ITINERARY
DAY 1: April 7: JFK to CASABLANCA
Flying Royal Air Maroc, is like starting your foreign vacation as soon as you take off. In addition to superb Moroccan service and friendliness, you will enjoy beverage service, delicious dinner and a complimentary movie. Your professional and experienced Moroccan escort will give you every possible assistance.
DAY 2: April 8, CASABLANCA/RABAT
Morning arrival and assistance by your host at Mohammed V Airport. Transfer to the hotel then sightseeing tour of Casablanca. "Principal city in Morocco and capital in all but administration." Casablanca is now the largest port of the Maghreb - busier even than Marseille seaport, the city on which it was modeled by the French. Your visit will include the central market, the Habous district, the Royal Palace, the Mohamed V square, the residential area of Anfa and the Hassan II Mosque.
Optional sea food lunch at the Corniche in Ain Diab (coast line). Afternoon departure to Rabat, the capital of the nation. Our visit begins in the Medina with the Kasbah of the Oudayas. Visit the venerated Mohamed V Mausoleum, the Hassan Tower, the Mosque, and the ramparts and walls of the Mechouar surrounding the Royal dinner and over night in Rabat
DAY 3, April 9: RABAT/MEKNES/FES
After breakfast, Departure to Meknes via Volubilis and Moulay Idris. This excursion embodies much of Morocco's early history - Volubilis as its Roman provincial capital, Moulay Idris in the creation of the country's first Arab dynasty then continue to Fez.
Dinner and overnight at your scheduled hotel.
DAY 4, April 10: FES
Full-day tour of the city of Fes, The Holy City of Fes is a jewel of Spanish-Arabic civilization. Fes does not reveal its secrets easily. Secretive, shadowy, they need to be discovered little by little, with reverence. Only in this way can the splendors of Medrsa architecture be fully appreciated. Only in this way will the call of the medina tempt you. Bustling with artisans and merchants, its captivating sounds, fragrances and colors mesmerize the visitor with a constant swirl of activity. The city of Moulay Idriss I, sanctuary of human and moral sciences.
The great À Karaouiyne University has for eleven centuries been a religions and intellectual center whose influence bas spread far beyond the Kingdom's boundaries.
In 789, a pick-axe of silver and gold -"fas" in Arabic - was presented to Idriss 1st to use in tracing the outlines of the city. Hence the name of the city, which lies at the far eastern end of the plain of Saïss, bordered to the south by the hills outlying the Atlas Mountains. Cradle of religions, cultural and artistic traditions, Fes, the double city, is the kingdom's spiritual capital. The Andalusia mosque, dating from the 9th century, and further embellished by successive rulers, is accessed through a mighty door of sculpted cedar. An imposing minaret decorated with green faiences crowns the Rsif Mosque. The Medersas around the Karaouiyne Mosque, former lodging houses for students coming from outside the city, attest the importance of its thousand years of history. In the Medina, a labyrinth of sloping, winding alleyways are crammed full of stalls and workshops. This is the famed Kissaria -the commercial center. A multitude of locally produced goods are on sale in this incredible maze-cotton fabric, silk, brocade work, slippers, and many more.
The craftsmen of the El Attarine souks offer the visitor a non-stop spectacle. For hundreds of years such work bas been regulated by traditional guilds, ensuring that its quality is worthy of the city. Each district has its own specialty : cobalt blue enameled pottery, carpets, wrought iron ... one looks on as the dyer stirs his yarns, steeped in their multitude of colors, as the tanner tramples his skins under an open sky -skins that the leather-worker will eventually adorn with fine gilt for book-binding . Leaving the souks through the Boujeloud gate with its decoration of green and blue faiences, the riches contained in the wonderful Museum of Moroccan Art await one Optional lunch at the Medina and shopping in the afternoon. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 5, April 11: FES/AZROU/MIDELT/ERFOUD
After breakfast In the morning an enjoyable drive across the Atlas Mountains, the first hills you see of the Middle Atlas seem surprisingly un-Moroccan. There are evergreen pines, tall cedar trees on the peaks and poplars on the foot hills. The road across is almost ceremonial.
Azrou, the first real town of the Middle Atlas stands at a major junction of routes. It is an important market center, and has long held a strategic role in controlling the Berbers of the mountains.
