Morocco Encompassed Trip

For those who are eager to travel to Spain Morocco and Portugal. This Morocco Encompassed trip from Tangier offers the ideal balance of adventure and relaxation. With cozy lodging, informed guides, and smooth transportation. Set out on an attractive Morocco Encompassed trip through Morocco’s varied cultures and stunning landscapes. Beginning in the energetic city of Tangier. This extensive itinerary allows guests to fully immerse themselves in the captivating charm of Morocco.

Discover the quiet of traditional Berber populations, enjoy the tranquility of the Sahara Desert, and the flavorful delights of Moroccan cuisine. Take in the beautiful Atlas Mountains, and meander through the winding streets of Fez. This route highlights the most remarkable historic cities, charming natural wonders, and genuine cultural experiences that Morocco has to offer, from the busy souks of Marrakech to the tranquil coastal settlements of Essaouira.

Today, your 14 days Morocco Encompassed trip will start from Tangier through the Rif mountains and the white town of Tetouan, that’s spread out on a plateau on the edge of the Djebal Dersa hills whose naked summits surge up towards the sun. Lunch will be served in one of the best restaurants in Tetouan. After lunch keep enjoying the views of the beautiful mountains till we get to Chefchaouan one of the stunning villages at the feet of the Rif mountains.

Chefchaouen medina had a Spanish-style square surrounded by many funky arts and crafts stores, roof-top restaurants, and cafes where you will spend your night in a nice place to enjoy the breeze and the beauty of nature. Dinner and overnight in Chefchaouen.

Enjoy a royal breakfast with a panoramic view of Chefchaouen’s blue washed historic medina. Begin your guided tour by foot. Visit the kasbah museum. The kasbah of Chefchaouen belongs to the early 18th century, and was built by the legendary ruler Moulay Ismail. It is fairly simple without architectural surprises however it is surrounded by gardens on the interior and exterior. Inside the Kasbah, you will visit the ethnographic museum containing antique weapons, musical instruments, and photographs of the old town. Stop into the museum’s roof and take pictures of a panoramic view of the Hispanic flavored town lined with blue and white washed houses, tiny balconies, tiled roofs and patios embellished with citrus trees.

Next, visit the cobbled main square, Plaza Uta el-Hammam and where the striking 15th century Grand Mosque sits. The Mosque and its nearby buildings were built by Jewish refugees, who alongside Muslims escaped the Spanish persecution to Chefchaouen. Until the Spanish arrived in the 1920’s the town remained isolated and with the exception of three western men who snuck in. Try fresh goat cheese salad, a local Rif specialty, chicken pastilla or a lamb tajine with prunes. For dessert sit outside by the mulberry trees of Plaza Uta el- Hammam and enjoy local sweets from one of the cafes or browse the small shops famous for selling woven rugs, blankets and woolen goods.

After lunch go for a guided hike in the close-by green hillsides. In the evening it is possible to relax in hammam, a Moroccan spa experience. For dinner, you will dine at the Restaurant Tissemlal, a beautifully decorated old house with a French-Moroccan set menu. Dinner and overnight at a charming Boutique Riad or Hotel in Chefchaouen.

This morning after breakfast, we will travel to the nearby city Meknes, the third Imperial city of Morocco. Meknes is known as The Versailles of Morocco, for its elaborately decorated gateways. We will visit the Bab El Khamis and Bab El Mansour, two of the most beautiful gateways, and the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail. Later on, we will head to the village of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, a place of pilgrimage for Moroccans. We will stop here for lunch. Afterward we will explore the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city dates from the third century and is amazingly well preserved, including several mosaics. After this visit, we will continue our drive toward Fes where you will stay overnight in an authentic Moroccan riad.

