Morocco Hinterland Expedition

Upon your arrival at Casablanca Airport, our friendly guide will be there to welcome you and ensure your smooth transfer to the hotel. The morning is yours to relax and acclimate, while the afternoon is dedicated to exploring the wonders of Tangier. You'll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of the Kasbah and El Grand Soco, Merchan Old City, and M’sella Quarter. After a day of adventure, you'll be treated to a delicious dinner and a comfortable overnight stay at the Solazure Hotel.

Prepare to be enchanted as we take you to the picturesque city of Tetouan. Here, you'll have the chance to explore the marvels of Moroccan white towns, traditional fishing ports, Rif Mountains' evergreen red cedar forests, and the unique Berber villages that are a hallmark of this undiscovered region. As the day draws to a close, you'll find yourself in the breathtaking mountain town of Chefchaouen, with its vibrant aura of beauty and charm. Explore the city's monuments and market, and then retreat to your hotel for a night of rest and rejuvenation.

Your driver will take you on a day trip to visit historic sites and fascinating towns on the road to Fez. Visit the highlights of Meknes via Volubilis and Moulay Idris. This excursion embodies much of Morocco's early history: Volubilis was its Roman provincial capital, and Moulay Idris created its first Arab dynasty. Continue to Fez, dinner, and accommodation at Hotel Merinides.

The most ancient of imperial capitals and the most complete medieval city of the Islamic world, Fez is undeniably unique. Culturally and spiritually stimulating with its haunting and beautiful sounds, infinite visual details, and unfiltered odors, Fez seems to exist suspended in time somewhere between the Middle Ages and modern times. Besides its electricity, it owes absolutely nothing to the West. As a spectacle, this is an entirely satisfying experience and a learning process about the sophistication of the Moroccan artisan. In the morning, we visited essential sites such as the Bouinania Medersa, the Moulay Idris Mausoleum, the Karaouiyine Mosque, the Attarine Medersa, and the Nejjarine Museum. Lunch in a typical Moroccan restaurant and continue exploring the Medina in the afternoon. Dinner and accommodation are at the hotel.

We will start the day with an excursion to the ancient city of Sefrou. The town that thrived in Phoenician and Roman times was an outpost that linked Africa to Europe for trade. Caravans used to meet there to exchange goods and Vehicles from camel to mule. An old trade outpost of sub-Saharan origin, it is also a three-thousand-year-old spiritual center with many Judaic roots. Shrines and notable places around the city are pilgrimage sites to Moroccan Jews today. After hiking a little Middle Atlas to explore these landscapes, we will visit Bhallil to visit the troglodyte dwellings that have existed since Neolithic times and still serve the purpose. Return to Fez for dinner and accommodation.

The first hills you see of the Middle Atlas seem oddly un-Moroccan. Evergreen pines, tall cedar trees on the peaks, and poplars stand copiously on the foothills, laced with flowing streams. The road across is almost ceremonial. Azrou, the first real town of the Middle Atlas, stands at a significant junction of routes. It's an important market center and has long held a strategic role in controlling the Berbers of the mountains. The Middle Atlas ceases at Midelt, where suddenly, through the haze, the much greater peaks of the High Atlas formidably rise behind the town to reach a massive range, the Dgebel Ayashi at over 12,000 ft. The drama of this sight, tremendous in the apparent, calm noon, is the most compelling reason to stop over for lunch. Erfoud is one of the most pleasing southern routes: a dry, red belt of desert, and then suddenly, a drop into the valley filled with date palm groves. Dinner accommodations are at camp with the Tuaregs over the dunes of Merzouga. You can ride your camel to camp or hop in our Land Rover to cruise these gigantesque dunes.

An experience not to be missed is watching the sunrise from the spectacular Merzouga dunes of the Sahara, which are so beautiful that no words can describe them. Breakfast with the Touaregs and continue to explore the holy ancient city of Rissani. A special visit will be offered to you for the Grand Fossils workshops. Later in the day, you will visit quarrels of fossils and natural sites. Dinner and accommodation are in Erfoud.

The highest and narrowest gorges in the region are Todras, only 15 km from Tineghir. Traveling through the Dades valley in spring, you will find the bloom of thousands of Persian roses filling up the air with an ethereal aroma certainly from heaven - cultivated as hedgerows dividing the different plots. Thousands of Kasbahs scattered surreally as sandcastles standing erect in the shadow of time along the Dades River—dinner and accommodation at Hotel Bougafer in Tineghir.

Travel in the morning to Zagora, exploring the marvels of the Anti-Atlas Mountains and the beauty of the Draa Valley oases and Kasbahs. Stop in Agdez and other sun-baked mud hamlets of small villages among this giant belt of continuous oases worldwide—dinner and lodging at the Tinsouline Hotel.

