Seven days is the first length where Morocco stops being a choice between the desert and the cities. You get both. This loop runs south-east from Marrakech over the High Atlas to the Erg Chebbi dunes, north through the Ziz Valley to Fes for a guided medina day, then west across the imperial cities — Meknes, Volubilis, Rabat, Casablanca — and back to Marrakech, without driving a single road twice.
What seven days actually allows
Three things that shorter trips cannot fit. A night in the dunes with a camel trek at sunset. A full guided day in Fes, which is the single most rewarding city day in the country and needs a guide to make sense of. And the Roman and imperial north — Volubilis, UNESCO-listed since 1997, with mosaics still in the floors where they were laid, and Rabat, inscribed in 2012, where the Hassan Tower has stood unfinished since 1184.
The route, and why it goes this way round
Anticlockwise. The hard driving comes early, while you are fresh: the Tizi n’Tichka pass at about 2,260 m on day one, then the pre-Saharan valleys, the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorge — walls around 400 m high narrowing to roughly ten metres — before the dunes on day two. From there the days get shorter and the stops get closer together, so the end of the trip is city walking rather than long transfers.
What it does not include
Chefchaouen. The blue city is three and a half hours north of Fes and adding it would cost you the Rabat and Casablanca leg or an eighth day. If Chefchaouen is a priority, say so and we will quote the ten-day version instead, or swap the imperial-cities leg for a Rif detour. We would rather tell you that than pretend it fits.
Who this suits
Travellers with a full week who want the country rather than a highlight. If you have less, the 5-day Marrakech to Fes route covers the desert and Fes one-way. If you have more, the 10-day circuit adds Chefchaouen and a second desert night. Our seven-day itinerary guide compares three different ways of spending the week.
Aperçu
Seven days is the first length where Morocco stops being a choice between the desert and the cities. You get both. This loop runs south-east from Marrakech over the High Atlas to the Erg Chebbi dunes, north through the Ziz Valley to Fes for a guided medina day, then west across the imperial cities — Meknes, Volubilis, Rabat, Casablanca — and back to Marrakech, without driving a single road twice.
What seven days actually allows
Three things that shorter trips cannot fit. A night in the dunes with a camel trek at sunset. A full guided day in Fes, which is the single most rewarding city day in the country and needs a guide to make sense of. And the Roman and imperial north — Volubilis, UNESCO-listed since 1997, with mosaics still in the floors where they were laid, and Rabat, inscribed in 2012, where the Hassan Tower has stood unfinished since 1184.
The route, and why it goes this way round
Anticlockwise. The hard driving comes early, while you are fresh: the Tizi n’Tichka pass at about 2,260 m on day one, then the pre-Saharan valleys, the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorge — walls around 400 m high narrowing to roughly ten metres — before the dunes on day two. From there the days get shorter and the stops get closer together, so the end of the trip is city walking rather than long transfers.
What it does not include
Chefchaouen. The blue city is three and a half hours north of Fes and adding it would cost you the Rabat and Casablanca leg or an eighth day. If Chefchaouen is a priority, say so and we will quote the ten-day version instead, or swap the imperial-cities leg for a Rif detour. We would rather tell you that than pretend it fits.
Who this suits
Travellers with a full week who want the country rather than a highlight. If you have less, the 5-day Marrakech to Fes route covers the desert and Fes one-way. If you have more, the 10-day circuit adds Chefchaouen and a second desert night. Our seven-day itinerary guide compares three different ways of spending the week.
Practical notes before you book
The camel trek at Erg Chebbi is about an hour each way, timed for sunset, with a 4×4 alternative if anyone would rather not ride. Desert nights are cold outside high summer — January lows at Merzouga average around 3.5 °C. The Hassan II Mosque interior is open to non-Muslim visitors on guided tours only and that ticket is not included. Local guides are included for the Fes medina day; monument entrance fees are not, and are paid on the day.
Before you travel, read our month-by-month guide to the Moroccan Sahara, the packing list, what a desert camp night is like, the Fes medina guide and the Marrakech medina guide. If you want the individual pieces instead of the loop, see the 4-day Merzouga tour and the Marrakech medina day tour.
Points forts
- A full loop: desert and imperial cities, no road driven twice
- A night in a desert camp at Erg Chebbi after a sunset camel trek
- Ait Ben Haddou, the Dades Valley and the Todra Gorge
- A guided day in the Fes medina, with two nights in the city
- Volubilis, Roman provincial capital, UNESCO-listed 1997
- Rabat and the Hassan Tower, begun 1184; the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca
- Driving front-loaded so the second half is city walking, not transfers
