7 DAY CHRISTMAS EVE TOUR FROM CASABLANCA TO MARRAKECH & FES & MERZOUGA & DESERT and CHEFCHAOUEN

Day 1: Casablanca - Chefchaouen

our guide TRAVEL GUIDE MOROCCO will be there to meet you to start your tour. Once we leave the city, we have a drive of around five hours to reach Chefchaouen. If you have an early arrival, we could include a tour of the Hassan II Mosque. We travel north along the Atlantic coast to reach the imperial city and capital of Rabat where we could stop for a lunch break if you would like to. Continuing we reach the forested mountainsides and lakes that mean we are nearing the blue city of Chefchaouen. You will be staying in a typical hotel and have the evening free to explore.

Day 2: Explore Chefchaouen and drive to Fes via Volubilis

Today you have the morning free to discover this magical medina with its unique cityscape. After lunch, we depart and travel to visit the Roman ruins at Volubilis; an important city with many well preserved artefacts. Travelling through fertile farmlands and villages, we arrive at the ancient city of Fes and its medieval medina. Here you will be spending the night with dinner and breakfast.

Day 3: Explore Fes with local guide

One of the local city guides will come to your hotel in the morning and you will start your tour of Fes. You will be visiting a ceramic workshop and take a drive to have a panoramic view of the medina. Inside the walls, you will be visiting some of the most important sights including the golden doors of the royal palace, as well as the souks and artisan workshops. In the afternoon, you return to your hotel.

Day 4: Fes - Ifrane - Azrou - Midelt - Ziz Valley - Erfoud - Merzouga

Leaving Fes, we travel up into the great cedar forests with its alpine towns of Ifrane and Azrou. In the forest you will certainly catch a glimpse of the Barbary monkeys that live there. Midelt is called the Apple capital as it grows a great many varieties. Lunch will be in this town. From here the landscapes change many times more, passing great rivers, mountains and palm groves. The Ziz Valley is an impressive sight. Next stop is in the fossil and mineral workshops of Erfoud. This region has unearthed many amazing fossils and even dinosaur bones. You will start to notice the colours changing and soon you will see the dunes in the distance. When you arrive in Merzouga, a welcome glass of mint tea will be waiting at your hotel. Relax and enjoy your time, take a walk in the area and soak up the desert silence.

Day 5: Explore Merzouga with 4x4 - Camel Trekking and night in the Desert

After breakfast, we set off for a desert adventure to discover the oases, mines, Nomadic people and visit the village of Khamlia to listen to some very special gnawa music. In the afternoon, you will meet your camel team and prepare for the ride across the dunes. You will spend the night in a nomadic camp with dinner and music round the campfire. This is an unforgettable experience and if the stars are out, they will be incredible.

Day 6: Merzouga - Rissani - Todra Gorge - Dades Gorge

An early wake-up call ensures you don´t miss the desert sunrise; this is a magical sight worth waiting for. Returning by camel to the hotel, you can shower and have breakfast before departing. Leaving the desert behind, we stop first in the trading market town of Rissani where you can visit its colourful souks. The nearby ruined city of Sijilmassa formed an important part of the history of this region. We travel westwards to Tinejdad and to Tinghir passing palm groves and adobe villages. From here, we drive up into the mountains to see one of nature’s wonders; Todra Gorge, this 300 metre high fault has at its feet, a crystal clear river which carved its way through the mountain to form this gorge. Returning to the valley, we continue to Boumalne Dades and take the road up to discover another amazing wonder in Dades Gorge. Here you will spend the night in a local guesthouse with dinner and breakfast.

Day 7: Dades Gorge - Rose Valley - Ouarzazate - Ait Ben Haddou Kasbah - High Atlas - Marrakech

After breakfast, we will take you to see the incredible rock formations and hidden kasbahs in this gorge. Returning to Dades Valley, we continue our journey passing many adobe kasbahs and the rose valley where they grow the Damascus rose and process the flowers for many different products. Leaving this valley, we pass the ancient palm grove of Skoura with some impressive kasbahs and arrive in Ouarzazate; the cinema capital. Here there are several cinema studios where movies like Cleopatra were made. We continue to reach the famous Ksar of Ait Benhaddou which was used in the movie The Gladiator as well as many more films. You can stop here to visit and have lunch. In the afternoon, we drive over the High Atlas Mountains, Berber villages and farms dot the hillsides and rivers carve their way. We cross the pass of Tizi n´Tichka at 2260 metres of altitude and descend the switchback roads to reach Marrakech.