Welcome to Morocco! Today you arrive in Casablanca and meet your guides at Mohammed V International Airport. After collecting baggage and introductions, you’ll be given a short driving tour of the city to get you acquainted with your surroundings before turning in for the night.

Your adventure begins with a visit to the Great Mosque of Hassan II, where you can also view the el Hank Lighthouse in the distance. This visit is followed by a lunch in the city’s historic downtown. Afterwards, leave Casablanca and head north along the scenic Atlaantic coast to Rabat, the political capital and Morocco’s second largest city. Here, visit the medina and the sprawling Kasbah of the Oudayas, a city within a city, where nearly 2,000 of Rabat’s inhabitants dwell. Journey onward to the fortified Portuguese city of Asilah, home to the Berber Kasbah and the Palace of Raisouli. Have some refreshment here, all the while enjoying the relaxing ambiance and quaint beauty of the town. Before the day ends, you will make your way to the port city of Tangiers to spend the night.

Start the morning exploring the magnificent medina of Tangier. Deemed an international zone for the first half of the twentieth century, Tangier has been called home by such notables as Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and author William Burroughs, who were enticed to the city for its elán and carefree atmosphere. After lunch, head to the quiet mountainside town of Chefchaouen to explore its medina, well-restored 16th-century Kasbah, and the source of the mountain spring that supplies the town with its fresh water, Ras el Ma.

After breakfast, spend the morning exploring Chefchaouen on your own, perhaps doing a little shopping, or making new friends. After lunch, make your way to the ruins of the former Roman outpost that is Volubilis. Once home to nearly 20,000 people during Roman occupation, many of its structures and mosaics are still intact for us to behold. From Volubilis, it’s only a short jaunt to Meknes, which was the first capital of the Alouite Dynasty, under the bloody rule of Moulay Idriss I. Spend some time relaxing in this charming, quintessentially Moroccan city, before journeying to Fes to spend the night.

Here, explore the intellectual and artistic capital of Morocco, and the oldest of the Imperial Cities. Fes is very much a medieval city, little changed despite the passage of several hundred years. Your walking tour starts after breakfast at the beautiful Bab Boujloud, following a guide into the heart of the medina. There, you have the opportunity to visit historical and cultural sites, such as the Al-Karaouine Mosque and the Tomb of Moulay Idris, as well as observe artisans as they masterfully create their wares. End at the tombs of the Merinid Kings, which overlook the city. Your evening meal is in a beautifully restored, 19th century palace restaurant, Al Fassia.

Today is a day of travel as you journey through the mountains on your way to the arid Moroccan south. Leave Fes after breakfast and journey to the Berber mountain village of Azrou. Stop here for rest and refreshment, taking in the scenery of the surrounding cedar forest. Travel into the mountains and stop briefly at Ifrane, a town with a distinctly European feel that is home to some of the best skiing in the country. Wind your way through the High Atlas until you reach Midelt, an old mining community that feels more than a little like the old American west. After a meal here, you will push through your final stretch to the town of Erfoud, gateway to the desert, to rest for the night.

Head out after breakfast by 4x4 as far as the road will take you. When it is overcome by Saharan sands near the desert town of Merzouga, your travels continue off-road. Visit the only Saharan sand dune in Morocco, Erg Chebbi, and trade your modern transportation for Ships of the Desert: camels. After a full day of desert exploration, you may wish to spend the night in a comfortable bed may do so at a nearby riad, or to continue your desert adventure by spending the night in a Bedouin tent, where dinner is cooked over a campfire, and the evening’s entertainment is full of drumming, song, and dance.

Depart from the desert today and gradually make your way back to civilization. The first stop is the charming Berber village of Tamtatouchte, before heading onwards to the stark, striking beauty of the Todra Gorge. Created by untold amounts of water rushing their way through for thousands of years, the steep cliffs of the Todra Gorge rise over 1,000 feet above you as you make your way through the narrow pass at its base. Arrive at the Dades with just enough time to enjoy a short hike as you take in the majestic beauty of the sun-baked landscape before turning in for the night.

