TABLE OF CONTENTS
Trip Highlights
Tour details
Itinerary
What's included
Itinerary Changes
Terrain
Condition Grading
Starting point and getting there
Food, Weather
Gear checklist
Currency & Banking
Passports, Visas
Morocco is an incredibly diverse African country encompassing glorious mountains, serene deserts, green oases, stunning coastline and fascinating ancient cities. From vibrant colors and exotic aromas in the souqs of Fes and Marrakech, to hypnotic music of Berber Sufis in the High Atlas, it is a feast for all the senses. Selecting highlights is an impossible task, so in this itinerary we included our personal favorites for an epic road trip through this awe-inspiring country. It starts in Marrakech, a town of immense beauty and culture, which sits beneath the dramatic peaks of the Atlas Mountains. We will spend a day exploring the medina (old town) with its famous souks, a literal maze of vendors selling, well, a bit of everything and we immerse in the local culture by participating in a cooking lesson. The next day, we head towards the geologically phenomenal landscape of the Ounila Valley which used be one of the main caravan trade routes. Towering sandstone cliffs, crumbling kasbahs and arid hillsides greet us at every turn. We will visit Kasbah Telouet and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ait Ben Haddou and then spend two days exploring the area around Dades Gorge as we hike through time-warp villages framed by weathered rock and palm oasis. Next stop is Merzouga and the Sahara Desert! Riding a camel in the Sahara Desert and spending a night under the stars in a desert camp is not only an iconic experience, it will definitely be one of the most memorable of your life. Last stop is Fes, the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities. The entire medina is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and It hasn’t changed for centuries. It’s a place where ancient traditions are still in everyday practice.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
- Get away from it all while hiking along craggy clifftops to tiny Berber villages
- Follow caravan routes on a camel and camp out in the sculpted dunes of the Sahara
- Immerse yourself in the imperial cities of Marrakesh and Fes
- Marvel at the Kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, a historic fairy-tale-like clay brick fortress
TOUR DETAILS
- Days/Nights: 10 days / 9 nights
- Single supplement: Cost based on request. Availability limited.
- Condition grading: Moderate
ITINERARY
DAY 1
Arrival in Marrakesh and welcome dinner
The enchanting city of Marrakech founded in 11th century by Berber tribes is Morocco’s third largest city, and undeniably one of the most colorful. With winding alleyways, crowded souks and stunning mosques, there is no doubt that the word “exotic” is the best one to describe it. In the afternoon we will meet at our hotel for an introductory talk and afterwards we head towards the square of Jemaa el Fna, an open-air theatre full of action. When the sun starts to go down the square becomes totally active and fills with dozens of food-stalls, storytellers, musicians and dancers.
Overnight in Marrakesh in a boutique riad
Dinner included
DAY 2
Cultural workshop and walking tour in the souqs of the Medina
The morning begins with a fun and insightful introduction to Morocco, through a cultural workshop where you’ll learn simple phrases, greetings, and common gestures in interactive memorable ways. Believe it or not, you’ll draw from the experience throughout your time in the country. For lunch, you’ll learn how to make tajine, one of the most famous Moroccan dishes rooted in Berber culinary tradition. Named after the special pot in which it is cooked, the tagine pot produces its namesake dish: a slow-cooked stew of vegetables, meat and a variety of regional herbs and spices. Early in the afternoon, we will have a walking tour inside the colorful souks of the Marrakech medina. This will get warmed up for a week of outdoor experiences in Morocco.
Overnight in Marrakesh in a boutique riad
Breakfast and lunch included
DAY 3
Travel from Marrakech to Ait Ben Haddou and hike through the Ounila Valley
Upon departure, we will head in the direction of the High Atlas Mountains and the Tichka Pass. The scenery through the High Atlas Mountains is stunning. The road is lined with Berber villages, goats, and small barefoot children running after chickens. After Tichka Pass, you will leave the main road and travel via a small road to one of Morocco’s most impressive Kasbahs, Telouet located in a fertile valley surrounded by palm, fig and olive trees. We will explore the kasbah, have lunch and then continue towards Ounila Valley for our first hike. Because of its strategic location between the Sahara and Marrakech, different people groups such as Berber, Jewish and Haratin lived here together for many centuries.
