Overview
Six days. Five nights. The blue city and the golden desert, entirely private.
This is the nomad route — Morocco from the Rif Mountains in the north to the Sahara in the south-east, ending in Marrakech — done as your party alone, with your own vehicle, your own driver-guide, and your own desert camp. It trades the imperial-cities loop for the one thing that loop leaves out: Chefchaouen, the blue-painted town in the Rif that is the most photographed place in Morocco. The market sells this as a fixed minibus with a fixed group. This is the opposite: you set the pace, and you stand in the blue streets at the hour the light is right, not when a coach schedule says so.
Day 1 leaves Casablanca and drives north to **Chefchaouen**, the blue city, arriving for the late-afternoon and evening light when the day-trippers have gone. Day 2 is a morning in the blue medina — the washed-indigo lanes, the kasbah, the Ras El Maa spring, the viewpoint over the rooftops — before driving south to **Fes** for the night. Day 3 is the **Fes el-Bali medina** with a local guide: the tanneries, the madrasas, the souks, the world's largest car-free urban area.
Day 4 turns south to the desert: 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. The desert leg includes **nomad and Berber encounters** — visits to families who live in and around the dunes. 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 kasbah country. Day 6 continues to **Aït Benhaddou**, the UNESCO mud-brick ksar, and over the High Atlas by the **Tizi n'Tichka pass** into **Marrakech**, where the trip ends.
Best for: travellers who specifically want Chefchaouen and the Sahara in one trip, photographers who want the blue city at the right light and the dunes at sunrise and sunset, couples and families who want the journey to themselves, anyone who rejects the fixed-minibus version of the northern loop.
Not the right fit if: you want the imperial cities (Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis) — this route trades them for Chefchaouen, so see WPVMCFM7 instead; you want a slow, low-mileage holiday (this is a long north-to-south transit with several long drive days); you want more than one night in Chefchaouen or the desert (possible as a customisation, but not in the standard 6-day frame); or you're travelling in peak summer and can't tolerate desert heat (spring and autumn are far more comfortable).
Hakim founded Morocco Way in 2014 with one rule: every guide is born in the region they show you. Your driver-guide knows the Rif, the Atlas passes, and the desert country as home ground — and a private trip means the route bends around you, not around a minibus 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.
Then north by private vehicle to **Chefchaouen** — about 5 to 6 hours, with stops for a break and lunch on the way (your own choice and expense, typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person). The road climbs into the **Rif Mountains** of northern Morocco, green and cooler than the rest of the country.
**Chefchaouen** — "the blue city" — is a small town of indigo-washed lanes stacked on a hillside in the Rif, founded in 1471 and famous for the blue paint that covers nearly every wall, door, and stair in the medina. You arrive in the late afternoon, when the day-tripper crowds from Tangier and Fes have gone and the light on the blue walls is at its best. Your driver-guide settles you at your accommodation, then you have the evening to wander the blue medina at your own pace — the main square (Plaza Uta el-Hammam), the kasbah, the lanes that everyone photographs. The town is small, safe, and made for walking.
Dinner is included tonight at your accommodation or a recommended local restaurant (Chefchaouen has a relaxed café-and-rooftop dining scene).
Night: private room at a hotel or riad in Chefchaouen (1 night, en-suite, your party only). Dinner included; lunch on the road at your own choice; no other meals on Day 1.
The blue-city morning. Breakfast at your accommodation, then time in the **Chefchaouen medina** in the morning light — the best hours for photography, before the day-trippers arrive.
With your driver-guide (or at your own pace, your choice) you take in the washed-indigo lanes, the **Plaza Uta el-Hammam** and its red-walled **kasbah**, the **Ras El Maa** spring at the edge of the medina where the mountain water comes down, and the climb to the **Spanish Mosque viewpoint** above the town for the panorama over the blue rooftops and the Rif behind (a gentle 20-to-30-minute walk up). There's time to browse the local crafts — Chefchaouen is known for wool goods, woven blankets, and goat's cheese.
Late morning, drive south to **Fes** — about 4 hours by private vehicle, with a lunch stop on the way (your own choice and expense, typical bill 80 to 150 MAD per person). You arrive in 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 (1 night, en-suite, your party only). Breakfast included; lunch on the road 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 context — note this is your only Fes night on the 6-day frame; if you'd like two Fes nights, see customisation. Breakfast included; lunch and dinner at your own choice (the riad can arrange dinner on request).
