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Day 1: Depart New York |
En Route |
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Depart on your overnight flight to Casablanca. |
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Day 2: Arrive Casablanca/Rabat |
Le Tour Hassan |
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Upon arrival, you are met and transferred to Casablanca for a brief city orientation tour including Morocco's newest landmark, the soaring Sultan Hassan Mosque. Other points of interest are Mohammed V Square, Central Market, Habous Quarter and the Royal Palace. Continue to Morocco's capital, Rabat, for overnight. |
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Day 3: Rabat/Fez |
Palais Jamais |
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Morning tour of Rabat, the Imperial Garden City. Capital of the Kingdom of Morocco, Rabat is the city of many faces: an old Roman port, an Almohad staging post for the invasion of Spain, a pirate base and since 1912, the administrative capital of Morocco. Within the Merenid walls of the Chellah are the most hauntingly beautiful ruins in Morocco. Set in a garden of tropical plants are the remains of ancient Roman Sala Colonia and the necropolis of the great Merenid leader, El Hassan. The tomb of the mighty "Black Sultan" lies in a small walled mausoleum, alongside his favorite wife, Shams ed Doura, an English convert to Islam. Lunch is at L'Entrecote. (B,L) |
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Day 4: Fez |
Palais Jamais |
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Today is your full day tour of the ancient city of Fez. It is the intellectual heart of Morocco and one of its oldest cities, established in 789. The world's largest university, the Karaouyine, lies at its core. Divided into three towns, Fes-el-Bali (old town) founded by Idriss I, Fes-el Jdid (new town) founded by Merenids in 1276, and the French-built Ville Nouvelle. The Palais Royal, a vast complex, features delicately engraved brass doors. Fez is also the capital of handicrafts. Its souks offer the finest Moroccan crafts you're likely to see with spices, gold, jewelry, rugs, pottery, leathers etc. These souks have been here for centuries, a living history that defies the outside world. Lunch is served at La Medina Restaurant. (B,L) |
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Day 5: Fez/Meknes/Volubilis/Fez |
Palais Jamais |
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Depart this morning for Meknes and Volubilis. En route visit Moulay Idriss, shrine of the founder of Fez. Its lavish decoration includes clocks and silverware. Continue to Meknes. Historically, Meknes rested in relative obscurity until 1672 when Moulay Ismail chose Meknes as his home. He built a colossal town to rival the Versailles court of his contemporary, Louis XIV. Bab Mansour is the symbol of Moulay Ismail's magnificent architectural vision. Drive to nearby Volubilis for lunch overlooking the spectacular Roman ruins. This is Morocco's most famous Roman town lying in a remarkable setting in the Meknes plain beneath the crags of the Zerehoun Mountains. Volubilis is rightly famous for its magnificent mosaics. (B,L) |
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Day 6: Fez |
Palais Jamais |
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Today is free. Return to the souk to continue practicing your negotiating skills! This evening is a special dinner at La Maison Bleue, once a private Moroccan house. (B,D) |
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Day 7: Fez/Midelt/Erfoud |
Desert Camp |
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Morning departure for the Middle Atlas, a region of folded mountains and high, windswept plateaus; of vast forests of cork oak and cedar, and lakes and streams full of trout; an area of warm, dry summers and very cold, snowy winters. This is Berber country and sheep and goat-rearing is the main occupation of these tough, friendly people. Drive via the Berber villages of Imouzzer du Kandar, Ifrane, a fairy-tale town unlike any other in Morocco with white-walled French-style villas with steep red roofs and gables, and Azrou. As the altitude increases, you come to a bare, arid, sandy plateau with another range of mountains in the distance, rising far more abruptly than the Middle Atlas, a thin cordillera, black and forbidding in summer, snow-capped in summer -- this is Jbel Ayache range. After lunch continue to Erfoud, an attractive town, red and sandy and exuding desert ambiance. Tonight is your luxury overnight desert camp in the Merzouga dunes. Rich carpets, comfortable beds and a performance by the famous "Blue Men" of Morocco all beneath the endless starry sky of the Atlas Mountains. Overnight in Desert Bivouac. (B,L,D) |
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Day 8: Erfoud/Tineghir/Ouarzazate |
Berbere Palace |
