Morocco in 10 days: Marrakech, the Sahara and Fes

Day 2 — Palaces, tombs and the souk deep-end

• 09:00 — Bahia Palace (MAD 70) at opening — zellige and cedar ceilings before the coaches — then the Saadian Tombs (MAD 70, rediscovered 1917) and El Badi’s stork-topped ruins (MAD 60) if appetite allows.
• 11:30 — Ben Youssef Madrasa (~MAD 70–100): the most photogenic courtyard in Morocco — 14th-century student cells around a carved-stucco masterpiece.
• 13:00 — Lunch at Amal Centre (the women’s training-kitchen nonprofit — the best-value tagine in town and the best cause, ~MAD 60–90).
• 14:30 — The souks, properly: dyers’ wool rainbows, slipper mountains, lantern constellations — deploy the rulebook, buy the thing you’ll regret missing (argan and spices near-last, they weigh nothing).
• 18:00 — First hammam: tourist-spa versions (~MAD 250–400 with gommage scrub) ease you in; the MAD 15 neighbourhood original is the graduate course.
• 20:00 — Rooftop dinner above the square’s roar (~MAD 120–200 pp).

Day 3 — The blue garden, then breathe

• 08:30 — Jardin Majorelle at the first slot (book online — the queue is real): Yves Saint Laurent’s cobalt-blue cactus garden, with the YSL Museum next door (combo ~MAD 300–330; garden-only ~MAD 150–170). An hour of the best colour in Africa.
• 11:00 — Gueliz (the French new town) for coffee and a breather from the medina’s volume.
• 13:00 — Choice afternoon: the La Maison Arabe cooking class (~MAD 600–800 — tagine secrets you’ll actually reuse), the Secret Garden’s calm (MAD 100), or pool time — tomorrow starts early.
• 19:00 — Last Jemaa lap; pack a small overnight bag for the desert (big luggage waits at the riad or rides along — tours allow both). Cash for the road.

Day 4 — Over the Atlas to the kasbahs (Desert day 1)

• 07:00 — Pickup for the 3-day Sahara route to Fes — the itinerary’s spine. The tour maths: shared minibus with standard camp ~MAD 1,700–2,200 pp; shared with a luxury camp (ensuite tents — this guide’s pick) ~MAD 2,300–2,800 pp; private 4x4 from ~MAD 4,500 pp. Includes transport, driver, dinner-and-breakfast at both nights. Book a well-reviewed operator online — never the tout at the square.
• 09:30 — The Tizi n’Tichka pass (2,260 m) — hairpins over the High Atlas (motion tablets for the prone; views as payment).
• 12:30 — Aït Benhaddou (small entry ~MAD 30 at the granary): the mud-brick ksar of Gladiator and Game of Thrones — cross the river, climb to the agadir roof, squint and see caravans.
• 15:00 — Ouarzazate (“the door of the desert”; Atlas Studios optional), then the Valley of Roses into Dades Gorge — overnight at a gorge hotel, dinner under the “monkey fingers” cliffs.

Day 5 — Todra’s walls, then the dunes (Desert day 2)

• 08:30 — Todra Gorge: a 300-metre-high crack you walk into, river at your feet, climbers on the walls.
• 12:30 — Palm-oasis lunch stop; fossil country at Erfoud (the marble full of ammonites is real — bargain rulebook applies).
• 17:00 — Merzouga: swap wheels for camels (about an hour into the dunes — hypnotic, mildly bottom-bruising; walkers may walk alongside, and it’s the more comfortable choice) as Erg Chebbi turns copper at sunset.
• 19:00 — The luxury camp: proper beds and ensuite showers under canvas, tagine dinner, gnawa drums at the fire — then the main event: dune silence and the Milky Way with zero light pollution. Sandboards usually free; midnight dune sits mandatory by instinct.

Day 6 — Sunrise sand, the long road to Fes (Desert day 3)

• 06:15 — Climb the big dune for sunrise — the Sahara doing colour theory. Breakfast, 4x4 back to the road.
• 09:00–17:30 — The honest long haul to Fes (~7 h with stops): the Ziz Valley’s million-palm canyon, lunch in Midelt (apple capital), the cedar forests of Azrou with their Barbary macaques (photo yes, feeding no), and Ifrane — the alpine town nicknamed “Morocco’s Switzerland”, storks on Swiss roofs.
• 18:00 — Fes riad, hammam-grade shower, rooftop dinner (~MAD 120–200) with the world’s oldest medina humming below.

