Ten days is the length at which Morocco finally fits. The desert and the imperial cities, the Rif and the High Atlas, with two nights in the places that deserve two nights rather than one hurried evening each. This is a clockwise loop from Marrakech, and no road is driven twice.
What the ten days are for
Two of them go to Chefchaouen, because the blue city is at its best before the day buses arrive and after they leave. Two go to the Erg Chebbi dunes, so you get a sunset, a sunrise, and a whole day in the desert with nothing scheduled. One goes to the Fes medina with a local guide, which is the most rewarding city day in the country. And one goes to Marrakech at the end, guided, when you already understand enough of Morocco for the medina to make sense.
The historical spine
Clockwise means you take the history in roughly the order it happened. Volubilis was a Mauretanian capital from the third century BC and later a Roman municipium; it has been UNESCO-listed since 1997 and the mosaics are still in the floors of the houses they were made for. Meknes is Moulay Ismail’s seventeenth-century capital. Rabat was inscribed by UNESCO in 2012, and the Hassan Tower there has stood unfinished since 1184. Ait Ben Haddou, near the end of the loop, is the fortified village on the caravan road to Timbuktu.
Where the tenth day goes
In the version below it is the second desert night, which is what most people want and what most ten-day tours leave out. If you would rather spend it somewhere else, the three sensible alternatives are a second day in Fes, a night in Essaouira on the Atlantic, or a night in the High Atlas at Imlil. Tell us which and we will rebuild the route before you pay anything.
Who this suits
Anyone with a fortnight’s holiday and ten days to give Morocco. If you have twelve, the twelve-day guide explains what two more days buy you — and our ten-day itinerary guide sets out the clockwise versus anticlockwise argument in more detail than a tour page can.
Which length is right for you
Our guide to how many days you need in Morocco lays out every length from one day to fifteen. The shorter versions of this circuit are the 7-day loop and the 5-day one-way route; the longer ones are the 12-day tour, the 14-day grand tour and the 15-day slower circuit. If ten days is what you have, this is the version we would pick ourselves — it is the shortest itinerary that gives both Chefchaouen and the dunes two nights each.
The single-tour alternatives inside this route, if you would rather do them separately: the 4-day Merzouga desert tour, the 3-day northern route to Chefchaouen and the Marrakech medina day tour.
Practical notes
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca admits non-Muslim visitors to the interior on guided tours only and that ticket is not included. Desert nights are cold outside summer — January lows at Merzouga average around 3.5 °C. The camel trek into the dunes is about an hour each way, with a 4×4 alternative if anyone would rather not ride. Worth reading before you travel: our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit the Moroccan Sahara, the tested Sahara packing list, what a night in a desert camp is actually like, the Fes medina guide and the Marrakech medina guide.
Overview
Ten days is the length at which Morocco finally fits. The desert and the imperial cities, the Rif and the High Atlas, with two nights in the places that deserve two nights rather than one hurried evening each. This is a clockwise loop from Marrakech, and no road is driven twice.
What the ten days are for
Two of them go to Chefchaouen, because the blue city is at its best before the day buses arrive and after they leave. Two go to the Erg Chebbi dunes, so you get a sunset, a sunrise, and a whole day in the desert with nothing scheduled. One goes to the Fes medina with a local guide, which is the most rewarding city day in the country. And one goes to Marrakech at the end, guided, when you already understand enough of Morocco for the medina to make sense.
The historical spine
Clockwise means you take the history in roughly the order it happened. Volubilis was a Mauretanian capital from the third century BC and later a Roman municipium; it has been UNESCO-listed since 1997 and the mosaics are still in the floors of the houses they were made for. Meknes is Moulay Ismail’s seventeenth-century capital. Rabat was inscribed by UNESCO in 2012, and the Hassan Tower there has stood unfinished since 1184. Ait Ben Haddou, near the end of the loop, is the fortified village on the caravan road to Timbuktu.
Where the tenth day goes
In the version below it is the second desert night, which is what most people want and what most ten-day tours leave out. If you would rather spend it somewhere else, the three sensible alternatives are a second day in Fes, a night in Essaouira on the Atlantic, or a night in the High Atlas at Imlil. Tell us which and we will rebuild the route before you pay anything.
Who this suits
Anyone with a fortnight’s holiday and ten days to give Morocco. If you have twelve, the twelve-day guide explains what two more days buy you — and our ten-day itinerary guide sets out the clockwise versus anticlockwise argument in more detail than a tour page can.
Which length is right for you
Our guide to how many days you need in Morocco lays out every length from one day to fifteen. The shorter versions of this circuit are the 7-day loop and the 5-day one-way route; the longer ones are the 12-day tour, the 14-day grand tour and the 15-day slower circuit. If ten days is what you have, this is the version we would pick ourselves — it is the shortest itinerary that gives both Chefchaouen and the dunes two nights each.
The single-tour alternatives inside this route, if you would rather do them separately: the 4-day Merzouga desert tour, the 3-day northern route to Chefchaouen and the Marrakech medina day tour.
Practical notes
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca admits non-Muslim visitors to the interior on guided tours only and that ticket is not included. Desert nights are cold outside summer — January lows at Merzouga average around 3.5 °C. The camel trek into the dunes is about an hour each way, with a 4×4 alternative if anyone would rather not ride. Worth reading before you travel: our month-by-month guide to the best time to visit the Moroccan Sahara, the tested Sahara packing list, what a night in a desert camp is actually like, the Fes medina guide and the Marrakech medina guide.
Highlights
- Two nights in Chefchaouen and two in the Erg Chebbi dunes
- A guided day in the Fes medina with two nights in the city
- Volubilis, UNESCO-listed since 1997, with mosaics still in situ
- Rabat, inscribed 2012, and the Hassan Tower begun in 1184
- The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, 210-metre minaret over the Atlantic
- The Todra Gorge, the Dades Valley and Ait Ben Haddou on the way back
- A guided Marrakech medina morning at the end, when it finally makes sense
- Clockwise loop: no road driven twice
