10 Days Morocco Grand Tour —
The Complete Morocco Experience

Cross the High Atlas via Tizi n'Tichka (2,260m) — the most spectacular road in Morocco. Stop at Aït-Ben-Haddou, the UNESCO-listed ksar used in Gladiator, Game of Thrones and Lawrence of Arabia. Continue to Ouarzazate — explore the Taourirt Kasbah and Atlas Film Studios before dinner.

East along the Route des Kasbahs — a corridor of fortified mud towers. Stop at the photogenic Dades Gorge with its dramatic red-rock walls. Continue to Todra Gorge, where 300-metre limestone walls narrow to 10 metres. Across the Tafilalet plains to Merzouga as the first Erg Chebbi dunes appear on the horizon.

Wake before dawn to climb the Erg Chebbi dunes (150m) for one of Morocco's most extraordinary sunrises. Spend the morning exploring the dune village or taking a quad bike. At dusk, mount a camel and trek into the heart of the Sahara to your private desert camp. Dinner, Berber music and a sky blazing with stars.

Drive north through the Ziz Gorges and date-palm palmery. Lunch in Midelt at altitude. Then the Azrou cedar forest — Barbary macaques in ancient cedars. Cross alpine Ifrane (dubbed "Morocco's Switzerland") and descend into Fès by evening. Around 450km but endlessly varied.

A full day in Fès el-Bali — the world's largest car-free urban area and finest surviving medieval city. Local guide leads you through 9,000 lanes to the Chouara tanneries (dyeing pits unchanged for 10 centuries), Al-Quaraouiyine university (founded 859 AD), and the stunning Bou Inania madrasa. End with fresh-squeezed orange juice in a medina café.

Stop in Meknès — the forgotten imperial city — to walk the Bab Mansour gate and the enormous Moulay Ismail Mausoleum. Continue to Volubilis, Morocco's finest Roman ruins (a UNESCO site), with 2,000-year-old mosaics still vivid in the field. Then into the Rif Mountains and down to Chefchaouen by evening.

A full day in Chefchaouen — Morocco's most photogenic city, where every wall, step and door is painted in shades of cobalt and indigo. Explore the winding blue alleyways, the kasbah gardens and the morning market. Hike up to the Spanish mosque at dusk for the best panoramic view. The Rif light here is unlike anywhere else in Morocco.

Drive west to the Atlantic. Option to detour through Tangier — the legendary port city where Africa meets Europe, with its Kasbah and Petit Socco. Continue south along the Atlantic coast to Rabat — the Kasbah des Oudayas, the Chellah necropolis and the Mohammed V Mausoleum. Arrive in Rabat by early evening.

A short final drive south to Casablanca. Visit the Hassan II Mosque — the world's third-largest mosque, dramatically built over the Atlantic Ocean, open to non-Muslims for guided tours. Walk the Corniche, have a long lunch in the Art Deco city centre, then transfer to Casablanca Mohammed V Airport for your flight. Morocco, complete.