Amazing 12-day tour Tangier to Marrakech

About This Tour

12 days - 11 nights · Tangier → Marrakech

This 12 days - 11 nights private tour begins in Tangier and ends in Marrakech, and it is run for your party alone: your own driver-guide, your own vehicle, no group to keep up with and no fixed departure date.

Along the way it takes in Tangier, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, Chefchaouen, the blue-washed town in the Rif mountains and the Roman ruins of Volubilis, with mosaics still in place where the houses stood.

The Sahara is the centre of the trip: a camel ride into the dunes of Erg Chebbi for sunset, dinner and a night at a desert camp, and sunrise back over the sand the next morning.

The itinerary below is the one most travellers follow, but none of it is fixed. Days can be added or dropped, the pace slowed, and the accommodation moved up or down to suit you. Tell us your dates and what you want to see, and we will send a plan and a price for your own group.

Tour Highlights

The best of this journey

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Amazing 12-day tour Tangier to Marrakech

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Tour Itinerary

Day by day, 12 days

• Iti1

  Day 1: Tangier; Welcome to Morocco!

  Welcome to Morocco. On arrival in Tangier — by air or by ferry from Spain — your driver will meet you and transfer you to your hotel or riad.

  Depending on your arrival time, you’ll take a first look at the city: the medina, the Kasbah and the views over the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. Overnight in Tangier.

  Accommodation: La Maison De Tangier, Tangier — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti2

  Day 2: Tangier → Tetouan → Chefchaouen:

  After breakfast you’ll drive along the coast to Tetouan, the “White Dove,” whose UNESCO-listed medina still shows its Andalusian roots in the whitewashed lanes and the Spanish-era quarter.

  You’ll then climb into the Rif mountains to Chefchaouen, Morocco’s famous blue town, with the afternoon free to wander its painted lanes. Dinner and overnight in Chefchaouen.

  Hoy hay distancia, pero compensa: la carretera recorre Tangier, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and Chefchaouen, the blue-washed town in the Rif mountains.

  Because nobody else is on the vehicle, stops happen when you want them, whether for photographs, a coffee or simply to stretch.

  Accommodation: Dar Echchaouen, Chefchaouen — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti3

  Day 3: Chefchaouen → Ancient Roman City Volubilis → Meknes → Fes:

  Leaving the Rif, you’ll travel south to Volubilis, the best-preserved Roman city in Morocco and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its mosaics, capitol and triumphal arch.

  You’ll continue to Meknes, the imperial city of Moulay Ismail, to see the Bab Mansour gate, the royal granaries and El-Hedim square, arriving in Fes for dinner and an overnight stay.

  Hoy hay distancia, pero compensa: la carretera recorre Chefchaouen, the blue-washed town in the Rif mountains and the Roman ruins of Volubilis, with mosaics still in place where the houses stood.

  Because nobody else is on the vehicle, stops happen when you want them, whether for photographs, a coffee or simply to stretch.

  Accommodation: Riad Fes Salam, Fes — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti4

  Day 4: Fes Sightseeing with a Local guide

  A full guided day in Fes, Morocco’s oldest imperial city and its spiritual heart. With a local guide you’ll explore Fes el-Bali — a UNESCO World Heritage medina of some 9,000 lanes.

  You’ll visit the Al-Qarawiyyin, the Bou Inania and Attarine madrasas, the famous Chouara tanneries and the artisan quarters of coppersmiths, weavers and potters, with time to browse the souks. Overnight in Fes.

  A local guide who lives in the city walks you through it on foot, which is the only way the medina makes sense.

  In Fes that means Fes el-Bali, the walled medina founded in the ninth century, the Chouara tanneries seen from the terraces above, the Al-Qarawiyyin mosque and university, and the mosaic and brass workshops still working in the lanes.

  Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world, which is why the whole day is walked and why a guide is worth having.

  The medina holds some nine thousand lanes, and the ones that matter are the ones a local knows: the brass beaters, the dyers' souk, the bread ovens.

  Accommodation: Riad Fes Salam, Fes — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti5

  Day 5: Fes → Azrou cedar forest → Midelt → Merzouga (Erg Chebbi Dunes):

  Today you cross the Middle Atlas toward the Sahara, passing alpine-style Ifrane and stopping in the Azrou cedar forest to meet its wild Barbary macaques.

  Continuing via Midelt and the palm-lined Ziz Valley, the landscape turns Saharan. In the late afternoon you’ll reach Merzouga for a sunset camel trek over the Erg Chebbi dunes to your desert camp — dinner, Berber drums and a night beneath the stars.

  The desert takes the second half of the day: a camel ride into the dunes timed for the light, with the sand turning from gold to deep orange as the sun drops.

  Dinner is at camp under a sky with no light pollution at all, usually with drums around the fire, and the night is spent in a tent before the sunrise back over the dunes.

  Dinner at camp is tagine cooked over the fire, and the drums usually come out once the plates are cleared.

  Sunrise over the dunes comes early but nobody regrets it: the light arrives before the heat, and the sand is still cold underfoot.

  Accommodation: Tawada Desert Camp, Erg Chebbi — or similar Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
• Iti6

  Day 6: Merzouga Area → Camel Trek And Overnight In The Camp:

  A full day in the Sahara. After sunrise over the dunes and breakfast at camp, you’ll explore the Merzouga region by 4x4: the village of Khamlia, home to Gnaoua musicians of Malian descent, nomad families still living out in the desert, and the old Mfis mines.

  Late in the afternoon you’ll ride out again by camel to watch the sun set from a high dune, returning to camp for dinner and a second night in the Erg Chebbi dunes.