Overnight in Ait Ben Haddou in a boutique riad
Breakfast and dinner included
Hiking distance: 8 km / Hiking Duration: 3 hr
Driving distance:
Marrakesh to Telouet 132 km / 3 hr
Telouet to Ait Ben Haddou 50 km / 1 hr
DAY 4
Visit Ait Ben Haddou and travel to Dades Gorges
Right after breakfast in order to beat the tour buses, we will visit the fortified city of Ait-Ben-Haddou, which consists of a group of buildings built entirely of local organic material and covered by a rich red mud plaster. This UNESCO World Heritage Site owes its existence to the presence of the Trans-Saharan Trade Route which was connected the North African coast to sub-Saharan Africa. After that we’ll load into our vehicles and travel via the Thousand Kasbahs Road. In southeastern Morocco the word kasbah is usually applied to a square building with four towers at the corners, built from soil. The road will take us through Skoura Valley, famous for more than 300 kasbahs peppered throughout the valley, where we will visit Amardil Kasbah. A special feature of this day, is the off-road adventure section between the Amardil Kasbah and Dades Gorge, where you will have the opportunity to share a glass of mint-tea with Berber nomads, living a simple life as goatherders and dwelling in rocky caves. A little later, we will enter Dades Valley where we will have an easy afternoon hike, which will bring us into contact with the everyday life of the local people. We will pass through groves of figs, almonds, walnuts and farming areas where we’ll find the Berber people harvesting small family plots of wheat and alfalfa.
Overnight in Boumalne Dades in a boutique hotel
Breakfast and dinner included
Hiking distance: 4 km / Hiking Duration: 2 hr
Driving distance:
Ait Ben Haddou to Amardil Kasbah 70 km / 1 hr 15min
Amardil Kasbah to Boumalne Dades 100 km / 2 hr
DAY 5
Hike in Dades Gorges
Slot canyons, unique red stone formations, and hidden life in the heart of the desert. This is what awaits us on our hike through the Monkey Fingers. Like most canyon hikes, the start of the canyon is fairly wide, with a gravel path and pretty scenery. But quickly the trail takes a more exciting turn as the path twists and winds through increasingly narrower sections until coming to sections that feel more like a slot canyon. Eventually, the canyon walls will grow higher and higher around us and after some scrambling, we will break free of it, and be rewarded with amazing views of the canyon and Dades valley.
Overnight in Boumalne Dades in a boutique hotel
Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Hiking distance: 8 km / Hiking Duration: 3 hr
DAY 6
Hike in Todra gorge and travel to the Sahara desert
In spring, the snowmelt from the High Atlas Mountains collects in rivers and rushes downhill. This southerly flow, has cut deep ravines and dramatic valleys over time. The most dramatic of these, at almost 200m high and only 10m wide at its narrowest point, is the Todra Gorge. Hiking through the gorge, is a Moroccan experience not to be missed. From the lush green valley, we will walk towards barren mountain scenery, passing nomadic settlements high up in the hills with epic views towards the 30km green ribbon of Tinghir Oasis twisting between villages and towns to the south. After lunch, we head to the small city of Arfoud, known as the “Gate to the Sahara Desert”, where our journey continues towards the impressive Erg Chebbi Sand Dunes. We will settle into our luxury desert camp, from which will watch the sunset and the continually changing colors across the sand. Afterwards dinner will be served, followed by music around a fire while gazing at the stars scattered through, the Milky Way, and the never-ending sky.
Overnight in Sahara in a Luxury Desert Camp
Breakfast and dinner included
Hiking distance: 11 km / Hiking Duration: 4 hr
Driving distance:
Boumalne Dades to Todra gorge 51 km / 1 hr
Todra Gorge to Merzouga 200 km / 3 hr 30 min
DAY 7
Ride a camel in the Sahara desert and travel from Merzouga to Midelt
About breakfast, we will board our camels for a two hour ride through the sand dunes. The camels will be tied together by a rope much like the ancient camel caravans on the historic routes. They will know their way into the serene environment and back out. Later on, we will drive towards the village of Khamlia, famous for its indigenous black-skinned inhabitants and their authentic music known as “Gnawa music”. There we will have a lunch of Nomad pizza. At first glance, it looks like a circular flatbread but the secret to this delicious dish is the surprise found inside! Baked fresh in mud ovens, there are versions with meat, vegetables, and spices. After lunch, we depart Merzouga and make our way to the town of Midelt, which lies on the high plains flanked by the Middle Atlas and the High Atlas Mountains. Midelt makes for a handy break between the desert and Fes.
