Morocco Itineraries: 3 to 14 Days

Pick by the days you actually have, not the days you wish you had. Every route below assumes public transport (CTM/Supratours buses, trains, grand taxis) and realistic driving times — Morocco distances always take longer than the map suggests. Deeper planning detail lives in the Morocco travel guide.

3 days — Marrakech to Merzouga desert loop

The classic. Day 1: cross Tizi n’Tichka, walk Ait Benhaddou, sleep in the Dades Gorge. Day 2: Todra Gorge, the Tafilalt palm groves, camel trek into Erg Chebbi for the night. Day 3: dawn in the dunes, the long road back. It works — but it is a lot of van. If you can add one day, add it here. Full notes: the Sahara road, day by day.

7 days — Marrakech, the Atlas and the desert

Two days in Marrakech (one for the medina, one for recovering from it), a day in the Ourika or Imlil valleys, then the desert loop with the extra night at Erg Chebbi that the 3-day version cannot give you. Finish with a final medina evening. This is the itinerary we recommend to most first-timers.

10 days — add Fes through the Ziz Valley

Instead of doubling back to Marrakech from the desert, continue north: Merzouga → the Ziz Valley oases → Midelt → Fes. You cross the Middle Atlas cedar forests and arrive in the old capital from its oldest road. Three days in Fes closes the trip. This route sees a fraction of the desert-loop traffic.

14 days — the slow overland loop

The full caravan version: Marrakech → Atlas → Draa Valley (sleep in Agdz or Zagora) → Merzouga (two nights) → Ziz Valley → Fes (three nights) → Chefchaouen (two nights) → out via Tangier. Every leg is a bus or shared taxi; nothing is rushed; the days between the famous stops become the trip.

Which itinerary should you pick?

Take the 7-day if it is your first visit and you want cities plus dunes without exhaustion. Take the 10-day if you refuse to choose between Marrakech and Fes. The 3-day loop is for deadlines; the 14-day loop is for travellers who agree with everything this site stands for.