The desert day. 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. The desert leg includes **nomad and Berber encounters** — your driver-guide arranges visits to families who live in and around the dunes, for tea and conversation (translated by your guide) and a genuine window into desert life, rather than a quick photo stop.
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 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, ending in Marrakech. 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** — 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**.
The trip ends on arrival in Marrakech in the evening. 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 — nights in Marrakech, a guided Marrakech medina tour, a day trip to the Ourika Valley or Essaouira, or a finish on the coast — tell us at booking and we'll build it in.
Breakfast at the kasbah hotel included. Other meals on Day 6 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 the nomad route, which runs a fixed minibus with a fixed group on a fixed clock. With Morocco Way you set the morning start times, the stops, and the pace — which matters most in Chefchaouen, where being there in the early light rather than at the coach's midday slot is the whole point. The trade-off is cost: a private trip costs more per person than a minibus seat, and the per-person price depends on how many of you are travelling (larger parties pay less each).
The big difference is Chefchaouen versus the imperial cities. This 6-day nomad route goes north to the blue city of Chefchaouen in the Rif, then south through Fes to the Sahara and Marrakech — it trades Rabat, Meknes, and Volubilis for the blue city. The 7-day imperial cities trip (WPVMCFM7) does the opposite: it includes Rabat (the capital), Meknes, and the Roman ruins of Volubilis, and skips Chefchaouen. Both include Fes, the Erg Chebbi dunes and a private camp, the Todra and Dades gorges, Aït Benhaddou, and the Tizi n'Tichka pass into Marrakech. Choose this one if the blue city is a must; choose the 7-day if you'd rather have the imperial cities and the Roman ruins. If you want both Chefchaouen and the imperial cities, we can build a longer custom private itinerary — just ask.
You arrive in the late afternoon on Day 1 — deliberately timed for when the day-tripper crowds from Tangier and Fes have left and the light on the blue walls is at its best — and you have the evening to wander the medina. Then you get the Day 2 morning in the blue city, the other prime light window for photography, before driving south to Fes. That's roughly an afternoon, an evening, and a morning: enough to see and photograph the medina properly, climb to the Spanish Mosque viewpoint, and feel the town's relaxed pace, on a 6-day frame that also has to reach the Sahara. If you want a full extra day or a second night in Chefchaouen, we can add it as a paid extension — tell us at booking.
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.
On the desert leg, your driver-guide arranges visits to nomad and Berber families who live in and around the dunes — for tea, conversation (your guide translates), and a real look at desert life: how families live with the seasons, move with their animals, and manage water and shelter in the Sahara. Because the trip is private and unhurried, these are genuine exchanges rather than a quick photo stop on a coach schedule. We work with families we have long relationships with, and a portion of what you pay supports them directly. If you'd like to bring a small useful gift (tea, sugar, school supplies for children are always welcome), your guide can advise on what's appropriate.
Casablanca (CMN) is Morocco's main international gateway and the closest big-city start to Chefchaouen in the north; Marrakech (RAK) is the natural finish after the southern desert loop and the easiest base for an onward stay or low-cost return flights — so you travel in one direction and never backtrack. Because the trip is private, we can adapt it: start in Tangier or Fes if that suits your flights better (both are closer to Chefchaouen), run it in reverse, or finish somewhere other than Marrakech. A change of start or finish point may adjust the price. Tell us your flight plan at booking and we'll route it the most efficient way for you.
Spring (March to May) and autumn (September to November) are ideal across the whole route — warm days, cool nights, comfortable for Chefchaouen, Fes, the gorges, and the dunes. Chefchaouen and the Rif are green and pleasant in spring. Summer (June to August) is hot in Fes and the desert (Erg Chebbi regularly exceeds 40°C); Chefchaouen stays a little cooler at altitude, but the desert leg is timed for the cooler late afternoon and it's not the comfortable season overall. Winter (December to February) brings cool, sometimes rainy weather in the Rif, cold desert nights (near freezing after dark), and the chance of snow on the Tizi n'Tichka pass — beautiful, just pack warm layers. We run the trip year-round; tell us your dates and we'll advise honestly.
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 (extra Chefchaouen or Fes night, Marrakech stay), an upgraded luxury camp, a reverse routing, or a different start/finish point. We are flexible for genuine reasons such as illness or family emergency — talk to us.