Overnight in Midelt in a boutique hotel
Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Driving distance:
Merzouga to Midelt 265 km / 5 hr
DAY 8
Hike near Ifrane and drive to Fes
Today we will drive towards, Ifrane National Park, often referred to as Morocco’s “Garden of Eden” due to its contrasting scenes of marshy wetlands, cherry orchards and Alpine forests. Visitors often marvel at the sheer diverse ecology of this protected park, and its typically “un-Morrocan” landscapes. The best way to explore the region is to walk one of the many loops and wildlife trails crisscrossing throughout the park, home to a tenth of the world’s cedar forests and a massive concentration of Barbary Macaque, an old-world monkey species. After lunch, our journey continues toward Fes, the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities. The entire medina is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site and it hasn’t changed for centuries.It is a place where ancient traditions are in everyday practice
Overnight in Fes in a boutique riad
Breakfast and lunch included
Hiking distance: 6 km / Hiking Duration: 2 hr 30 min
Driving distance:
Midelt to Ifrane 135 km / 2 hr 30 min
Ifrane to Fes 70 km / 1 hr
DAY 9
Explore Fes
The narrow streets and alleyways of Fes, some barely an arm’s length wide are crammed with hundreds of merchants and skilled artisans, crowds of locals and tourists brave enough to find their way through the maze. Even Moroccans who didn’t grow up in Fes can easily get lost through them. So today alongside our licensed guide we will explore the city. One of the most interesting parts of the tour will be following our noses to the Tanners Quarter where barefoot workers dye skins in a kaleidoscope of small stone pools. The tannery still operates as it did a thousand years ago. It is still the place where cow, sheep, goat, and camel hides are brought to be preserved, dyed, and turned into the handbags, jackets, and wallets sold in the surrounding souks.
Overnight in Fes in a boutique riad
Breakfast and dinner included
DAY 10
Say farewell to Morocco or continue on your own
Breakfast is at your leisure at the hotel and following that, your Tripin Adventures trip in Morocco concludes. There will be a transfer from our accommodations in Fes to an international airport for return flights home or you can continue your explorations of this marvelous region of Morocco.
Breakfast included
WHATS INCLUDED
Price includes:
All accommodations based on double occupancy
Hotel taxes and service charges
All transportation during the trip
All fuel, taxes, and tolls as per itinerary
Entrance fees for Telouet and Amardil Kasbah
Services of a guide throughout the tour
One local host per car fluent in English
Tourist guide for the days in Marrakesh and Fes
Camel trek and camel guide
All water - during day, night, and at meals
All activities mentioned in the program
Transport and handling of one reasonably sized suitcase and one carry-on per person
Included meals:
Breakfast, lunches and dinners as indicated in the itinerary
Not Included:
Domestic and/or international air fare
Medical expenses
Travel or emergency evacuation insurance
Gratuities for leader/guide or driver
Alcoholic beverages and meals other than outlined in itinerary
Visas if needed
Other items of a personal nature
Anything not mentioned in above program
ITINERARY CHANGES
We are constantly updating our unique itineraries based on new information and experiences available. The walks, accommodations, and visits listed may be adjusted. The itineraries presented are subject to modification and change by Tripin Adventures. We reserve the right, without penalty, to make changes in the published itinerary whenever, in our judgment, conditions warrant, or if we deem it necessary for the comfort, convenience, or safety of participants, anything not mentioned in above program.
TERRAIN
This trip level is Moderate and is suitable for most people that are in fairly good physical condition. The itinerary includes walking tours in cities and villages, and five days with moderate hikes of 2-4 hours. Although the paths are quite well-kept the terrain often tends to be very stony and rocky. You will mostly be walking on footpaths, mountain trails and on some tarmac roads and be prepared for few steeper passages and some scrambling.
