14-Day Morocco Desert Tour from Casablanca to Marrakech via Erg Chebbi

• Get picked up from your hotel and visit the Hassan II Mosque before departing for Rabat. In Rabat, visit the Mechouar of the Royal Palace, the ruins of Chellah, the Mohammed V Mausoleum, and the Hassan Tower.

• After lunch, depart for Meknes and arrive in the early evening. Have dinner at a restaurant overlooking the square opposite Bab Mansour Gate.

Accommodation: In a traditional riad in the Old Medina.

• After breakfast, take a tour of Meknes, including El Hdim Square, Bab El Mansour, the massive gate that forms the entrance to the old city, the Jewish quarter, the Royal Granaries, and the city ramparts.

• Then depart via Volubilis, the Roman ruins, and Moulay Idriss, the holy town and an important place of pilgrimage where the founder of Morocco's first dynasty is buried.

• Continue on to Fez.

Dinner and accommodation in a traditional riad.

• Have a guided tour to discover the medina and the famous souks of Fez. Its narrow cobbled streets are filled with ancient mosques and towering green-glazed minarets.

• Visit the most beautiful palaces and monuments of Fez. The tour includes a visit to the tannery and the ceramics co-operative to see traditional Moroccan crafts.

• Depart from Fez at 8 o'clock, travelling via Azrou. See Barbary apes in the forest of the Middle Atlas, the

• Explore the desert region. Make a circuit of the desert dunes, where you will have the opportunity to see the nomads' way of life and the amazing changing contrasts of the desert. Visit the 'black village' of Khamlia to see the Gnawa musicians.

• Have a traditional Berber pizza for lunch.

• In the afternoon, prepare for departure on the camels. Once at the bivouac, take a camel ride to watch the sunset from the top of the dunes.

Back at the bivouac, dinner and overnight in tents at the camp.

• Wake up early to see the spectacular sunrise over the dunes before making your way back to the hotel for breakfast and a shower.

• Cross the palm-lined valleys of Tourog and Tinjdad to arrive at Toudgha Gorge.

• Go for a walk in the Toudgha Gorges and have lunch in a local restaurant before continuing to your accommodation in the Dades Canyon.

• After breakfast, a walk in the Dades Gorges is scheduled. Back in the car, continue to Ouarzazate, going off-road along the Boutaghrar Piste and Iat Mraou Village to visit Berber nomads in their caves and partake in a glass of herbal tea with them.

• From here, continue through the Valley of the Roses, famous for its Rose Festival from 20th to 25th May, and pass the kasbahs of Amridil in Skoura Palm.

• Continue to Ouarzazate via the large lake of El Mansour Edahbi.

Dinner and night in a traditional riad.

• Have the day at leisure for shopping or sightseeing.

• Visit the Taourirt Kasbah and the

• After breakfast, continue to Ksar Ait Ben Haddou, a World Heritage Site and the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters. It is the most famous ksar in Morocco.

• From there, the road continues to Telouet along the new asphalted road. Telouet is set right in the midst of the mountains and was once the seat of the last Pasha of Marrakesh, El Glaoui, from where the highest pass in Africa, Tizi-n-Tichka, was controlled.

• At the end of the afternoon, arrive in Marrakech.

Dinner and night in your riad.

• Have a guided tour of Marrakech, including a visit to the Menara Gardens, the Koutoubia Mosque, the Saâdien Tombs, and the Bahia Palace.

• Explore the amazing medina and the fascinating Jamaa El Fna Square with lively entertainment and lovely souks.

• Have a free day to explore Marrakech or take an optional day tour to Cascade d'Ouzoud.

• Spend the morning at leisure for shopping or relaxing in Marrakech before departing at your convenience for Essaouira.

• Enjoy your day wandering through the old fortified fishing port of Essaouira on the Atlantic coast. See the amazing mixture of Portuguese and Berber architecture.

• Explore the colourful souks, art galleries, the carpentry workshops devoted to cedar and Thuya wood carving, and the fortified harbour with its stalls of freshly caught seafood.

• Spend the morning at leisure for shopping or relaxing in Essaouira before leaving in the early afternoon to arrive in Marrakech by 4 pm.

• Get dropped off at your accommodation.