12-Day Grand Morocco Discovery: The Complete Kingdom Tour

A short drive into the High Atlas reaches Imlil, the trailhead village for Mount Toubkal, North Africa's highest peak. A gentle walk through walnut groves and stone-built Berber villages such as Aroumd offers a taste of mountain life before continuing the itinerary.

Descending from Imlil, the route rejoins the Tizi n'Tichka road, visiting Ait Benhaddou and Ouarzazate before continuing into the Dades Valley for the overnight.

The morning begins with a drive through the dramatic Dades Gorges, where windsculpted cliffs form the famous “Monkey Fingers” rock formations, before continuing to the narrow, towering Todra Gorge for an optional short walk between 300-metre limestone walls. The route then crosses the palm groves around Tinghir and the fossil- rich town of Erfoud, where workshops cut and polish 350-million-year-old marine fossils into tables and sinks. Passing through Rissani, once the capital of the Tafilalt oasis and cradle of the Alaouite dynasty, the first golden crests of the Erg Chebbi dunes appear on the horizon. Late afternoon, a camel trek carries travellers deep into the dunes to a desert camp, where dinner is served under the stars around a campfire with traditional Gnawa music.

A relaxed day based in Merzouga allows time to visit Khamlia, a village founded by descendants of sub-Saharan slaves and famous for its Gnawa music, and to explore the Erg Chebbi dunes on foot, by sandboard, or by quad bike. Afternoons can include a visit to a semi-nomadic family tent or simply time to relax and photograph the ever-changing light on the dunes before a second night at the desert camp.

Heading north from the dunes, the route follows the spectacular Ziz Valley Gorges, a ribbon of palm trees threading through red sandstone cliffs, before climbing onto the Middle Atlas plateau. A stop in Ifrane, nicknamed the “Switzerland of Morocco” for its Alpine-style architecture and stone chalets, offers a striking contrast to the desert. Just beyond, the Azrou Cedar Forest is home to wild Barbary macaques that often approach the roadside. The journey concludes in Fes, Morocco's spiritual and cultural capital and home to the world's largest car-free urban area.

A full day is spent exploring Fes el-Bali, the largest car-free urban area on Earth and a UNESCO World Heritage medina of over 9,000 narrow lanes. Highlights include the ornate Bab Boujloud gate, the Al Quaraouiyine mosque-university (founded in 859, recognised as the world's oldest existing university), the iconic Chouara leather tanneries, and the restored Nejjarine Fondouk, before browsing the souks for ceramics, brassware, and leather goods.

A stop in Meknes, one of Morocco's four Imperial Cities, reveals the monumental Bab Mansour gate and vast 17th-century royal stables built under Sultan Moulay Ismail. Just outside town, the remarkably preserved Roman ruins of Volubilis — with intact mosaics and standing columns — and the sacred hilltop town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun add historical depth before continuing north.

Leaving Fes, the route can include a detour to the remarkably preserved Roman ruins of Volubilis and the imperial city of Meknes before climbing into the Rif Mountains toward Chefchaouen, the famous “Blue Pearl” of Morocco, arriving in time to wander its cobalt-blue lanes at sunset.

The road south can pass through Ouezzane and the elegant capital Rabat, home to the unfinished Hassan Tower and the whitewashed Kasbah of the Udayas, before reaching Casablanca, Morocco's modern economic capital and site of the vast Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the world, built directly on the Atlantic Ocean.

A relaxed coastal drive from Casablanca reaches Essaouira by afternoon, with the rest of the day free to explore the medina and port.

A full day to explore the breezy fishing port immortalised by Orson Welles and Jimi Hendrix: walking the 18th-century Skala ramparts, watching the daily catch at the port, browsing thuya-wood marquetry workshops in the medina, and relaxing on the wide Atlantic beach, with the option of an afternoon excursion to the wilder dunes and surf breaks at Sidi Kaouki.

The route back to Marrakech winds through argan forests unique to southwestern Morocco, with the option to stop at a women-run argan oil cooperative, before crossing the Atlas foothills (via the dramatic Tizi n'Test Pass or the faster Chichaoua road, depending on season and road conditions) back to the Red City.