CONDITION GRADING
Moderate
Trips designated “Moderate” are more active and require a bit more endurance. Hikes and treks include occasional steep ascents. Trip members should be experienced hikers in good physical condition, capable of walking 3-5 hours
STARTING POINT AND GETTING THERE
Starting point is: Marrakesh
Getting There & Away: Small, modern Marrakesh Menara Airport is located 6km southwest of the town. The airport is an important hub between Europe and Northern Africa, serving also flights to other Arab nations..
Getting Away at the End of the Trip: Fes-Saiss airport is 15km south of the city and has recently been expanded. It operates daily flights to Casablanca, as well as connections to Europe.
FOOD
Fresh, flavorful, and delightfully simple, Moroccan cuisine is influenced by Morocco's interactions and exchanges with other cultures and nations over the centuries.
When talking about Moroccan cooking, naturally the first place to start is with spices. A fixture on the ancient spice route, the country has adopted the abundance of globally imported spices from traders around the world. While a blend of varied spices gives Moroccan food its uniquely layered flavor profile, a few standout ingredients create the backbone of many of its most iconic dishes.
As a rule, our groups tend to eat together to enable you to taste a larger variety of dishes and enjoy each other’s company. There's no obligation to do this though. Wherever possible we will cater for dietary needs for any included meals, but there may be times when those with special requirements may need to provide their own. Note that alcohol and soft drinks are not included.
WEATHER
Morocco is located between Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Atlas Mountains on north-west of Africa. Diversity of weather conditions of Morocco is undeniable and is the result of geographic features of the location. So specific weather is depending on certain location in Morocco. Generally, the climate is moderate and subtropical, cooled by breezes off the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In the interior the temperatures are more extreme, winters can be fairly cold and the summers very hot. In fact, the further you go from the ocean the more extreme winter and summer temperatures become. The most pleasant time to visit Morocco is in the spring and autumn, when the weather is warm and dry. Average summer temperatures in the coastal cities, range from 18- 28°C. In the interior, however, highs frequently exceed 35°C.
GEAR CHECKLIST
Morocco in spring and fall has a temperate climate. Base your clothing on the “layering system”, if it is hot you can “peel off” layers quickly, if it is cooler and windy you can quickly “dress up”.
The lighter you travel, the easier you travel. Use your best judgement and pack as lightly as possible. You will appreciate light luggage towards the end of your trip.
Please consider taking along the following items on your trip.
OFFICIAL PAPERS
- Valid passport
- Airline tickets
LUGGAGE
- Duffel bag or rolling luggage
- Daypack to carry camera, water bottle and snacks etc.
- Luggage locks and tags
OUTERWEAR
- Midweight polar fleece sweater
- Rain jacket and rain pants, or poncho
CLOTHING
- Hiking shorts
- Casual clothing made of light-weight fabrics
- T-shirts
- Long-sleeve shirt
- Hiking pants, loose and easy to move in
- Underwear
- Swimsuit
CLOTHING ACCESSORIES
- Sun hat or baseball cap
FOOTWEAR
- Lightweight and supportive hiking boots, broken-in with good ankle support
- Casual, comfortable shoes for evening
ACCESSORIES
- Sunscreen and lip protection
- Sunglasses and retainer strap
- Head torch
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
- Security pouch or money belt
- Trekking poles or walking staff
- Camera, memory and batteries
- Reading and writing materials
- Watch with alarm or travel alarm
- Travel pillow
- Motion sickness remedies
- Personal first-aid kit
- Insect repellent (lowrisk)
- Electric adapter plug/converter
This is not a fixed list, but more of a guideline, so feel free to add and remove items as you see fit.
CURRENCY & BANKING
The currency of Morocco is the dirham (Dh) and is officially designated as a closed currency, which means that it can only be legally traded within Morocco. The easiest way to obtain local cash is from an ATM. In addition to this all international airports in Morocco have a currency exchange counter. Exchange rates are fixed by law and charging high commissions is forbidden, which means that there are very small differences in fees between banks and exchange counters. You may want to check the website www.xe.com for current exchange rates.
PASSPORTS
You must have a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond the conclusion of your trip. Please make sure that you have blank pages in your passport for your visa (if required), entry and exit stamps (one for each). Please make a copy to take with you in the event yours is lost or stolen and keep it separate from your actual passport.
VISAS
Currently a Moroccan Tourist Visa is not required for citizens of Canada, United States, Britain and Australia. If you hold another passport, please check online http://visacentral.com/visas.php
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