7 Day Morocco Tour: Imperial Cities to Sahara Desert

Depart Chefchaouen for a day of history. First stop: Volubilis, a stunningly preserved Roman city from the 3rd century BCE. Walk among the columns, mosaics and public baths of what was once Rome's remote southern outpost.

Continue to Meknes, an imperial city with a calmer soul than Fes — real Moroccan hospitality in the souks, the imposing Bab al-Mansour gate, and the elegant Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail.

Arrive in Fes late afternoon. Drive up to the Merenid Tombs for a panoramic view timed with the sunset call to prayer echoing across the medina below — a highlight of any 7 day Morocco tour. Dinner and overnight at a riad in Fes.

Today you dive deep into Fes el Bali — the oldest imperial city in Morocco and the most complete medieval city in the Arab world, virtually unchanged for a millennium. With your local Fes guide, walk in through the iconic blue gate at Bab Boujeloud and onto Talâa Kebira, the main artery of the medina.

Visit the Chouara Tannery, where stone pots of natural dyes and traditions unchanged for centuries. Climb a nearby leather shop's rooftop for the classic view. Continue to the 14th-century Al Attarine Madrasa, a jewel of zellij tilework, and the nearby Al-Qarawiyyin University — the world's oldest continuously operating university, founded in 859 AD.

Optional: add a Moroccan cooking class in the afternoon. Otherwise wander the souks, sink into a hammam, and dine on a rooftop overlooking the medina at night.

An early breakfast in Fes, then south through the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas — you may spot Barbary macaques near Ifrane. Continue via the pre-Saharan town of Erfoud, famous for its black fossil marble; stop at a local workshop to see the fossil-cutting.

Arrive at the edge of the desert at Merzouga as the light turns gold. Check in at a desert inn, then mount your camel for an unforgettable trek deep into the Erg Chebbi dunes. Dinner prepared over an open fire at your private desert camp, music around the fire, sleep under a Milky Way of stars.

Sunrise over the Erg Chebbi from your camp, breakfast and hot shower back at the desert inn. Depart west and stop at Rissani — a historic market town where the ruling Alawite dynasty was founded — for the busy weekly souk.

Continue to the dramatic red walls of the Todra Gorge, one of Morocco's deepest canyons, and lunch beneath the cliffs. Drive on through the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs, past ochre-red fortified villages, to arrive in Ouarzazate — Morocco's "Hollywood" — late afternoon.

Morning at the Kasbah Ait Ben Haddou — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Morocco's most photogenic earthen ksar. Backdrop for Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, The Mummy, and Game of Thrones. Walk the labyrinth of mud-brick alleys with your guide.

Cross the High Atlas over the Tizi n'Tichka Pass — panoramic mountain views the whole way — arriving in Marrakech mid-afternoon. Check in at your riad in the medina. Free evening to shop, hammam, or dine on a rooftop overlooking the Koutoubia minaret.

Meet your local Marrakech guide for a half-day walking tour of the Red City. See the exquisite zellij and stucco of the Ben Youssef Madrasa, the towering Koutoubia Mosque minaret, and the layered souks of the medina — spices, leather, textiles, brass and lanterns.

End at Jemaa el-Fna square as the food stalls light up. Free afternoon to explore at your own pace. Airport drop-off whenever your onward flight leaves.