Midelt: you have left the Middle Atlas behind. Suddenly, through the haze, appear the much greater peaks of the High Atlas rising sheer behind the town to a massive range, the Dgebel Ayashi at over 12000ft. The drama of that sight, tremendous in the clear, cool noon, is the most compelling reason to stop over for lunch. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Erfoud.
DAY 6, April 12: ERFOUD/MARZOUGA
Morning at leisure, then depart to Marzouga, one of the most pleasing of all southern routes, a dry, red band of desert, and then suddenly, a drop into the valley filled with date palm trees. Check in with the Touareg host, lunch and dinner and over night under nomad tents.
DAY 7, April 13: MARZOUGA/OUARZAZATE
An early wake up call for sunrise excursion to Dunes.
An experience not to be missed is to watch the sun as it rises from the top of the golden dunes, a spectacular view of the Sahara which no words can describe. Back to the tent for special Breakfast with the Touargees people, then continue on to explore the holy ancient city of Rissani by your 4X4 Land Rover.
Early afternoon depart to Tinghir,the highest and the narrowest gorges in the region are Todra's, only 15 km from Tinghir. Traveling through the Dades valley in spring you will find the bloom of thousands of Persian roses - cultivated as hedgerows dividing the plots. Thousands of Kasbahs scattered along the Dades river through El Kalaa Del Mgouna and Boumaine. Lunch at a local restaurant located at the feet of cayons.
Continuation to Ouarzazate. Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Ouarzazate.
DAY 8, April 14: OUARZAZATE/ZAGORA/OUARZAZATE
After a relaxing breakfast, visit to the carefully reconstructed TAOURIRT KASBAH, where outstanding views of the fortified town and valley can be seen from the terrace. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 9, April 15: OUARZAZATE/MARRAKECH
After breakfast, tour of Ouarzazate. Continue on to Marrakech with a visit to AIT BENHADDOU. Dinner and overnight in Marrakech.
DAY 10, April 16: MARRAKECH
After breakfast, full-day tour of Marrakech. Historic visit of Marrakech will include the Menara, a magnificent pool surrounded by flowers, reflecting the image of a beautiful Moorish construction built in 1866 for the dignitaries. See glorious sunsets with the Atlas mountains as a backdrop. Also, the pool is a functional irrigation system to the surrounding areas.
The tour will see several impressive sights: The Koutoubia Minaret (the twin tower of la Giralda in Sevilla, Spain), the Saadian tombs demonstrating Moorish architecture in its perfection. The tombs, consisting of splendid mausoleums built in the sixteenth century, were walled for some time, not to be discovered until 1917.
Other sites include: the museum of Dar Si Said with the best display of Berber arts and crafts to be found; the remains of the Badii Palace, a historical monument chosen to host the annual National Festival of Popular Art, beginning the second Friday in June. The Bahia Palace still hosts dignitaries in the heart of the Mellah (Jewish quarter) today. Lunch at the hotel then a walk through the colorful souks of Marrakech in the afternoon. Conclude the day with a sunset drink overlooking the exciting Jamaa El Fna Square. Optional dinner at "Chez Ali" under Berber tents with fantasia show. Over night at the hotel.
Day 11, April 17: MARRAKECH
Morning devoted to discovering the rest of historical sights. Shopping Dinner and overnight at the Hotel.
DAY 12, April 18: MARRAKECH/OURIKA/MARRAKECH
Excursion to the Ourika Valley where we will visit Berber souks and Jewish Shrines. Lunch, then an afternoon of shopping. Return to Marrakech for dinner and overnight at the hotel.
DAY 13, April 19: MARRAKECH/ESSAOUIRA
Departure to Essaouira (Mogador), a part from the immediate impact of sea air and the friendly animation of the town, the predominant images of Essaouira are of the Atlantic - of the rugged coast and offshore islands, the vast expense of empty sands trailing back along the promontory to the south, and the almost gothic scenery of the eighteen century fortifications.
Lunch at Chalet de la Mer. Dinner and overnight at the Hotel.
DAY 14, April 20: ESSAOUIRA/EL JADIDA/CASABLANCA
After breakfast departure to Casablanca via El Jadida stop at El Oualidia. Relay and seafood lunch.
Departure along the coastline to El Jadida - visit of the citadel. vestige of the Portuguese occupation during the 11th century. Continuation to Casablanca.
Dinner and overnight at the Hotel.
DAY 15, April 21: CASABLANCA/AIRPORT MOHAMMED V
Morning departure to Mohammed V Airport with a memorable trip of a lifetime.
