Morocco itinerary, day by day

From Marrakesh to the dunes of Merzouga, by way of the kasbahs and the gorges: a loop day by day, with the map, the experiences worth booking, everything that is free, and where to sleep at three budgets.

🗓️ 4, 7 or 12 days📍 5 stops☀️ Best time: March to May and September to November

Marrakech · Photo Tom D'Arby / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Morocco in 4 days

2 stops · 11 things to do · ≈ 380 km

1Marrakesh

Days 1-2

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Jemaa el-Fna square · The medina souks · The Majorelle garden, from outside · The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech (€1200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant Chez Fatima - Gastronomie marocaine et internationale - Restaurant marocain Marrakech ↗ ★ 4.9 · 4682 reviews · €€
Kiss Ko Marrakech ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1549 reviews
Jungle Rooftop La Pergola - Jazz Bar & Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 38991 reviews · €€
Le Bistro Arabe - Restaurant et jazz marocain à Marrakech ↗ ★ 4.8 · 15033 reviews · €€€€
Restaurant Le Grand Bazar Marrakech ↗ ★ 4.8 · 7665 reviews · €€

Photo Tom D'Arby / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h45 · 190 km (return trip)

2Essaouira

Days 3-4

A walled town in the trade winds, once Mogador. Portuguese ramparts, a fishing port full of blue boats, and the home of gnawa music.

🎟️ Worth booking

Surf or kitesurf lessonHalf day · from €40
Essaouira bay is windy almost every day, which is bad for sunbathing and excellent for this.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The walled medina · The fishing port · The Skala ramparts · The windswept beach

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Nakhla (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Chbanate (€95 a night) · Luxury: Salut Maroc! (€170 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Khmissa ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1407 reviews · €
Restaurant Sayef ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1160 reviews · €
Restaurant Berber Essaouira – Expérience Culinaire Marocaine | Tajine, Couscous & Plats Traditionnels ↗ ★ 4.9 · 971 reviews · €
Dar Dasha ↗ ★ 4.9 · 624 reviews
Chez Ruqayya ↗ ★ 4.9 · 312 reviews

Photo Moussa Idrissi / Pexels

Morocco in 7 days

5 stops · 25 things to do · ≈ 900 km

1Marrakesh

Days 1-2

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Jemaa el-Fna square · The medina souks · The Majorelle garden, from outside · The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech (€1200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Tom D'Arby / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 190 km (Tichka Pass)

2Aït Benhaddou

Day 3

A UNESCO-listed earthen ksar on the old caravan road, and the backdrop to more films than anyone can list, Gladiator and Game of Thrones among them.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided visit of the ksar2h · from €20
Up through the earthen houses to the granary at the top, with the history of the caravan road as you climb.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The fortified kasbah · The film sets · The view from the granary

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Tebi (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Dar Mouna (€80 a night) · Luxury: Ksar Ighnda (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Café restaurant amazir ↗ ★ 4.9 · 568 reviews
Snack Les Amis ↗ ★ 4.8 · 989 reviews
Zaytoune ↗ ★ 4.8 · 865 reviews
Tanmirt ↗ ★ 4.8 · 612 reviews
Riyad Ait Ben Haddou ↗ ★ 4.8 · 325 reviews

Photo Fives TM / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 250 km

3Todra Gorge

Day 4

A canyon cut by the river through the High Atlas, with walls three hundred metres high. Climbers come here for a reason.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk in the gorgeHalf day · from €25
Between three-hundred-metre walls, then out through the palm oasis on the valley floor.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The three-hundred-metre walls · The Tinghir oasis · The Berber villages

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel La Vallée des Kasbahs (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Tomboctou (€55 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Petit Nomade (€115 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Cafe Restaurant Chez Ahmed ↗ ★ 4.9 · 444 reviews
Restaurant Riad Marzouk ↗ ★ 4.9 · 236 reviews
Restaurant "Relax Food", gorges de todra ↗ ★ 4.9 · 111 reviews
Café & Restaurant Central ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1220 reviews
Restaurant La Zone Tinghir ↗ ★ 4.8 · 325 reviews

Photo Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

🚗 Car · 3h30 · 210 km

4The Merzouga desert

Days 5-6

The door to the Sahara and to the Erg Chebbi dunes, some of them a hundred and fifty metres tall. Camps, camels, and a very large sky.