Where to stay in Fes (two nights)

• The pick: Riad Laaroussa — 4.9/5 (~1,900 reviews), 17th-century palace courtyard with a proper spa-hammam. ~MAD 1,200–1,800.
• Boutique: Riad Le Calife — 5.0/5 (~1,200 reviews), antique-filled calm above the maze. ~MAD 900–1,400.
• Modern alt: Hotel Sahrai — 4.4/5, hilltop infinity pool overlooking the medina (for maze-weary evenings). ~MAD 1,500–2,200.

Day 7 — Fes: the medieval deep-end

Hire the licensed guide (~MAD 350–500 half-day via your riad — the one city where it transforms the day): Fes el-Bali’s 9,000 lanes are the world’s largest car-free urban maze, and the donkeys have right of way.

• 09:00 — In through Bab Boujloud (blue outside, green inside), down Talaa Kebira past fondouks and dye vats.
• 10:00 — Bou Inania Madrasa (MAD 20 — the finest Marinid building open to non-Muslims) and the Nejjarine woodwork museum’s carved fondouk.
• 12:00 — The Chouara Tanneries, decoded: entry is via leather shops whose terraces overlook the honeycomb of dye pits — “free” means a mint sprig against the smell, a pitch afterwards, and MAD 20–50 tip expected; browse without buying is fine, firmness required. The 11th-century spectacle below is worth all of it.
• 13:30 — Medina lunch (~MAD 60–100): bissara, kefta, or the Fassi masterpiece pastilla (sweet- savory pigeon/chicken pie).
• 15:00 — Al-Qarawiyyin — founded 859 AD by Fatima al-Fihri, the world’s oldest continuously operating university (non-Muslims view the exquisite courtyard from the doorways) — then Seffarine Square’s coppersmith percussion.
• 18:30 — Sunset over the whole medina from the Marinid Tombs viewpoint; dinner in a palace restaurant (~MAD 150–250) or the riad.

Day 8 — Into the blue: Chefchaouen

• 09:00 — CTM bus north (~4 h, ~MAD 110–130 — book seats a day ahead) into the Rif mountains, the land turning green.
• 13:30 — Chefchaouen: fifty shades of blue paint on every wall, stair and flowerpot. Check in, then wander the compact medina — the famous lanes (Callejon El Asri, the blue stairways) hit their colour best in soft light. Etiquette: the prettiest doorways are people’s homes — shoot the lane, not through the door, and a smiled request works wonders.
• 17:45 — The 25-minute walk up to the Spanish Mosque for sunset over the entire blue bowl — the town’s one mandatory appointment.
• 20:00 — Rooftop tagine (~MAD 70–120) — goat-cheese salads are the Rif’s specialty. One overnight is the trick: dawn belongs to you.

Day 9 — Blue at dawn, then the coast

• 07:30 — Empty-lane photos (the town sleeps in; 8–9 am is yours alone), msemen-and-honey breakfast.
• 10:30 — CTM toward Casablanca (~6 h; the rail-lovers’ alternative: taxi to Tangier and the smart new train south).
• 17:30 — Casablanca check-in; the honesty: Casa is a working metropolis, not a postcard — it’s here for tomorrow’s mosque and the airport. Corniche stroll, seafood dinner, or the wink of a nightcap at Rick’s Café (built 2004 to match the movie; knowingly, enjoyably fake).

Day 10 — The mosque on the ocean, home

• 09:00 — Hassan II Mosque guided tour (MAD 140; non-Muslims welcome on tours — one of very few in Morocco): the world’s tallest minaret (210 m), a glass-section floor over the Atlantic, doors of titanium and cedar, room for 105,000. The single most jaw-dropping modern building in North Africa — and the perfect final image.
• 12:00 — Spend the last dirhams (closed currency, remember), airport train/taxi to CMN — direct Gulf flights home.