sunset over tangier bay

MOROCCAN MOSAICS

Touring on a bus trip holiday Morocco’s renowned imperial cities, monuments and sites is  wandering through teeming squares, bazaars and souks seeking where the exotic was born. Driving in the high atlas and peaceful Sahara desert in search for encounters with the nomadic Berbers and their ancestral heritage encompasses something of the best of Morocco!

Morocco is a kingdom of diversity. The land where the sea mingles with the ocean, the snow-capped mountains touch the void desert, where myth and reality are one thing.

Across the country, a cultural and social feel fly over its legendary sites, proudly preserved by the Moroccans to speak for a country  deeply rooted in Africa , breathing in Europe and imbued by moderate faith. History  is everywhere to show the sumptuous Moorish art-style , the subtle local art craft and the fruits of the Berber  and Arab conquests , originally behind the beauty of the imperial cities .These last ones, overtaken in turn, were founded to play the hoped for role as capitals , economical centres  or spiritual  citadels..

For centuries , Moroccan heritage extended and enriched itself off boundaries , permitting diversity of races and landscapes , of faiths and languages, yet all united  by a secular history brewed properly to create the most enchanting mystery.

Highlights:

• Touring some of Morocco’s most important monuments in the easy going cities.
• Soaking up the picturesque coastal towns with their sea life, small villages and great history.
• chil ling out at peaceful places with remarkable cuisine.
• Step back and hang loose in the pretty laid back towns set against some dramatic sceneries..
• Beating the hustle and hassle of all vibrant markets and public places…
• Exploring the gritty, hispano-Moorish cities in the north with all their teeming Medinas and quarters.
• Taking a step back in Fez and Meknes alleys and souks.
• Marvelling at the Roman ruins of Volubilis and searching for the cedar forests wildlife.
• Jostling with the crowds in Marrakech, the heartbeat of Morocco.
• Enjoying some time in the calm dunes of Erg Chebbi and Chegaga.
• Wondering in some of Morocco’s side trips through stunning villages and valleys.
• Bartering for rugs and baboushes in the wild and amazing markets.
• Driving by the coastline and gazing at the turquoise sea.

Itinerary:

Day 1: airport: transfer to the hotel and meeting the tour guide. Night in Casablanca.

Day2: Casablanca- Rabat

After loading our luggage, we head of in the morning to pay a visit to the most impressive mosque in the country. Hassan II mosque, opened only in 1993 is second only in size to the big mosque of Mecca, accommodates inside 25.000 worshippers and our only accessible mosque to non-Muslims. The sums spent to erect such a stunning building accounts for the absolutely beautiful works invested by thousands of artists. Later we drive to Morocco’s actual capital, Rabat the elegant city with numerous monuments that go back to Al Mohads and the Merenids dynasties and far older. The Chellah, a Roman and Phoenician sala colonia citadel is worth a look before heading towards Mohamed V mausoleum, Hassan tower and Kasbah des Oudayas, the corsairs’ bastion perching over the stunning left rocky cliff looking over the Bou regreg river and the city of Salé. A fabulous wander around in the afternoon market of Rabat is a real insight into the Medina’s life and smells. Night in Rabat

Meals included: 1 breakfast.

Day3: Rabat- Meknes- Fes

Driving today via the lush and rich farms of the Zair valley, our next destination is Meknes and its impressive gates, unrivalled walls and palaces. The BAB Mansour the Hri Souani stables and water collector and the city’s founder burial place are just a few examples of this unique city in the country. After lunch, a quick passage through Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, the cradle of FES’s founder and the first Islamic dynasty in the Arabic  far west before we head down through the olive groves to VOLUBILIS. This Roman site, declared as UNESCO’s human heritage site was once a provincial capital and the farthest distant outpost of Rome. We explore the many public buildings such as the Orpheus house, the Dog’s house, Dionysus house and other still standing up Basilica and triumphal arch surrounded the beautiful mosaics besides the many olive presses and baths. Just before sunset, we leave this stunning site behind heading to Fes. Overnight at hotel.

Meals included: 1 breakfast.

Day4: FES and the surroundings

Spiritual and cultural heart of Morocco, Fes is vibrant, bustling with life and overwhelming visual pungent assault on the senses. Amongst the three parts that compose this UNESCO’s unique human cultural heritage city we spend our day in the meanders and labyrinthine alleys, souks and fascinating history of Morocco’s most royal capital. All in all, it is a travel back into time between the Berber, the Islamic and the Jewish parts of the medieval history of North Africa, its universities, libraries and art craft shops that still maintain their antic, traditional and lifestyles. The whole journey is a voyage where senses experience the extremes between museums, Coranic schools and synagogues, food and spices’ markets and the eternally controversial dye-pits of the tanneries and the pottery factories. We end up our day at the hotel.

Meals included: 1 breakfast.

Day5: FES and surroundings:

For those who would prefer to get away to the hot spas of Moulay yaakoub, Morocco’s most popular sulfur hot spring, will be driven outside the medina for a lazy and relaxing moment. Possibly later after the spring’s visit a quick stroll around Labhalil, medieval village build by the Gypsies in the earlier centuries on top of caves and where actually Fes gets all the buttons made for Caftans and traditional Jellabas. A real encounter with the locals before we head back to fes and a last visit in the market.  There will be a great chance for a big meal and a show that some of the most vibrant local places offer to the visitors.

Meals included: breakfast.

Day6: FES / MARRAKECH:

Today is essentially a long drive to the red city. However, it is a spectacular drive through the country’s lush mountains and plateaus with tremendous floral, animal and architectural diversity. Our passage through the pines and cedar forest and snowcapped mid-Atlas mountains is certainly a highlight of the journey before we get to Tadla, one of the country’s richest plains, adjacent to the central high Atlas. Getting to the bubbling red city is quite something and a real introduction to the most popular city in the country. Our accommodation is only few minutes to the heart of Jamaa El fna and its animated streets and biggest outdoor restaurant. This evening why not head over to the square where every night it comes alive with snake charmers, musicians, story-tellers, fire-eaters and hundreds of local people around the restaurants and cafes.

Meals included: breakfast.

Day7: MARRAKECH TOUR.

After breakfast we meet our local tour guide and set off on a morning tour of the old Medina. From the Bahia palace, a former mansion built around 1886 by a former slave who had risen to a position of importance in the government of Moulay Hassan I. We wander around the tranquil inner courtyards, fragrant with orange blossom, and the many rooms and chambers that make up an elegant Riad/palace dedicated to Lalla Bahia, the vizir’s beloved. Through the narrow alleys of the red city we carry on our exploration to the recently restored Ben tachfine Medersa, a fascinating university/koranic school wherefrom the elite upgraded. Not far from this school, we move to visit the Marrakech Museum, itself a former palace, which houses a fine collection of Moroccan medieval and pre-modern art and sculptures. Walking back through the streets we discover metal workshops, herbalists and some of the most intricate alleys bustling with life, sounds and senses. Further things are left for you to explore in the bazaar, monuments or gardens around the old city: the Majorelle gardens, the Agdal gardens, Koutoubia mosque and finally the Square in the afternoon.

Meals included: 1 breakfast.

Extensions:

• Day trip over to Essaouira and sightseeing. Possible overnight stay at a Riad.
• Day trip to the Atlas Mountains and possible overnight stay at a Kasbah, gite or auberge.
• Day trip to Ouzoud water falls and possible stay overnight.

Notes

• year around. 
• Family option:
• Joining:Casablanca/ Marrakech/ Tangier.