Your next stop is the major crossroads of the south, Ouarzazate. Here, visit such historical sites as the Taourirt Kasbah of the Pasha of Marrakech, the al-Mansour ed-Dahabi Dam, and the Tifoultout Kasbah on the banks of the nearby river. Ouarzazate is also home to Atlas Studios, known as the ‘Hollywood of Morocco’ because of all the films that have been shot there. Spend the night in a lavish riad in the city.

It is just a short hike north of Ourzazate to the massive fortification that still stands from the 11th Century, when it was constructed by the Almoravids. Built of pisé, with its crenellated towers rising above the arid landscape like sentinels keeping watch over the desert, it is little wonder that this structure has been used as a backdrop in numerous Hollywood films, including Lawrence of Arabia and Kingdom of Heaven. Explore the ksar and the surrounding areas at your leisure before heading to Talouine, the saffron capital of Morocco. Here you have the chance to view demonstrations of saffron harvesting and/or processing, depending on the time of year of your visit.

Arise in the morning and prepare to leave the desert behind. The first leg of today’s journey takes you through the magnificent landscape that surrounds the Tizi-n-Test pass in the High Atlas Mountains, the second highest road in Morocco. The views here are stunning, so you'll stop here not only to stretch your legs, but for the fantastic photo opportunities. Carry on to Asni, a quaint Berber village to pause for nourishment and a brief rest. Before the day ends, arrive at Marrakech, where the heart of the Moroccan south beats. Your dinner, as well as endless entertainment, will be at the city’s main square, Djmaa el Fna. This magical place offers a party atmosphere 365 nights a year, with magicians, story tellers, acrobats, musicians, snake charmers, and others perform their arts for the crowd.

This morning, enjoy a guided Souks and Monuments tour, as you are lead through the winding streets of the city to observe craftsmen creating their wares of leather, wood, metal, ceramic, and the like. Visit such historical sites as the Tombs of the Saadians, the Ben Youssef Medersa, and the Bahia Palace. The afternoon is free to spend as you like, perhaps visiting one of the botanical gardens, taking a horse-drawn caleche ride around the city ramparts, or bargaining for the best price on souvenirs at a merchant shop. Your evening meal is at the historic restaurant Dar Essalam, where portions of Alfred Hitchcock’s film, The Man Who Knew Too Much, were filmed.

Having visited the desert and mountains, the final geographical feature that has played an important role in Morocco’s heritage lies ahead of you: the Atlantic coast. Head to Essaouira, which has long been a haven for artists, musicians and writers, and you will see why as you spend the day exploring its quiet streets of blue trimmed white buildings and sidewalk cafes. From the fishermen’s wharves to the well-preserved Portuguese battlements, and along the streets where craft worker shops host local painters, carpenters and wood carvers, you’ll discover that the European architects who designed Essaouira created a pleasant town much different from elsewhere in Morocco. You may choose to spend the day exploring independently, or arrange to take time to enjoy the surf and warm sea breezes at the nearby beach of Sidi Kaouki, where camels can be hired to take you along the long strand of scenic beach.

Travel northwards up the coast to the town of Safi, known throughout Morocco as one of the best places for ceramic artistry. If you’re even thinking of purchasing Moroccan ceramics, this is the place to do it! Head further north to the town of Oualidia for lunch, where seafood lovers can rejoice in the culinary selections to be had here. Even those who don’t appreciate the bounty of the sea will enjoy a boat tour of the coastal lagoons that provide much of the town’s livelihood. In the afternoon, head to El Jadida to visit the famous flooded cisterns in the city, once used for storing ammunitions and gunpowder that were used in scenes for Orson Welles’ Othello. Arrive that evening in Casablanca, where you spend your final night in Morocco.

Your adventure draws to a close! Today you head to the airport to check-in for your onward flights from Casablanca.