Morocco Itinerary: Private Routes for 3 to 14 Days

A good Morocco itinerary follows one rule: never drive the same road twice. For a first visit, plan 7 to 10 days – fly into Marrakech, cross the High Atlas to the Sahara at Merzouga, and fly home from Fes. Three days covers the desert alone, five adds Marrakech, and fourteen brings in Chefchaouen and the coast.

The routes below are skeletons, not fixed packages. Each works as a self-planned trip or as a private tour with your own driver-guide, and any day can be stretched, cut or rerouted around your flights. Driving times are approximate and exclude stops; for what each stop is actually like, see our overview of Morocco destinations.

Morocco itineraries at a glance

Routing logic: how the pieces fit

• Marrakech in, Fes out (or the reverse). The desert sits between them, so the road over the Tizi n’Tichka, through the Dades Valley to Merzouga and then north through the Ziz Valley and the Middle Atlas covers the country’s finest scenery without a single repeated kilometre.
• Arriving in Casablanca? Go north first – Rabat is about an hour away, then Chefchaouen and Fes – and finish in Marrakech, so the desert falls in the second half.
• Coming from Spain? Start in Tangier: Chefchaouen is about 2–2.5 hours away, and the route runs naturally south through Fes to the Sahara.
• Split the long legs. Marrakech to Merzouga is about 560 km and 9–10 hours of driving, so it is spread over two or three days; Merzouga to Fes, about 7–8 hours, is best kept as one full day.
• Leave a buffer. Put at least one city night between the desert and your flight home, so a long drive never collides with a check-in time.
• Marrakech to Fes without the desert is about 6–7 hours by motorway via Casablanca and Rabat; if that is the only leg you need, the train or a one-day transfer does it.

For the desert section in detail, read how to plan the trip from Marrakech to the Sahara and the Fes to Marrakech desert route, stop by stop.

3 or 4 days: a Morocco desert tour

1. Day 1: Marrakech over the Tizi n’Tichka (2,260 m) to Ait Ben Haddou, then through Ouarzazate to the Dades Valley for the night.
2. Day 2: Todra Gorge in the morning, then Erfoud and Rissani to Merzouga; a sunset camel ride out into Erg Chebbi and a night under canvas.
3. Day 3: Sunrise on the dunes, then north to Fes through the Ziz Valley (about 7–8 hours) or west to Marrakech (about 9–10 hours).

A 4-day desert tour follows the same road with one more night, usually in the Dades or Ouarzazate on the way back, so the return to Marrakech is split rather than crammed into one day. The 3-day desert tour itinerary and tips goes hour by hour, and our Merzouga desert tours list the private versions.

5 days: Marrakech and the Sahara, ending in Fes

1. Day 1: Arrive in Marrakech; evening at Jemaa el-Fna.
2. Day 2: The Medina with a guide – Bahia Palace, Ben Youssef Madrasa, the souks – or a day at Imlil in the High Atlas, about 1.5 hours away.
3. Day 3: Tizi n’Tichka, Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades Valley.
4. Day 4: Todra Gorge to Merzouga, camel trek and camp.
5. Day 5: Merzouga to Fes via the Ziz Valley, Midelt and Ifrane, arriving late afternoon; fly home next morning or stay on.

Prefer cities to sand? A northern 5-day tour runs Casablanca – Rabat – Meknes – Volubilis – Fes instead. Both versions are laid out in Morocco in 5 days: two private itineraries.

7 days: the first-timer’s loop

1. Days 1–2: Marrakech – the Medina, its gardens and an evening on a rooftop.
2. Day 3: Over the High Atlas to Ait Ben Haddou and the Dades Gorges.
3. Day 4: Todra Gorge, then Merzouga for a night in the Erg Chebbi dunes.
4. Day 5: Through the Ziz Valley and the cedar forests of the Middle Atlas to Fes.
5. Day 6: Fes el-Bali with a licensed guide: medersas, the Chouara tannery, the craft quarters.
6. Day 7: A loop to Meknes and Volubilis, then fly home from Fes or continue to Casablanca.

Our 7-day first-timer’s itinerary adds where to sleep and eat. If Chefchaouen matters more to you than Volubilis, swap Day 7 for a night in the blue town – the 7-day tour below that includes Chefchaouen is one way to do it.

10 days: imperial cities, Chefchaouen and the desert

1. Day 1: Arrive in Casablanca; the Hassan II Mosque.
2. Day 2: Rabat’s Udayas kasbah and Hassan Tower, then north into the Rif to Chefchaouen.
3. Day 3: Chefchaouen at an easy pace.
4. Day 4: Volubilis and Meknes on the way to Fes.
5. Day 5: Fes el-Bali.
6. Day 6: Ifrane, the Ziz Valley and Merzouga; camp in the dunes.
7. Day 7: Rissani, Todra Gorge and the Dades Valley.
8. Day 8: The kasbah road to Ouarzazate and Ait Ben Haddou, then over the Tichka pass to Marrakech.
9. Days 9–10: Marrakech, with a morning in the Atlas or the Ourika Valley if you have energy left.

The 10-day Marrakech, desert, Fes and Chefchaouen itinerary runs a version that starts in Marrakech, and the Volubilis and Meknes guide is worth reading before Day 4. Our Morocco imperial cities tour page covers the northern half as a private trip.

14 days: the grand tour

1. Days 1–3: Tangier, then Tetouan and two nights in Chefchaouen, with a walk to the Akchour waterfalls.
2. Days 4–5: Volubilis and Meknes to Fes, then a full day in Fes el-Bali.
3. Days 6–7: Fes to Merzouga and two nights in the desert – time for sunrise, the dunes on foot and Gnawa music in Khamlia.
4. Days 8–9: Todra Gorge and the Dades, then the Skoura palm grove and a night near Ait Ben Haddou.
5. Days 10–12: Over the Tizi n’Tichka to Marrakech, a day in the Medina and a day in the High Atlas villages.
6. Days 13–14: A night in Essaouira on the Atlantic, then back to Marrakech (2.5–3 hours) for your flight.

The 14-day Morocco grand tour itinerary explains each overnight, and the Todra Gorge and Dades Valley guide covers Days 8–9. Two weeks also leaves room for a custom itinerary with a trek, a cooking class or a slower beach finish.