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Start today with a typical Moroccan breakfast. Early morning departure to see sunrise at Merzouga, the group of massive dunes surpassing all expectations. Depart for the Todra Gorge, one of Morocco's most spectacular sites. It is a vast fault in the plateau separating the High Atlas from the Jbel Sarhro -- two sheer cliffs over 1000 feet high separated by a narrow corridor only 60 feet wide -- an incredible site. Continue via Boumalne and El Kelaa, famous for its rose water, to the Dades Gorge, an enormous block of limestone slashed open by a giant saber. In this rough jagged universe the kasbahs take on the mauve red and tawny purple color of the rocks. The road becomes a dirt track, crosses the Dades, and winds its way upwards above an awesome canyon to another world where only the birds and wild sheep live. End your day in Ouarzazate (altitude 3500 ft), an important junction on the way to Marrakech. (B,L,D) |
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Day 9: Ouarzazate/Marrakech |
La Mamounia |
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Today tour the magnificent kasbahs. Kasbah Tifoultoute was built about 250 years ago and used to belong to the Pasha Glaoui. Kasbah Taourirt is considered to be one of the most beautiful kasbahs in Morocco consisting of a maze of luxury apartments, simple clay houses and crenelated towers lavishly decorated with geometric motifs. Ait Benhaddou is a spectacular fortified ksar with houses piled up around several decorated kasbahs, all seeming to defy the laws of gravity as they perch on steep mountain slopes. Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO world heritage site, is studded with crenelated towers and decorated with geometrical motifs. Continue via Tizi N'Tichka, at 7415 feet the highest pass in Morocco. In Marrakech your world famous hotel, La Mamounia, was favored by none other than Winston Churchill. Today, with its Art Deco opulence it is considered one of the finest hotels in the world. (B,L) |
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Day 10: Marrakech |
La Mamounia |
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Known as the "pearl of the south", Marrakech was founded by the Almoravides in the late 11th century. It is one of the world's great cities, a place of legend and popularity, that still remains charged with mystery. The surrounding countryside - flat plains fed by streams originating in the High Atlas and the great mountains towering over the whole of North Africa - provides an unforgettable backdrop to one of the greatest cities in Africa. Distinctly African in character with dry heat, myriad palm trees and deep red walls, it is a place to feel rather than see, to experience rather than visit. Sites in today's day tour include a visit to the Dar Si Said Museum, once the palace of Si Said, son of the family that ruled Marrakech in the late 1800's. Visit the Koutoubia with its lone minaret, the spiritual guardian of Marrakech, overlooking the mortal chaos of Jemaa el Fna. The Saadian Tombs remained hidden until a French aerial survey in 1917 revealed the collection of buildings obscured beneath a jungle of plants. Stroll through the Jemaa el Fna, the heart of Marrakech, and some would say of Morocco. Nowhere else in North Africa seems to posses the same hypnotic enchantment, the buzz of thronging crowds, the riot of color, smell and sound, and the sense of being on the edge of a private ritual. This vast square, ringed by cafes and grill restaurants, is home to Morocco's best street entertainers. The souks in Marrakech posses an animation and vitality that set them apart from all others in Morocco. The sights and scents are African-carpets from the southern oasis towns, silver from pre-Sahara and lizards from the hamada vie for your attention. (B,L) |
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Day 11: Marrakech |
La Mamounia |
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Today is incredible as you journey into the Middle Atlas Mountains in 4X4 vehicles to the Ouirgane Valley to experience the colorful local Berber market and stop for tea in the home of a local family. Lunch is at Residence de la Roseraie, a French count's secluded and charming hunting lodge. There is time for a delightful afternoon fragrance walk in the surroundings mountains or a dip in the beautiful pool. Late afternoon return to Marrakech. (B,L) |
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Day 12: Marrakech |
La Mamounia |
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A free final day to savor the wonders of the most intriguing city in all of North Africa. This evening is a special Farewell Dinner at Yacout Restaurant in the medina. (B,D) |
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Day 13: Marrakech/Casablanca/Depart |
En Route |
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Transfer to Marrakech Airport for your return flight to Casablanca, connecting with your departure flight. Bon Voyage! (B) |
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INCLUDED IN YOUR PROGRAM |
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• Accommodation as above including breakfast daily. |
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SORRY, NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR PROGRAM |
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• Cost of visas or departure taxes. |
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