This is a fascinating full-day excursion to the natural gateway of the Moroccan Saharan Desert. We will drive through the lowlands and then along the mountain passes to Tamegroute. There, we will stop to visit the famous Moorish Koranic Library, which has rare books and documents, some written on gazelle hide from the 13th century. We will return to Zagora.

Travel between the Sahara and the Atlas Mountains across some of the most remote and breathtaking landscapes in the Sahara desert to reach the Oasis of Foum Zguid, where the horizons stretch the imagination to a feeling of vastness and isolation of the Sahara desert. After lunch, we will cruise to Tata, where we will enjoy a night in a typical Kasbah raised from the ground to challenge the tallest palm trees.

After breakfast, we will travel the Bedouin Caravan Trails west to Guelmime, an ancient trade outpost, and the exotic oases of Goulimine. Caravans still gather once a year to buy, sell, and barter from major sub-Saharan countries in the Sahel and West Africa, sometimes even from East Africa, a journey that takes months to sail the vast desert of the Sahara.

Travel in the morning from the best oasis of Goulimine to the Jewel of southwestern Morocco, the magnificent Tiznit. Named after a woman who has marked the Moroccan myths, the “Seductive,” Tiznit still lives up to the reputation of its founder. Lunch on the road in some of the best eateries this well-cultured region of Souss offers in its varied staples of Berber tagines cooked in earthen pots like ancient ancestors did. Dinner and accommodation are at Hotel Tiznit.

Travel from the stark desert to the High Atlas Mountains lush plateaus, where this ancient village is nestled among almond groves. The afternoon will be devoted to the natural sites and Neolithic rock carvings this region is known for. A natural library scattered over these slopes has a rich archive of mankind's ancient history. Dinner and Lodging are at the Hotel Les Amadiers.

We will travel across great Berber villages known for their distinguished beauty, primarily through Ait Baha, which overlooks a valley with a unique rock formation. At the gate of the rich valley of Souss, we will reach the walled medieval city of Taroudant. Dinner and accommodation will be at a dignitary dwelling converted in our days to an atmospheric and intimate guesthouse, Riad Ennakhil.

Explore the city surrounded by regal, red-ochre walls, often called “Little Marrakech.” With its authenticity and conservative style, Taroudant today surpasses Marrakech's charm and beauty in the eyes of many discoverers, making it a day to enjoy the colorful pallets of a typical Moroccan city.

Depart to Imlil via Asni and Tizi n’Test pass at 11,000 ft. in an impressive site dividing these mountains in two distinct aspects. One side acts as a shield to protect the hinterland from the Sahara's harsh and dry expansion; the other side collects the moisture of the Gherbi winds from the Atlantic Ocean, soft and evergreen. Such is the life of the Berber dwellers, a day of mountain hiking through the high peaks and deep valleys. This is an experience to treasure for a lifetime. Overnight and dinner will be at a guesthouse.

The morning will be devoted to trekking in the Toubkal plateau. After lunch, we will proceed to Marrakech to visit cliff-hanging villages and wards like Asni and Tahnaout. Arrival in Marrakech, the "Morocco City," as the early travelers called it, has always been a pleasure city, a marketplace where the southern tribesmen and Berber villagers bring in their goods, spend their money, and find entertainment. For tourists, it's an enduring fantasy - a city of immense beauty, low, pink, and tent-like before a great shaft of mountains, and immediately exciting—visit the famous Jemaa El Fna square. Dinner will be in a typical Marrakesh restaurant and overnight at the hotel.

In the morning, I was devoted to discovering the historical sites, visiting the Menara irrigation pools, Bab Agnaw Gate, the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace, the Badia Palace, and the Dar Si Said Museum. In the afternoon, I explored the vibrant souks of Marrakech. Dinner Fantasia will be reserved for you at a typical festivity of neighboring tribal dances and spectacular displays of horsemanship. Overnight will be at the Hotel.

Travel to Essaouira (Mogador), apart from the immediate impact of sea air and the friendly animation of the town, the predominant images of Essaouira are of the Atlantic - of the ragged coast and offshore islands, the vast expanse of empty sands trailing back along the peninsula to the south, and the almost Gothic scenery of the eighteen-century fortifications. Lunch will be at Chalet de la Mer restaurant overlooking the ocean. Dinner and accommodations are at Hotel Des Iles.

Travel to Casablanca via El Jadida and stop at El Oualidia for a seafood lunch. Drive along the coastline to El Jadida to visit the citadel, a relic of the Portuguese occupation during the 11th century. Continue to Casablanca with the accomplished feeling that you have traveled in the same footsteps of antiquity, leaving you with an immediate nostalgia for this hospitable land. Goodbye, dinner, and overnight at the hotel.

Morning Departure to Mohamed V Airport to connect to your flight back home