Our SAHARAN SYMPHONY TOUR visits give reasonable Sahara trips, camel treks that begin from Casablanca to Marrakech.
In our private Sahara Desert visits, you will find the lifetime encounter: dozing under the stars, the dawn from the highest point of a mammoth sand-ridge. We offer guided visits in agreeable aerated and cooled desert vehicles and mini vans. You will be by and by invited at any station or from your hotel any place in Morocco.
On arrival to Casablanca airport and after completing Immigration and custom formalities you will be met and transferred directly to your Hotel. Depends on arrival time we may include some activities on this day.
Enjoy an early Breakfast at the hotel. Your guided sightseeing tour of Rabat, the political capital of Morocco and the fourth of the Imperial cities begins at the old Medina, the picturesque Kasbah (forth) of the Oudayas, and the Oudaya Gate (at the estuary facing the Barbary coast Corsair port of Sallee) with its Museums, built during the Almohads dynasty. Legend has it that jews came to sala colonia 5.C. before Carthage. In the day of Solomon, to purchse Gold. The Merinids built the well-preserved Hassan Tower and the Chellah in the 12th and 13th centuries. Walk into the mohamed V Mausoleum, the burial place of the present King’s father, in front of the Royal Palace. Have free time for lunch in Rabat. (not included) Drive to the nearby private museum Dar Belghazi for a look at Moroccan crafts through the centuries. Leave Rabat and take the road to Meknes, driving through forests of cork trees (la MAAMORA). Meknes, third of the Imperial Cities, built by the 17th century Sultan Moulay Ismael, contemporary of Louis XIV of France, who’s grandiose building schemes he imitated. Visit, the old medina, the Mellah ( Jew Quartier) the monumental Bab El Mansour gateway, the Place Lalla Adoua, the prison of the Christian slaves, the palace-tomb of Moulay Ismael (The only mosque in Morocco, after the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca which non-Muslims are allowed to enter), the ruins of the Agoudal Busin that was used to water the royal gardens and amuse the favorite concubines, the Moulay Ismail royal stables, granaries and House of Water (Dar El Ma) which were built in the 17th and 18th centuries to house, feed and water the sultan’s twelve thousand horses. Continue via Moulay Idriss, to Volubilis, imposing Roman ruins, capital of Roman Province of Mauritania and home of Sylene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra who married the Berber King Juba II, visit the Olive press, the House of Orpheus, the Basilica, the Baths of Gallienus, the Forum, the Triumphal Arch of Caracalla, the House of Venus. Leave Volubilis and drive through the Col of Zagota to arrive Fes and overnight at your hotel.
The oldest of the imperial cities, FEZ is arguably the symbolic heart of Morocco. Founded shortly after the Arab swept across North Africa and Spain, it quickly became the religious and cultural centre of Morocco. Even on those periods when it was not the official capital of the whole country, Fez could not be ignored and never really ceased to be considered the northern capital. The Medina of Fez el-Bali (Old Fez) is the largest living medieval cities in the world and the most interesting in Morocco. With the exception of Marrakech, Cairo and Damascus, there is nothing remotely comparable anywhere else in the Arab world. The narrow winding alleys and covered bazaars are crammed with every conceivable sort of craft workshop, restaurant, meat, fruit and vegetable market, mosque and medersas, as well as extensive dye pits and tanneries – a veritable assault on the senses as you squeeze past recalcitrant donkeys and submit to the sounds and smells of this jostling city. During the tour, you will see the: Qarawiyin Mosque/Medersa, Borj Nord, The Mellah, Bab Smarines, Bab Boujloud, Dar Betha Museum, Zaouia Moulay Idriss II, Back to your hotel for the overnight.
Breakfast at your hotel, Morning drive to Bhalil which was reputedly built by Irish captives of Moulay Ismael over 300 years ago. Morocco’s cherry capital, is one of the oldest Berber villages in the area. Beautiful drive into the hills. In other hand, Safrou is an interesting town, with an ancient, well-stocked medina and ochre walls dating from Moulay Ismaïl’s day. Its Mellah is extensive, although most Jews left in 1967. The town is famous for its cherry festival in June. Climb the cedar covered slopes of the Middle Atlas Mountains to Imouzzer, dominating the plain of the river Sebou, through the hill station of Ifrane, in the lake district, the town of Azrou with its old Kasbah and handicraft center, over the pass of Zad (2178 meters), descending to Midelt, center of the lead mining center, over Tizi N’Talghemt (1907 meters) trough the gorges of Ziz river to Errachidia. Continue on to arrive at the picturesque oasis of Erfoud situated amongst the impressive sand dunes of the sahara desert where you check-in for dinner & overnight at your hotel.
Take your 4×4 to continue on to the Saharan village of Merzouga. We shall see, in a dramatic line almost perfectly from north to south, the incredible panorama of the sea of sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi, the highest and longest stretch of dunes in the Moroccan Sahara. Once we’ve arrived at Merzouga, you will enjoy a traditional welcoming glass or two of mint tea. Around 4pm we depart across this sea of golden dunes into the only ‘true’ desert area of the kingdom of Morocco. In this area, meteorites continue to be found, as well as crocodile teeth, shark, pterosaur and spinosaurus fossils. We stop in the middle of nowhere to marvel on the high dunes to enjoy a fascinating sunset. Check in & dinner at your private camp.
Back to Erfoud for breakfast at your hotel, Leave Erfoud via Tinejdad, Tinerhir, with its huge Kasbah belonging to the ex-Glaoui, former Pasha of Marrakech, side excursion to the imposing Todra Gorges, along the famous “Route of 1000 Kasbah” to Boumalne, the center of the scent industry at El Kelaa des M’gouna, and along the valley of the river Dades with its many decorated Kasbah to arrive Ouarzazate for the overnight at your hotel.
After breakfast we set forth to visit the 18th century Kasbah of Taourirt in Ouarzazate, another of the Pacha’s fortresses. We continue on towards the north along the Oued Ouarzazate via the AssifOunilaValley to the Kasbah at Tiffoultoute. Here we see the magnificently exotic Kasbah and Ksour of Aït Ben Haddou, a World Heritage Site. We will visit these various kasbahs, so closely ¬knit that they appear to be one complete building up against the looming mountains. One of the more spectacular sights in the Atlas ranges is a kasbah once home to the Pasha’s employees. This kasbah controlled the route to Marrakech until the French blasted a road through the Tizi ’Tichka in the late 1920s. From here we have a few photo stops at the top of the Tizi n’Tichka (2260m) and Aït Ourir Taddert (1650m). We continue down across the Glaoua Plains and into Marrakech. Check in and overnight at your hotel.
Breakfast at the hotel Marrakech : There’s only one world to define it: magical… There are a thousand legends which describe its history, which began in 1070 when the Saharan Almoravid Abu Baker, the leader of a powerful army, encamped in the plain of Haouz, at the base of the upper Atlas mountains. Marrakech, the capital of the south, has a mysterious and seductive air. Marrakech, a name with a magical sound that evokes palm groves and caravans, oriental markets and international spies, and duels to the death in an oasis of peace. Many are the roads which lead to Marrakech which make it a cross road from north to south and from east to west: The Ramparts (City Walls),The Koutoubia Mosque, The minaret of the Koutoubia, The Majorelle Gardens, The Saadians Tombs, The aristocratic Bahia Palace, The 14th century Medersa Ben Youssef, The Souks (Bazaars), Overnight at your hotel in Marrakech.
MARRAKECH DEPARTURE, After breakfast and check-out, you will meet your driver for your 3 hour transfer to Casablanca’s airport for your flight.