🎟️ Worth booking

Desert camp and camel trekNight · from €65
Out into the Erg Chebbi by camel at dusk, a night in a camp, and the sunrise over the dunes.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Sunrise by quad bike2h · from €40
The faster way into the dunes, for the hour when the sand turns orange.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Erg Chebbi dunes · A night under the stars · Gnawa music at the camp

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Mohayut (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Madu (€90 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Erg Chebbi (€95 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant Africa ↗ ★ 5 · 553 reviews
Restaurant Dar Mama ↗ ★ 5 · 303 reviews
Chez Marrakech ↗ ★ 5 · 252 reviews
Snack Hassi Labied ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1835 reviews · €
Cafe_Snack_Restaurant_ Hamid ↗ ★ 4.9 · 1393 reviews · €

Photo Ruochen Studio / Pexels

🚗 Car · 8h · 560 km (a deliberately long day back (or fly from Errachidia))

5Marrakesh

Day 7 · return

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Jemaa el-Fna square · The medina souks · The Majorelle garden, from outside · The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech (€1200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Tom D'Arby / Pexels

Morocco in 12 days

8 stops · 39 things to do · ≈ 1 300 km

1Marrakesh

Days 1-2

An imperial city founded in 1070. Jemaa el-Fna square, the souks and the Majorelle gardens are what make the red city.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk through the medinaHalf day · from €25
The souks with someone who knows the way out, which is worth more than it sounds.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Dinner and show on Jemaa el-FnaEvening · from €30
The square at night, when the food stalls go up and the storytellers and musicians take over.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Jemaa el-Fna square · The medina souks · The Majorelle garden, from outside · The Koutoubia mosque

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Dia (€30 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Yasmine (€110 a night) · Luxury: Royal Mansour Marrakech (€1200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Tom D'Arby / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 190 km

2Aït Benhaddou

Day 3

A UNESCO-listed earthen ksar on the old caravan road, and the backdrop to more films than anyone can list, Gladiator and Game of Thrones among them.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided visit of the ksar2h · from €20
Up through the earthen houses to the granary at the top, with the history of the caravan road as you climb.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The fortified kasbah · The film sets · The view from the granary

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Tebi (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Dar Mouna (€80 a night) · Luxury: Ksar Ighnda (€160 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Fives TM / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 250 km

3Todra Gorge

Day 4

A canyon cut by the river through the High Atlas, with walls three hundred metres high. Climbers come here for a reason.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided walk in the gorgeHalf day · from €25
Between three-hundred-metre walls, then out through the palm oasis on the valley floor.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The three-hundred-metre walls · The Tinghir oasis · The Berber villages

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hotel La Vallée des Kasbahs (€25 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Tomboctou (€55 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Petit Nomade (€115 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

🚗 Car · 3h30 · 210 km

4The Merzouga desert

Days 5-6

The door to the Sahara and to the Erg Chebbi dunes, some of them a hundred and fifty metres tall. Camps, camels, and a very large sky.

🎟️ Worth booking

Desert camp and camel trekNight · from €65
Out into the Erg Chebbi by camel at dusk, a night in a camp, and the sunrise over the dunes.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Sunrise by quad bike2h · from €40
The faster way into the dunes, for the hour when the sand turns orange.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Erg Chebbi dunes · A night under the stars · Gnawa music at the camp

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Kasbah Mohayut (€40 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Madu (€90 a night) · Luxury: Kasbah Erg Chebbi (€95 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Ruochen Studio / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h30 · 210 km (breaks up the long drive to Fes)

