11 Days Culture tour itinerary for morocco: Expect Mountains, Sahara & Imperial Cities

• Welcome to Morocco! On arrival at Marrakech Airport, you will be met by a Premium Morocco Tours representative and transferred to your hotel. While this is an arrival day and you may arrive at any time, please note that hotel rooms are generally only available after midday and that there will a Welcome Meeting with your leader tonight.

• Transfer to a hotel to spend the night.

• Transfer from Marrakech to the Atlas Mountains: 1:30 minute drive to Imlil (1740m), the famous starting point for mountaineering trips.

• Discover the area and hike up to Tizi-n-Mezzik mountain pass (2489m).

• Enjoy the magic view of Imlil area and Azzaden valley.

• Field lunch prepared by the cook in the middle of a juniper forest.

• After lunch, walk down the valley of Azzaden to the summer village ofTamssoult (2250m).

Overnight in the refuge or camp. 5 hours of walking.

• Today involves a fairly stiff climb out of the Azzadene Valley to the Toubkal Refuge via Ighouliden waterfalls and over the Aguelzim Mountain pass at 3,560m. Lunch will be taken with spectacular views over the Atlas Mountain Range.

• Spend overnight in the Toubkal Refuge (Niltner Hut) where you’ll likely be sharing a bunk room with other trekkers tackling Toubkal early the next morning. 7 hours walk

• Up early for the climb up Toubkal (4,167m) from where, clouds allowing, you’ll have wonderful views over the Atlas Range and the Sahara Desert.

• Then, go a long way back down past the refuge and the well-worn path back to Imlil. This is a fairly long day with 9-11  hours of trekking, involving 900m up then almost 2,500m back down to Imlil!

• Back to Imlil for an overnight stay.

• This morning after breakfast, set off in a comfortable private A/C Vehicle for a circular 3 Day Desert Tour journey through the Saharan landscapes of both the Hamada (stone desert) and Erg (dune desert).

• The first visits include High Atlas mountains, discover traditional Berber villages and Terraces, drive up the spectacular Tichka Pass 2260m high.

• Drive down the valleys to Ait Benhaddou, the most spectacular UNESCO Site in southern Morocco.

• Walk to discover the Kasbah where Gladiator, Game of Thrones, Lawrence of Arabia and many other movies were shot, and discover the beautiful Berber Architecture.

• Eat lunch in a local restaurant and set off for Ouarzazate, the largest Saharan center, Moroccan Hollywood.

• Visit the Cinema Museum.

• Grab an opportunity to shop in a supermarket and cash machines, before continuing to Skoura Palmery where an ancient Kasbah once held treasures of the silk route in desert oasis terrain.

• Join the valley of roses, stop to see one of many families with an opportunity to buy rose water & beauty products made from roses which local Berber grow and celebrate each year in May!

• Followed by a visit to the spectacular Dades Gorge where steep walls hundreds of feet high tower above. A relaxing and highly scenic tour day with stunning views of this mystical land.

Accommodation in a comfortable hotel Car: 8 hours -Walk/Ait Benhaddou kasbah

• Start the day by a visit to the spectacular Todra Valley and Gorge, the most spectacular palm valley and Canion in the Sahara.

• Walk in the gorges and get plenty of photo opportunities.

• Drive to Touroug for lunch in the stone desert.

• After lunch, visit old underground irrigation channels dating app to 12th to 17th century, and discover this magical irrigation system.

• Get you some scarves for the Sahara & then cross Sijilmassa, Morocco’s king ancestors town, famous for being the most important Caravans carrefour in the history.

• Then continue your Day 2 of your Saharan exploration as you make your way through the far reaches of Morocco’s eastern perimeter to within 20 km of Algeria’s border where you encounter the magnificent Erg Chebbi dune landscape. Morocco’s most famous Saharan dunes are just breathtaking and transforming to the soul.

• On foot or camelback, you have the option to travel into the remote dunes until your Nomadic style camp hidden in the dunes.

• An evening sunset climb to one of the higher dunes is customarily followed by dinner and perhaps a campfire experience and Berber songs and storytelling can be arranged. 

Breakfast and dinner included. Accommodation in a desert camp.

• Before sunrise, you will be woken up to climb the sand dunes for fantastic photo opportunities.

• Then make your way back to the hotel for showers and breakfast before setting off for Fez.

• En-route, pass through Erfoud, the Ziz palm Valley, Meditlt, and the cedar forests.

• Visit the macaque monkeys of Azrou, and stop in Ifrane for a short walk to enjoy and discover the most beautiful town in Morocco.

• Arrive in Fes after a long drive.

• The old city of Fes el Bali is home to perhaps the greatest of all medinas.Descending into its labyrinthine alleyways is like stepping back to the Middle Ages.Donkeys wander the streets and the smell of spices fills the air.With a local guide, navigate narrow streets alive with craftsmen, markets, tanneries, mosques and colourful local characters.Explore the different speciality sections of the Medina that are known for specific types of food – from natural butter and fats to pastries, to crepes and soups to dried and fresh produce. Fes is the spiritual and cultural heart of Morocco; vibrant, noisy, fascinating and overwhelming – a visual and pungent feast for the senses.It is made up of three distinct ‘cities’, or quarters, and you will stay in elegant, riad-style accommodation on the edge of the huge, well-preserved medieval old city – the mother of all medinas.Today head into the old city, known locally as Fes el Bali, arguably the world’s most fascinating and confounding old [sensitive content]dieval Fes was one of the world’s great centres of education and culture, both Islamic and Jewish.Its religious institutions and libraries are legendary, its mosques of great renown.Walk through the twisting streets and alleyways, passing donkeys piled high with goods, and explore the speciality sections that divide the souk.Filled with historic khans, medresses and dye-pits, stalls loaded with fruits, herbs and soups, and where the squawk of chickens, the smell of spice and sound of hammering of copper fills the air, it’s not hard to imagine yourself back in the Middle Ages.Spend the day exploring the old city, visiting, Mederassa Bou Inania, the tanneries and the splendid Funduk Nejjarine, a beautifully restored 18th century inn.

• Return to your hotel in the late afternoon and enjoy a memorable dinner of one of the city’s signature dishes, the salty and sweet pastille.

• Today, visit the Roman ruins of Volubilis where you walk with a guide or without a guide to enjoy the beauty of the ruins, considered most preserved Roman-Berber era ruins, witnessing the prosperity of North Africa!

• Then carry on to Meknes, for some photo opportunity.

• After the visit of Bab Mansour, Lahdim square, and the granaries, make your way to Rabat the capital of Morocco.

• Visit the Oudaya Kasbah, and enjoy the charming garden of Challa, surrounded by walls and beautiful defensive gates, built between 1310 and 1330.

• Later, stop at Mohamed V Museum built-in 1972, and visit the tombs of Moroccan kings Mohammed V, who died in 1962, Hassan II who died in 1999, the tomb of Moulay Abdullah the uncle of Mohammed VI and Hassan Tower which was built in the 12th century.

• Take the high way to Marrakech.

• Morocco tour continues, today you will meet a professional Moroccan guide who will take you through must-see attractions of the North Africa “Old Medina Marrakech”. The guide will help you get the most out of your visit to this world-renowned city, such as Madrassa ben Youssef, Mosque- ben Youssef, Marrakech Musem, Palace Bahia and Badie Place.

• And then after your lunch with him, the guide will take you to visit the Menara garden, Majorelle garden, etc.

• After a long tour, you’ll be happy to unwind in your riad. 

• Transfer to the airport. End of the service.