10-Day Morocco Cultural Tour from Marrakesh to Agadir and Essaouira

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Day 01

Arrival and Transfer to Marrakesh

• Welcome to the land of peace and love! Transfer from Marrakech Airport to your hotel/riad in Marrakech.
• Your driver will pick you up from the airport and transfer you to your hotel/riad in Marrakech so you can relax, loosen up, and prepare yourself to officially start your cultural tour.

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Day 02

Marrakesh to Taroudant via Ouirgane and Tizi n'Test

• This is your first day away from your busy life. Today, we head to Taroudant via the dam of Lalla Takerkoust and Ouirgane, with its stunning greenery, red-earth hills, and pine forests.
• Passing along the rough road of Ijoukak, where the Agoundis Valley joins the Nfis, Tinmel Mosque is a worthwhile stop - a fascinating, architecturally isolated monument above a lush reach of river valley, with harsh mountains backing its buff-coloured walls.
• Crossing the Tizi n'Test (2092 m), the first modern route linking Marrakech with the Souss plain, we arrive in Taroudant.

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Day 03

Taroudant to Tafraoute via Ida Ougnidif

• Today, you will have a morning meeting with one of the most elegant purely Berber towns of Morocco, with its majestic tawny-brown and honey-gold circuit of 7 km walls.
• While you stroll and linger around, note the distinctive and highly beautiful blue veils that many older local ladies wear.
• Head south to Ida Ougnidif, a true small fortified village. The Kasbah of Tizourgane was essentially a fortified town, enclosing 25 houses, a mosque, a granary, and a prison, with thick stone walls towering above the passages around the ancient structure.
• The Kasbah has been rehabilitated thanks to massive work undertaken by the owners, which continues today. It has now become a guest house that allows you to enjoy this magical place that you'll certainly love.
• In February, the argan and almond trees in bloom enhance the beauty of the place.

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Day 04

Tafraoute and Ait Mansour Gorge Exploration

• Today, we are going to drive about 65 km heading south. Locked in a muscular red-granite mountain embrace and charming in a dusty, windswept sort of way, Tafraoute is worth all the effort and time it takes to reach -

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Day 05

Tafraoute to Sidi Ifni through the Anti-Atlas

• Today, we must say goodbye to the village surrounded by a wind-eroded, jagged panorama of red-granite tors, craggy brown cliffs, and rocks, and continue onward to the most romantic Art Deco military town ever built on a cliff-top site.
• A real Santa Cruz del Mar Pequeno,

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Day 06

Sidi Ifni to Agadir along the Atlantic Coast

• Set your compass north through the Atlantic coast to experience a wonderful day of driving by crossing a series of beautiful white beaches, with white and sometimes yellow wide curl sand dunes that vanish into the ocean's crashing waves and strong currents.
• Wrecks of boats make you think of the frequent travellers of the airmail. Mirleft is still a nice little place to hole up for a cup of mint tea, walk the dusty streets, and enjoy a carefree atmosphere.
• Then we continue via Tiznit, clean, neat, and tidy, and a good staging point en route to Agadir, the city that was completely rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in 1960, with its busy port and beach resort sprawling beneath its Kasbah.
• All of this combines to make it an excellent stopover en route to Essaouira.

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Day 07

Agadir to Essaouira via Taghazout and Sidi Kaouki

• We leave the city that spreads over a large area, both along the coast and inland from the huge swath of beach.
• We continue driving north by the Atlantic Ocean. There are sandy coves every few kilometres, and welcoming eateries make it a good road to take a break from time to time.
• After 12 km and 14 km, we pass by Aourir and Taghazout, Morocco's number-one surfing resort. A short way from here lies the wild beach of Sidi Kaouki, a chilled escape from Essaouira and one of Morocco's top windsurfing and surfing spots. It's not for the faint-hearted.
• Later, we reach the sleepy Berber village of Diabat, once a dope-smoking colony popular with hippies. Another 5 km, and we arrive in the beautifully named Essaouira, whose light and beauty have forever attracted artists.

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Day 08

Explore Essaouira and Return to Marrakesh

• If you could not explore Essaouira the previous day, you still have time for that today. You have a free morning to explore Jimi Hendrix's town before you head to Marrakech.
• After breakfast, you're free to roam in the city that once was, and still is, a haven for hippie backpackers and Gnawa musicians. You can book a local guide; if not, you can start your visit at the ramparts, a series of forts built in the 15th century around the Medina of Mogador.
• Inside the Medina, you'll have a chance to visit the Mellah (former Jewish quarter), as well as Morocco's 3rd fishing port, where you can enjoy a delicious fish meal.
• In the afternoon, you will head to Marrakech, and on your way towards the Red City, if you're lucky, you may have a chance to see the tree goats phenomenon.
• On arrival in Marrakech, quickly drop your baggage at the hotel and join the carnival night of the crazed cacophony of musicians, snake charmers, and vendors in the famed open-air Jemaa el-Fnaa square.

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Day 09

Guided Discovery of Marrakesh

• With your private Marrakech-born-and-bred guide, you embark on exploring the Red City from its old quarter, where the Medina's skinny lanes lead to lavish sites, tombs, and religious monuments decked out in marble.
• Bahia Palace, El Badi Palace, and the Saadian Tombs will be your targets. Afterwards, your driver/tour guide will pick you up for the outside-medina visit to explore the Majorelle Garden, Yves Saint Laurent Museum, and Berber Museum.
• While in Marrakech, you will surely encounter thousands of motorcyclists and horse carts roaming the city, some of them pulling over next to the vast square of Jemaa el-Fnaa, where it's carnival night every night and musicians, acrobats, storytellers, and slapstick acting troupes tap into the Medina's frenetic pulse.

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Day 10

Departure from Marrakesh

• You will be departing Morocco today. Pack your bags and make sure that your Morocco tour pictures are safely saved. We hope that you have taken some unique and beautiful pictures here in Morocco.
• Your driver/tour guide will be waiting to drive you to the airport.