5Midelt

Day 7

The halfway town between the desert and Fez, sitting under the Jbel Ayachi, with a cedar forest and its monkeys an hour further on.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Jaffar cirque by 4x4Half day · from €35
A track into the High Atlas behind Midelt, with the Jbel Ayachi standing over the whole valley.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Cedar forest and Barbary macaquesHalf day · from €30
The cedar forest above Azrou, where the macaques come down to the road.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Kasbah Myriem and its weaving workshop · The weekly souk · The view of Jbel Ayachi · The Ziz valley

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Hôtel Imilchil (€32 a night) · Mid-range: Kasbah Asmaa (€70 a night) · Luxury: Hôtel Taddart (€82 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Restaurant Merzouga ★ 4.8 · 1700 reviews · €
Berber Restaurant ★ 4.8 · 212 reviews
Barista Spirit : Café, Restaurant & Pâtisserie ★ 4.7 · 176 reviews
Restaurant Melouki ★ 4.6 · 156 reviews
Restaurant Al Madina ★ 4.2 · 139 reviews

Photo Mohamed Khettouch / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h30 · 200 km (cedars of Ifrane & Azrou)

6Fez

Days 8-9

The spiritual capital, founded in the ninth century. Its medina is the largest car-free area in the world and holds the oldest university still running, from 859.

🎟️ Worth booking

Guided visit of Fez el-BaliHalf day · from €28
The old medina, nine thousand lanes of it, including the tanneries and the schools you would never find alone.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Chouara tanneries · The Bou Inania madrasa, from outside · The monumental gates · The craft souks

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Verus (€32 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Anata (€90 a night) · Luxury: Palais Faraj (€280 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Bistrot des Saveurs ↗ ★ 4.9 · 501 reviews
Restaurant rooftop Palais Fes Yahya ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1584 reviews
La Cave ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1180 reviews · €
Sunshine Restaurant rooftop médina ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1180 reviews
DAR HAMMAD ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1136 reviews

Photo Moussa Idrissi / Pexels

🚗 Car · 4h · 200 km

7Chefchaouen

Days 10-11

The blue town of the Rif, painted indigo in the 1930s. Photogenic lanes climbing straight into the mountains.

🎟️ Worth booking

Photo walk in the blue town2h · from €20
The lanes of Chefchaouen at the hour when the blue works, with someone who knows which ones.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The blue lanes · Outa el-Hammam square · The Akchour waterfall

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Aline Hostel (€22 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Cherifa (€90 a night) · Luxury: Casa Hassan (€140 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Chez Toda : crêperie & ice cream ↗ ★ 5 · 633 reviews · €
Restaurant SAYEDA ALHURRA ↗ ★ 4.9 · 656 reviews
Restaurant La fuente ↗ ★ 4.9 · 503 reviews
Nabil Falafel Bab Souk ↗ ★ 4.9 · 145 reviews
FORNACCIO- Coffe & Kitchen ↗ ★ 4.8 · 505 reviews

Photo Ryutaro Tsukata / Pexels

✈️ Flight + Road · ~5h · via Casablanca

8Essaouira

Day 12

A walled town in the trade winds, once Mogador. Portuguese ramparts, a fishing port full of blue boats, and the home of gnawa music.

🎟️ Worth booking

Surf or kitesurf lessonHalf day · from €40
Essaouira bay is windy almost every day, which is bad for sunbathing and excellent for this.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The walled medina · The fishing port · The Skala ramparts · The windswept beach

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Riad Nakhla (€35 a night) · Mid-range: Riad Chbanate (€95 a night) · Luxury: Salut Maroc! (€170 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Moussa Idrissi / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

Tagine: slow-cooked in the clay pot it is named after (chicken and lemon, lamb and prunes).
Couscous: traditionally a Friday dish.
Pastilla: a sweet and savoury pie, chicken or pigeon, dusted with sugar.
Mint tea: less a drink than the way hospitality is done.
Street food: msemen, harira and skewers on Jemaa el-Fna.

⚠️ What to avoid

Turn down the unofficial guides who attach themselves to you in the medina. Politely, and firmly.
Haggle. Starting at a third of the asking price is normal, not rude.
Ask before photographing people, and before photographing the tanneries.
Do not drink the tap water. Bottled, with the seal unbroken.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Morocco guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Morocco, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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