a different point (for example continuing to Essaouira on the coast). Tell us at booking. A reverse or round-trip routing may change the price slightly.
It's a full week that covers a lot of ground, and we won't pretend otherwise — you change beds most nights and there are two genuinely long Atlas-crossing drive days around the desert (Day 4 into Erg Chebbi, and the Day 6 kasbah-road-and-Tizi-n'Tichka run into Marrakech). Being private helps a great deal: you stop when you want, break the long drives where you like, and travel in an air-conditioned vehicle with only your own party. But if your priority is a slow, low-mileage holiday, this isn't it — the longer versions add nights (a second desert night, more time in Fes or the south) and cut the daily driving. If you tell us your priorities at booking, we'll advise honestly whether the 7-day or a longer itinerary suits you better.
The camp is a proper private tented camp at Erg Chebbi, booked for your party only — proper beds (not mattresses on the floor), blankets, and private or en-suite washing facilities, with a Berber dinner around the fire and a sky with no light pollution for a hundred kilometres. The camel trek into the dunes at sunset (about an hour) is included but optional: the camels are well cared-for working animals with a local handler, and if you'd rather not ride — a back issue, a fear, a young child, simple preference — we arrange a 4x4 transfer to the camp instead at no extra charge. You can ride one way and take the 4x4 the other. If you'd prefer an upgraded luxury camp with full en-suite bathrooms and more space, tell us at booking and we can arrange it at additional cost.
Yes — the Day 1 Hassan II Mosque visit includes the interior guided tour with a licensed guide (it's one of the only Moroccan religious sites open to non-Muslims, and the interior is the reason to go). Modest dress is required (heads and shoulders covered for women, long trousers for men). In Fes you get a full day in the medina with a local Fes guide who knows the maze as home ground — the tanneries, the madrasas, the souks, the Al-Qarawiyyin gates, and the woodwork museum — plus a free afternoon to explore at your own pace. The Fes medina is the cultural high point of the trip for most travellers, which is why we build in two nights there.
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are ideal across the whole route — warm days, cool nights, comfortable for the cities, the gorges, and the dunes. Summer (June to August) is hot, especially in Fes, Marrakech, and the desert (Erg Chebbi regularly exceeds 40°C); the camel trek is timed for the cooler late afternoon, but it's not the comfortable option. Winter (December to February) brings warm, clear days, cold desert nights (near freezing after dark), and the chance of snow on the Tizi n'Tichka pass — beautiful, just pack warm layers and allow for occasional weather delays on the high pass. We run the trip year-round; tell us your dates and we'll advise honestly.
Yes, with the driving caveat. Because the trip is fully private, we pace it around your party — car seats for young children on request, more frequent stops, a 4x4 instead of camels for anyone who prefers it, and dietary needs handled with the hotels, riads, and camp in advance. The thing to weigh is the two long Atlas-crossing drive days; families with very young children or older travellers who tire on long drives are often happier on a longer version that splits the mileage. The imperial cities, the camel trek (or 4x4), and the desert camp are genuine highlights for children. Tell us the ages and any needs at booking and we'll advise honestly on the best-fit length.
Book through our website, or send a WhatsApp (+212 628 848 511) with your dates and party size for an exact per-person private-tour quote. We confirm within 12 hours during Morocco business hours. A deposit secures your dates; the balance is paid in cash to your driver-guide on Day 1 or in advance via PayPal — most travellers pay the balance on arrival. At booking, please provide: (1) your dates and number of travellers (and children's ages if any), (2) your Casablanca arrival details (flight or hotel) for the pickup, and your onward plan in Marrakech for the drop-off, (3) any dietary restrictions (forwarded to the hotels, riads, and camp), (4) any mobility or travel-sickness concerns, (5) camel or 4x4 preference for the dune transfer, (6) whether you want any extensions, an upgraded luxury camp, a reverse or round-trip routing, or a different finish point. We are flexible for genuine reasons such as illness or family emergency — talk to us.