· 9 min read
10 Days in Morocco: Imperial Cities and the Sahara
A 10-day Morocco itinerary covering Marrakech, Ait Benhaddou, the Draa valley, Merzouga dunes, Fes and the coast — with real driving times and fixed private transfer prices.
Ten days is where Morocco opens up. You can cross the Atlas, sleep in the dunes, walk Fes and still finish on the Atlantic — provided the route runs in one direction instead of doubling back.
The route
- Days 1–2 — Marrakech
- Day 3 — Tizi n'Tichka pass, Ait Benhaddou, Ouarzazate
- Day 4 — Draa valley and Dades or Todra gorge
- Day 5 — Merzouga, night in the Erg Chebbi dunes
- Day 6 — Merzouga to Fes via Ifrane and the cedar forest
- Days 7–8 — Fes
- Days 9–10 — Casablanca or Essaouira, then home
Days 1–2 — Marrakech
Medina, souks, Bahia, Majorelle — the short version is in our 2-day Marrakech plan. Arrivals and fixed prices sit on the Marrakech airport transfer page.
Day 3 — Over the Tizi n'Tichka
The pass tops out at 2,260 m and the modernised road now takes about four hours to Ouarzazate with stops. Ait Benhaddou is the obvious break: an earthen ksar that has stood in for half of North Africa on film. Sleep in Ouarzazate or push on to Skoura's palm groves.
Day 4 — Valley of a thousand kasbahs
Skoura, the Dades valley and the Todra gorge fill a day easily. The gorge walls narrow to 10 metres with a road running through them; go early, before the coaches.
Day 5 — The dunes
Merzouga is reached in the afternoon so you ride out to camp before sunset. Nights in the Erg Chebbi are cold from November to February — camps supply blankets, but bring a layer. Our Marrakech to Sahara guide covers the drive in detail.
Day 6 — North to Fes
The longest leg of the trip: roughly 470 km, 7 to 8 hours, through Errachidia, Midelt and the cedar forests around Azrou where the Barbary macaques live. Break it into three stops and it is an easy day.
Days 7–8 — Fes
Fes el-Bali is the largest car-free urban area in the world and deserves two days: the tanneries, the Attarine and Bou Inania medersas, the Andalusian quarter. Our Fes guide has the walking routes; the Fes airport transfer page has arrival prices.
Days 9–10 — Coast and home
Fly home from Fes, or drive to Casablanca (3.5 h) for the Hassan II mosque, or back to the Atlantic at Essaouira. If you have chosen Chefchaouen instead, it is 4 hours north of Fes and worth one night, not two.
Driving times you should plan for
- Marrakech → Ait Benhaddou — 180 km · ~3 h 30
- Ouarzazate → Merzouga — 360 km · ~5 h
- Merzouga → Fes — 470 km · ~7 h 30
- Fes → Chefchaouen — 200 km · ~4 h
- Fes → Casablanca — 290 km · ~3 h 30
How people actually do this
Almost nobody drives this loop themselves. Rental cars, mountain passes and desert pistes make for a tense holiday, and a one-way route means returning the car somewhere else. A private car and driver for the legs — or for the whole loop — is the usual answer; prices for every Moroccan route are on the Morocco transfers page.