Enjoy a full day sightseeing tour in Fes, which is the oldest of Morocco’s four “Imperial Cities”. The medieval city of Fes El Bali or “Old Fes” remains complete and is unspoiled. During your tour of this part of the town, you can visit the exotic Bou Inania Medersa, the Medina and the Kairaouine Mosque, where you may take photos of the wonderful courtyard from the main gate. The university of the same name, founded by Fatima Al Fihri in 859, is said to be the oldest university in the world. In the afternoon, you can visit Fes El Jdid, or “New Fes” and the Museum of Moroccan Arts. The overnight in the riad.

Today, your Morocco Encompassed trip will starts from your hotel or riad in Fez driving across the Middle Atlas and cedar forest. Along the way we pass through Ifrane, which is a famous ski resort, then Midelt, famous for minerals and apples. Midelt is a classic Moroccan town located in the high plains between the Middle Atlas and High Atlas mountain ranges. It serves as the commercial center of a large agricultural hinterland. It is also one of Morocco’s principle cities for the mining of several minerals. Dinner and overnight in Midelt.

After breakfast we hit the road via Ziz valley to reach Erfoud, famous for Fossil products, and then to Rissani. Next, once we arrive to Erg Chebbi desert where we will meet our camel man and prepare for a camel ride across the Merzouga sand dunes during sunset, enjoy some local music around fire and sleep in the Sahara Desert Luxury Camp. Dinner and overnight in Merzouga.

Today it worth waking up early in the morning so you can experience the beauty of a desert sunrise and the amazing silence of the Sahara, this is a wonderful time to experience the silence and the changing colors as the sun rises on the dunes. After coming back to the camp where breakfast will be waiting and a hot shower to freshen you up for the day’s adventure, you will then ride your camel back to the departure point.

We will pick you up and start your Merzouga desert tour exploring all interesting sites around Erg Chebbi dunes such as the seasonal Lake of Merzouga named “Lake Sirji”, Khamlia village for GNAWA music, Mines for a variety of stones called “Mefes” to nomad families ending it in a swimming pool in the village or Quad experience in Erg Chebbi high dunes. Dinner and overnight at a luxury desert camp in Merzouga.

Wake up early to watch a spectacular sunrise over the dunes, before being escorted back to Merzouga offroading by our 4WD vehicle. We head toward Rissani’s souk, which marked as the biggest souk in the area. Donkeys, mules, sheep and goats are enclosed in corrals. Stalls are piled with shining pyramids of dates, as well as with vegetables and spices. Beneath roofs made of palmmatting and narrow pisé alleyways, jewellery, daggers, carpets, woven palm fibre baskets, pottery and fine local leather items, made from goat skins tanned with tamarisk bark, are laid out for sale.

From here we drive to Erfoud the capital of fossils in Morocco. Once arriving to Erfoud we’ll visit Brahim Tahiri’s private museum for an introduction to Moroccan fossils. Scientifically significant specimens are shown alongside lesser counterparts for sale in the shop. Brahim’s efforts to raise awareness of Morocco’s rich geological heritage have even resulted in the naming of his own trilobite, Asteropyge tahiri. Lunch will be in Tinejdad before access to Todra Gorges with 300 m Sheer cliffs, high rise up dramatically each side of the narrow corridor.

Dinner and overnight in Tinghir, the very resonance of the name plunges us into a scene of souks and markets, with a mixture of smiles and gestures, you can acquire some fine piece of old jewellery or a magnificient gun.

After breakfast in Tinghir you are going to cross Saghro mountains which have the appearance of a destroyed environment, with flat reliefs, rocky hills, volcanic spines, and basalt summits. Continue to Tazarine via Ikniouen. Once arriving to Tazarine a dusty off road will take you to local prehistoric rock engravings in Ait Ouazik that is full of rocks with carved inscriptions on them.

These rock carvings are the remains of an ancient people living in this region at that time. Rock carvings showing us a totally different environment than the arid dry Sahara of present day. On these rocks you will find animals of the Savanna such as Gazelles, Ostriches, rhinos and elephants. Also you will find intricate interlace lines and circular patterns, which are out of place and unknown.

