Morocco Itinerary: Routes for 3 to 17 Days

Morocco itineraries by length

Each outline below is a published private tour, so there is one for every length from 3 to 17 days. Treat them as starting points and change the start city, end city or number of nights to suit your flights.

What can you see in 3 days?

Three days is enough for one thing: the road to the Sahara and a night in the dunes. Day 1 crosses the Tizi n'Tichka pass to Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades Gorges (about 330 km). Day 2 continues by Todra Gorge to Merzouga for a sunset camel ride and a camp night (about 265 km).

Day 3 is the hard part. Returning to Marrakech is 553 km in one day. Ending in Fes instead is 463 km and puts you in a new city. Compare the Marrakech loop with the Marrakech to Fes route. Private 3-day tours cost €500 to €800 per person.

What can you see in 4 or 5 days?

Four or five days covers the same desert road at a pace most people enjoy. The extra time goes either on a full day at Merzouga or on breaking the long return drive, and with five days you get both.

• 4 days from Fes. The Fes to Marrakech tour puts the longest drive, 477 km, on day one, then gives a whole day to Merzouga before two stages of 271 km and 330 km to Marrakech.
• 4 days from Marrakech. The Marrakech loop has one night at the dunes and returns by the Draa Valley with a night in Ouarzazate, so the last day is only 195 km.
• 5 days from Marrakech. The 5-day tour starts with a short 195 km day to Ouarzazate, spends two nights at Erg Chebbi and comes back by Todra and the Dades Valley. Its long day is day two, at 394 km.

Five days is still too short to add Chefchaouen or the north. Best Morocco Travel also runs 4 and 5 day routes from Marrakech to Fes and a 5-day route from Tangier: ask us. Private tours cost €600 to €900 per person for 4 days and €700 to €1,000 for 5.

What can you see in 6 or 7 days?

A week covers Marrakech and the south properly. On the 7-day tour you spend two nights in Marrakech with a guided day, drive to the Dades Valley (342 km), reach Merzouga (255 km) for two nights, and return by Nkob, Agdz and Ouarzazate (367 km, then 195 km). It costs €1,700 to €3,800 per person.

With six days, the 6-day tour keeps the same shape with a guided walk on arrival in place of the full city day, and one desert night in place of two. It costs €1,300 to €3,270 per person.

What can you see in 8 to 10 days?

Eight days is the shortest length that fits both north and south, and ten is the shortest that does it without cutting the desert to a single evening. All three tours run from Casablanca through Rabat, Chefchaouen, Volubilis, Meknes and Fes to Merzouga, then by the Dades Valley and Ait Ben Haddou to Marrakech.

The 8-day tour has five days in a row on the road and reaches Marrakech in the evening before a morning departure. Nine days fixes Marrakech. Ten fixes the desert and softens the north. The day-by-day version is in our 10-day Morocco itinerary.

What can you see in 11 to 14 days?

From eleven days the route stops adding places and starts adding time, and from thirteen it reaches the Atlantic. Each extra day has a clear job.

• [11 days](/tours/11-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): a free day in Chefchaouen, giving two nights each in the Rif, Fes, Merzouga and Marrakech. €3,200 to €5,700 per person.
• [12 days](/tours/12-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): a third night in Marrakech for a day in the Ourika Valley. €3,400 to €6,100.
• [13 days](/tours/13-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): on to Essaouira and back to Casablanca along the coast, with one desert night. €3,500 to €6,400.
• [14 days](/tours/14-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): the same circle with the second desert night restored. €3,700 to €6,700.

What can you see in 15 to 17 days?

Beyond two weeks the extra days go to the coast, the far north and the one long drive nobody enjoys. These are the slowest routes we publish.

• [15 days](/tours/15-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): a second night and a free day in Essaouira. €3,900 to €7,100 per person.
• [16 days](/tours/16-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): a night in Tangier, with Cap Spartel, before a short 115 km drive to Chefchaouen. €4,300 to €7,500.
• [17 days](/tours/17-day-morocco-tour-from-casablanca/): a night in Midelt, which splits Fes to Merzouga into 198 km and 265 km. No day on the road passes about 380 km. €4,600 to €7,800.

The cost of that calm is more one-night stops. The 17-day tour spreads sixteen nights over nine places. For a first visit, when you do not yet know how much you will like the country, ten to twelve days is the safer choice.

Routes by start city

Your arrival airport decides the shape of the trip more than anything else. Fly into one city and out of another if you can.

Routes by interest

If one part of the country is the reason you are coming, pick the route that gives it the most nights, not the route that lists the most places.

Desert first

Count the nights at Merzouga. One night means an evening and a sunrise. Two means a full day at the dunes. The routes with two are the 4-day from Fes, the 5-day and 7-day from Marrakech, and the 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 day tours. All five short routes are compared on the Morocco desert tours page.

Cities first

For medinas, monuments and food, the tours from Casablanca are the ones to look at. Every one includes a guided day in Fes, and from nine days a guided day in Marrakech as well. Rabat, Meknes and the Roman ruins of Volubilis are stops on the way. If you only have time for one of the two big cities, read Fes vs Marrakech.

Coast

Essaouira appears from 13 days, with one night on the 13 and 14 day tours and two on the 15, 16 and 17 day tours. Tangier and the Strait of Gibraltar appear from 16 days. On a shorter trip, Essaouira can be done as one of the day trips from Marrakech, at the cost of about six hours in the car.

How far are the drives between the main stops?

Most stages are 250 to 350 km, and the crossings between Fes or Marrakech and the desert are the long ones. These figures come from the published tours. A range means the tours take slightly different roads or stops.

Common planning mistakes

1. Too many stops. One-night stays in six towns means packing every morning. Two nights in Fes, Marrakech and Merzouga serve you better than one night in each of six places.
2. Underestimating the drives. Mountain roads are slow. Fes to Merzouga is about 450 km and takes most of a day with stops. Read the daily distance, not the map.
3. Trying to fit Chefchaouen and the desert into a week. They are at opposite ends of the country. Choose one, or take ten days.
4. Booking a return flight from the arrival city. Flying into Casablanca and out of Marrakech, or the reverse, saves a day of backtracking.
5. Treating the desert as a day trip. Merzouga needs three days from Marrakech. Agafay is the only desert landscape near the city, and it is stone. See day trips from Marrakech.
6. Ignoring the season. The desert is very hot in summer and cold at night in winter. Check the best time to visit Morocco.
7. Booking late for spring or autumn. Prices do not rise, but the better riads and camps fill first.