4 Days Desert Experience from Casablanca

Itinerary

Day 1: CASABLANCA TO OUARZAZATE VIA THE HIGH ATLAS MOUNTAINS AND AIT BENHADDOU KASBAH.

Stop At: Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Douar Ait Ben Haddou, Ait Ben Haddou 45000 Morocco
The private driver for your Casablanca desert tour will pick you from your hotel to transport you to Ouarzazate. You will drive through the motor way up to Marrakech then through a national road via the High Atlas Mountains, you will pass through various villages that are typical of the northern slopes of the high Atlas where corn can be seen ripening in the sun on the packed earth roofs of the stone houses. You will stop for pictures and breaks on the way. You will see as well the village of Tdarat set among walnut trees, used to be the first staging post on the caravan route between Marrakech and Ouarzazate. Then drive through Tizi –N-Tichka at an altitude of 7,415 feet which is the highest pass in Morocco .Lunch in a local restaurant somewhere in the high Atlas Mountains. And in the afternoon you will arrive the UNESCO site of Ait Benhaddou Kasabah which is famous with movies like ‘the sheltering sky ‘, Gladiator ‘and many others. You will go for a walk inside the Kasabah and visit a Berber family who has been living there for centuries. And after the visit, you will drive to Ouarzazate which is 28 Km away. Overnight in a hotel.
Duration: 8 hours

No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.

Day 2: OURZAZATE TO THE SAHARA DESERT VIA THE ROSE VALLEY AND TODRA GORGES.

Stop At: Merzouga Desert, Merzouga Morocco
In the morning at 8:00 Am you will start the journey b visiting first one the cinema studios in Ourzazate and the Taorirt Kasabah . Then head to the desert through the rose valley and stop at El Kelaa Mgouna which consist of a large group of ruined Kasbahs whose lavish decoration can still be appreciated .This town also is renowned for its roses, it also the starting point for various trips into the Mgoun mountains .you will stop to see a demonstration of how the roses are destilated. The drive to the Tinghir which is 70 Km away from the Dades valley . From the town of Todra ,you will drive in a dirt road for 14 Km to see the beautiful Todra Gorges and on the way to it the road through follows the right bank of the river ,which is covered with palm trees .And on the way to the Sahara desert you will stop in the town of Tinjdad or Touroug for lunch then drive through Erfoud where you will see some of the Tafilaet oasis , and Erfoud in one the largest oases in Morocco ,fed by the Oued Ziz and the Oued Rheris. Then drive though Rissani where you will see the surviving ruins of Sijilmassa , the first Muslim city in North Africa and the prestigious capital of the Tafilalet region then to the desert . Just as you get the desert you will have a cup of tea then be ready for the camel ride to spend the night in the middle of the dunes .over night in Berber tent.
Duration: 7 hours

No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.

Day 3: SAHARA DESERT TO FES VIA ZIZ VALLEY ,ERRACHIDIA, MIDELT, CEDAR FOREST AND IFRANE

Stop At: Fez Mellah, Fes Morocco
n the morning , in 30 minutes before the sunrise you will wake up and walk up to the dunes for seeing the sunrise and make pictures then make it back to the hotel by camels for breakfast and shower then drive to Fes. You will drive through to the Ziz valley and pass by the city of Errachidia and you will see the Ziz gorges, which are sliced through the imposing rock faces that presage the rise of the High Atlas in the west, are an indication of the former power of the Ziz after that crossing the Tizi N Talremt the road leads into Midelt , built at the foot of the Jebel Ayachi ,whose summit (12,260 feet) is covered in snow for a large part of the year. Lunch in a local restaurant .After lunch you will continue driving through the Middle Atlas Mountains and through the barren plateau of Timhadite which is reminiscent of certain lunar landscapes then stop at the Cedar forests of the Middle Atlas which got trees of several hundred years old and stop to watch the Barbary apes .And after that you will driver to Ifrane which is built as a mountains health resort in 1929. With the tiled roofs of its chalets giving it a distantly European appearance, Ifrane is also the aspiring winter sport resort of the country’s elite. And after that you will drive straight to Fes which 60 Km away. Over night in a riad in the old medina

Duration: 7 hours

No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.

Day 4: EXPLORE FES THEN DRIVE BACK TO CASABLANCA

Stop At: New Medina of Casablanca, Blvd Victor Hugo, Casablanca Morocco
Before you go back to Casablanca you will have time to explore Fes which is the oldest imperial city in Morocco and the religious, intellectual and cultural centre .It is also renowned for its traditional crafts. You will visit the royal palace and see its ‘tightly closed doors, eggshell façade and pine –green Saracen tiles’ then go to Mellah which is the Jewish quarter of a Moroccan town. Then to go to see Fez pottery, tinglazed earthenware decorated with predominantly cobalt-blue designs. Then go to the Tanneries, the colorful tanners’ quarter. The view from the rooftops is a memorable one: clusters of stone vats filled with red, yellow and brown dyes, and skins hanging everywhere, drying in the sun. And after the visit of some of the places in Fes you will drive back to Casablanca via the motor way and Casablanca is 3 hour and a half away.
Duration: 7 hours

No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.