Lunch will be served in a local restaurant in or near Tazarine. After lunch we drive to Zagora which is established by the French authorities during the Protectorate, Zagora is the most convenient base for exploring the region. The sign saying “Timbuctu, 52 Days by Camel” evokes the great age of the trans-Saharan caravans, although the illusion is spoiled by the presence of the large concrete Préfecture behind it. Dinner and overnight in Zagora.

After breakfast, your Morocco Encompassed trip takes you west through another 90 klm of the desert with varying scenery: Lake Iriqui, where you are likely to experience a wide mirage in the heat, the mountains and the fossils. Lunch will be in Foum Zguid, the first village after the desert. Take the route west and soon reach the village of Tazenakht, very famous for its huge selection of Berber rugs and it is the destinations of different merchants who sell rugs in different other Moroccan cities. Reach Taroudant at the end of the afternoon. Dinner and accommodation in a beautiful hotel at the Medina or the Palme groove nearby.

After breakfast in Taroudant, have a caleche ride around the city walls and/or browse the souks for the best argan oil or honey in Morocco. About 19 km north of Agadir is Taghazout, a fishing village that is popular with surfers. It was also colonized by the hippie movement, and on the way out of Taghazoute, you can see curious signs saying “Banana Village” and “Paradise Valley” names that were originally given by those who followed in the footsteps of Jimi Hendrix in the 1970s. Follow the Atlantic coast all the way to Essaouira and admire the goats up in the trees as you approach the wind city.

Dinner and accommodation at a beautiful riad in the Medina. Dinner and overnight in Essaouira.

Essaouira with the brilliant whiteness of its lime-washed walls and the sight of women enveloped in voluminous haiks, Essaouira, formerly Mogador, is a quint essentially Moroccan town and one of the most enchanting places in the country. By virtue of its location on this stretch of the Atlantic coast, where trade winds prevail almost all year-round, the town enjoys a particularly pleasant climate. It is a prime location for surfing, but has managed to escape mass tourism. A mecca for hippies during the 1970s, it is still an artists town and is very fashionable with independent travellers. Today you will have the chance to spend the day wandering around the stunning medina with its white washed houses, art galleries, fishing port, food stalls, European fortifications and it is all around farniente vibe. Accommodation as previously, dinner on your own.

After breakfast your driver will pick up you from your accommodation and drive about 3H. Reach Marrakech which lies in a lush plain with the snowy High Atlas Mountains as a backdrop. Marrakech was founded in 1062 by Almoravids from the Sahara. You will spend today visiting many of the important sites. We will discuss it beforehand with our guide but these might include.

Set in a gorgeous complex of gardens, the 16th-century dynastic tombs of the Saadiens are among the finest examples of medieval Islamic art, not only for the dazzling stucco decoration but also for the finely carved cedar ceilings. Koutoubia Mosque is the largest in Marrakech and is celebrated for its splendid minaret, the oldest of the three Almohad minarets left in the world today.

We will walk by the entrance façade of the Royal Palace, and stop to see the remains of the Badi Palace. Although stripped of its finery, enough remains of the palace to appreciate the grandeur that once would have been revealed. Built in the early 12th century, Koubba Baadiyn is the oldest building in Marrakech and the only Almoravid edifice to survive intact in Morocco. The decorative art represents Almoravid art at its peak. We will jump to the 19th century when we visit Bahia Palace, an excellent example of the style of the wealthy who lived at that time.

Marrakech is noted for its many fine gardens. Majorelle Garden was the artistic achievement of Jacques Majorelle, and in 1980 the property was sold to Yves Saint-Laurent who restored it. We will stroll through luxurious foliage with streams and water lily-filled pools strikingly enhanced by cobalt blue walls to the Islamic Art Museum that houses North African artifacts from Saint Laurent’s personal collection. Dinner on your own. Then the driver will escort you to your riad.

Today your Morocco Encompassed trip comes to an end. After breakfast your driver wil escort you to the train station and travel back to your starting point in tangier.