  A full day out in the Sahara: the nomad families who still live in the black tents around the erg, the old Mascara galleries where kohl was mined, the village of Khamlia and its Gnawa musicians, whose sung history came north with the caravans from Mali.

  The nomad families around the erg still move with their herds and still take visitors in for tea, which is a real household rather than a display.

  The fossil beds around Erfoud were a shallow sea 400 million years ago, and the black marble cut there is full of orthoceras and trilobites.

  Khamlia was settled by descendants of people brought north along the caravan routes from Mali, and its Gnawa music carries that history in the rhythm.

  Accommodation: Tawada Desert Camp, Erg Chebbi — or similar Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
• Iti7

  Day 7: Merzouga → Rissani → Todgha Gorges → Dades Valley:

  After breakfast you’ll head west, stopping at the lively souk of Rissani — one of the region’s oldest markets — and the Tafilalet palm groves.

  You’ll reach Tinghir and the Todgha Gorge, where cliffs nearly 300 metres high enclose a cool river, perfect for a short walk. The day ends in the green Dades Valley, with dinner and an overnight stay in a local hotel or riad.

  E um dia de estrada no melhor sentido: a paisagem muda a toda a hora e passa-se por Merzouga, the last village before the sand and Rissani, the old caravan capital of Sijilmassa and its covered souk.

  Le soste le decidete voi: un punto panoramico, un caffe lungo la strada, un paese che merita dieci minuti a piedi.

  Accommodation: Riad Paradise Dades, Dades Valley — or similar Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
• Iti8

  Day 8: Dades valley → Skoura → Ouarzazate → Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah → Marrakech:

  You’ll follow the Road of a Thousand Kasbahs through the Dades Valley and the Rose Valley of Kalaat M’Gouna to the palm oasis of Skoura, and on to Ouarzazate, “the Hollywood of Africa,” with its Taourirt Kasbah and Atlas Film Studios.

  Then comes the fortified ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site seen in Gladiator and Game of Thrones. After lunch you’ll cross the High Atlas via the Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m) to Marrakech for dinner and an overnight stay.

  Hoy hay distancia, pero compensa: la carretera recorre the Dades gorge, where the road folds back on itself between walls of red rock and the Skoura oasis and its scattering of old kasbahs among the palms.

  Because nobody else is on the vehicle, stops happen when you want them, whether for photographs, a coffee or simply to stretch.

  Accommodation: Riad Aslal, Marrakech — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti9

  Day 9: Marrakech → Essaouira → Marrakech:

  A day trip west to Essaouira, the breezy Atlantic port. On the way you’ll stop at a women’s argan oil cooperative and, with luck, see goats perched in the argan trees.

  In Essaouira you’ll walk the blue-and-white medina, the ramparts and the old Portuguese Skala fortress, with free time on the beach and a fresh fish lunch by the harbour before returning to Marrakech in the evening.

  Today is on foot with a licensed local guide, because the old city is a place you have to be walked through to understand.

  In Marrakech that usually means the Koutoubia minaret, the Bahia palace, the Saadian tombs and the souks behind Jemaa el-Fna, ending in the square itself as the food stalls are lit.

  The Bahia palace was built for a grand vizier who wanted every room to open onto a courtyard, and its painted cedar ceilings took craftsmen years.

  The Saadian tombs sat walled up and forgotten until 1917, which is why the tilework inside survived as well as it did.

  Accommodation: Riad Aslal, Marrakech — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti10

  Day 10: Marrakech ( Visit The City With A Local Guide )

  A guided day in Marrakech, the Red City. With a local guide you’ll explore the medina and its landmarks — the Koutoubia minaret, the Saadian Tombs, the Bahia Palace and the Ben Youssef Madrasa.

  You’ll wander the souks and finish at Jemaa el-Fna, the great square that fills each evening with food stalls, musicians and storytellers. Overnight in Marrakech.

  A local guide who lives in the city walks you through it on foot, which is the only way the medina makes sense.

  In Marrakech that usually means the Koutoubia minaret, the Bahia palace, the Saadian tombs and the souks behind Jemaa el-Fna, ending in the square itself as the food stalls are lit.

  Jemaa el-Fna is worth timing for dusk, when the food stalls are lit and the storytellers and musicians take over the square.

  The Koutoubia minaret sets the scale for the whole city: no building in the old town is allowed to stand higher than the palm trees around it.

  Accommodation: Riad Aslal, Marrakech — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti11

  Day 11: Marrakech → Casablanca:

  After breakfast you’ll travel north to Casablanca, Morocco’s cosmopolitan business capital, arriving around midday.

  You’ll visit the vast Hassan II Mosque, whose minaret rises 210 metres above the Atlantic, with time along the seafront corniche or in the Habous quarter. Dinner and overnight in Casablanca.

  Accommodation: Val D'Anfa, Casablanca — or similar Meals: Breakfast
• Iti12

  Day 12: Casablanca Departure:

  After breakfast, and depending on your flight time, you’ll have a last chance to explore Casablanca or pick up souvenirs.

  Your driver will then transfer you to Casablanca Mohammed V airport, where your 12-day tour from Tangier comes to an end.

  Departure: Departure day — transfer to the airport

What the Price Includes

Everything covered in the price

If this itinerary does not quite match what you had in mind, tell us your ideas and we will rebuild it around them.

Tour Map

Tangier → Marrakech

Know Before You Go

Practical travel notes

• The cost of your tour varies depending on the number of participants in your group.
• The estimated driving durations do not include stops for sightseeing, photos, or meals, so plan accordingly.
• Our comfortable 4x4 vehicles seat up to four adults. For groups of five or larger, we provide a spacious van.
• Sandboards are available at your Luxury Desert Camp for you to enjoy at any time during your stay.