The Atlas & Desert 11 Days

Includes:

• Accommodations in the category of hotel chosen
• Buffet breakfast
• Guided city tours and monument fees
• Private car
• English-speaking driver
• Tips at the hotels
• Porterage of luggage,
• Taxes and service charges

The Atlas & Desert 11 Days Itinerary

Day 1: New York/ Casablanca
Evening departure on Royal Air Maroc for Casablanca. Dinner and wine served on your flight.

Day 2: Casablanca/Rabat
Morning arrival in Casablanca followed by a brief tour of this commercial capital and largest port of Morocco; then on to Rabat. Check-in at your hotel. Afternoon sightseeing includes the Medina (old city), with its stone-and-whitewashed buildings boasting great, dark-wood studded doors; the Hassan Tower, whose intricate stone-work dominates the skyline; the Mohammed V Mausoleum housing the onyx tomb of the late king, and the ramparts of Mechouar encircling the Royal Palace.

Day 3: Rabat/Meknes/Volubilis/Moulay Idriss/ Fes
Morning Departure for Meknes, with visits to its Medina, or old city, and Bab el Mansour, the monumental gateway and main entrance into this 17th –century city. Next, stop at the Roman ruins of Volubilis—the finest archaeological site in Morocco—with mosaics, temples and triumphal arch, on your way to the village of Moulay Idriss, the holy founder of the first indigenous Islamic kingdom of Morocco. Travel Fes for check-in at your hotel.

Day 4: Fes
Entire day sightseeing in Fes, the oldest of the Imperial Cities, founded in 790 A.D. Visit the medieval Medina, and the Karouiyne Mosque, whose central aisle is embellished with elaborate floral and Kufic script carved into the plaster. And don’t miss the Islamic universities including the Abou Anania and the Attarine boasting dazzling exterior and interior decoration and craftsmanship. Also view the colorfully tiled Nejjarine Fountain. Finally, browse the markets of Fes, the most fascinating in all of Morocco.

Day 5: Fes
A citadel of magnificence, this age-old city is irresistible as it unfolds-- in every narrow alley, wide street, old or new medina, palatial houses or hillsides-- the story of a whole civilization's treasure, similar to Florence or Athens. From being Morocco's first capital in 808 AD to becoming the Imperial of all Imperial cities, Fez is a spiritual and cultural center with many facets. Your two-day stay in this unmatched splendor will take you back in time while visiting the oldest university in the world (before even Oxford or the Sorbonne).

Day 6: Fes/Midelt/Er-Rachidia/Erfoud
En route to Erfoud, pay a morning visit to Midelt, providing dramatic views of the peaks of the High Atlas Mountains, and Er-Rachidia, a modern urban center. Arrive in Erfoud in the afternoon and check into hotel. If you prefer, live the life of a Bedouin for the night in a tent on the dunes of Merzouga; the night sky with thousands of stars is as amazing as the sunrise the following  morning.

Day 7: Erfoud/Tineghir/Boumalne/Ouarzazate
Awake before dawn to experience the magic of a desert sunrise over the Merzouga Dunes. Early morning sightseeing in Erfoud includes the hilltop Bordj East Fort. Later, in Tineghir, visit the Todra Gorge, Morocco’s “Grand Canyon,” with spectacular pink walls. On the way to Ouarzazate, pass through the rose-growing town of ElKelaa des M’Gouna and then Bomalne, which overlooks the Dades Valley (“The Valley of a Thousan Kasbahs”). Evening arrival at your hotel in Ouarzazate.

Day 8: Ouarzazate/Marrakech
Morning sightseeing in Ouarzazate included a visit to the Kasbah of Tifoultoutte, and the School of Handicrafts, with its stone carvings, pottery, carpets and silver jewelry on display. Continue to Marrakech and your hotel, stopping on the way at Ait Ben Addou, a picturesque ksar (fortified stronghold), appearing like a sandcastle amid a field of almond trees.

Day 9: Marrakech
Entire day sightseeing in fascinating and beautiful Marrakesh, a city blending Berber traditions with Arab renaissance and Western influences. See the Tombs of the Saadien Kings; the Dar Si Said Museum, housed in a 19th century palace; the Agdal and Menara Gardens, and the 12th century Koutoubia Mosque, towering above the city. Also explore the Bahia and Bedii Palaces, and the tanners’ and dyers’ quarters. No visit to Marrakech is complete without a stop at the Djemma El Fna Square, home to spice sellers, storytellers, snake charmers, fire-eaters, acrobats, musicians and much , much more.

Day 10: Marrakech/Essaouira/Marrakech
After breakfast, depart to Essaouira. The main entrance to this splendid city's harbor was built in 1184 and is called the Porte de la Marine and it is truly an architectural marvel. Sit back, relax and let the beauty of the sandy bay that sweeps to the south of this enchanting town and the wooded hills which dominate the eastern skyline captivate you.

Day 11: Marrakech/ Casablanca/ New York
Board your morning flight at Marrakech’s Menara Airport for Casablanca, to connect with your flight to New York.

Excludes:

• All Flights
• Airport taxes, fees & Sep 11th security fee
• Drinks & meals not  mentioned in the itinerary
• Personal Expenses
• Any other items which is not mentioned above
• Tips to the tour guide & driver

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Sahara Desert

For centuries, camel caravans en route to Marrakech have come north on the African continent carrying gold and ivory, jewels, spices and rare woods, emerging from the sprawling Sahara Desert into what is now called Morocco’s Great South.

You can retrace that route from Marrakech south to the sun-baked city of Ouarzazate, down the fabled Draa River Valley, past lush green groves and salmon-colored clay fortress villages (called ksour) to 13^th century Zagora and  the very entrance to the Sahara with its endlessly fascinating, endlessly shifting sand dunes.

Casablanca Tours can arrange to have a deluxe Land Rover caravan transport you into the Sahara, re-creating, with more modern comforts, the exotic trappings of an ancient journey in the desert. You’ll rest on carpets spread on the dunes, dine by the firelight of brass braziers, sleep in Moroccan tents, and be awakened by the spectacle of Saharan sunrise, unequalled anywhere in the world. This is the Morocco of dreams. Please contact Casablanca Tours for the current details on arranging  this special, customized tour of Southern Morocco.