My 9 day itinerary for Morocco
Planning a trip to Morocco can be overwhelming, with so many beautiful places to see in a limited amount of time. As much as I wished I could see it all, I try to organize my itineraries in a way that doesn’t feel too rushed and allows for time to take it all in. When I began planning I started off by making a list of my top must-see places which included the Sahara Desert and Marrakech. Seeing the blue city of Chefchaouen had also been a dream of mine, but unfortunately hard decisions have to be made sometimes while planning and I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the amount of time that it would have taken getting to and from there. As I started doing my research on the best ways to experience the Sahara Desert I found a great tour company that offers 3 day tours from Fes to Marrakech with an overnight stay in the desert on the way. My friend that I was traveling with suggested that we squeeze Essaouira in as well and we are so glad we did. Overall, we ended up seeing so much more of the country than I could have imagined would be possible in less than 10 days without feeling rushed. Here’s a breakdown of everything we did with each of our days in Morocco:
Day 1
It just so happened that one of the cheapest flight options for us flying from Boston to Fes was one that included a self transfer and an 8 hour layover in Barcelona. The first flight landed in the morning in Barcelona which gave us the perfect amount of time for us to put our luggage in a locker and explore the city for a couple hours. We used Barcelona’s convenient public transportation to explore for half of the day before heading back to the airport to catch our next flight. We arrived in Fes late in the night so we took a taxi straight to the riad we were staying at to check-in and relax.
Day 2
This morning we were able to see just how beautiful our riad we chose to stay at was and enjoyed a complimentary Moroccan breakfast. We ventured out early that morning because we wanted to try to beat the crowds to Dar al Makhzen, also called the Royal Palace of Fez, the first place on our list of things to see in Fes. Our timing was perfect because we were able to admire the ornate doors and take a ton of cute pictures before several tour buses full of fellow tourists got there. The rest of the day we spend wandering the streets, visited the tannery, checked out a few rug shops and found a place to eat. That evening we watched the sunset from the roof of our riad and listened to the sounds of the Ramadan prayers on the loudspeakers playing over the city.
Day 3
In the morning our tour guide picked us up and we began our 3 day tour with Marrakech being the final destination. Our first stop was Ifrane, often called the “Switzerland of Morocco” and following that were several more stops including the Atlas Mountains and Ziz Valley. In the late afternoon we arrived in Merzouga at the edge of the Sahara Desert where we would venture in on camel and stay overnight in tents. When booking our tour we opted for the luxury tent option as a treat to ourselves and to be as comfortable as possible since the thought of staying overnight in the desert can feel intimidating. Our camel ride lasted about 30 minutes and we were greeted at our campsite with a meal and live music.
Day 4
Our camel ride that would bring us out of the desert started at 5am to catch the sunrise and beat the desert heat which was already very intense by that point. We were reunited with our tour guide and drove through many more beautiful places as he explained the history and answered all of our questions. Our stops that day included Tinghir and Todra Gorge, a limestone river canyon. That evening we stayed at a beautiful hotel overlooking Dades Valley where we were able to relax on the rooftop and watch the sunset.
Day 5
We hit the road for the last stretch of our tour that morning and made a few more stops before reaching Marrakech. After we checked in at our airbnb and took a moment to relax, we ventured back out to the main square to wander through the marketplace and find a restaurant to eat dinner at.
Day 6
In the morning we wandered the city streets and browsed through more markets. Then we spent the second half of our morning at Le Garden Secret. Following lunch in the afternoon we spent a couple hours exploring Bahia Palace. This was one of the hottest days during our stay in Morocco and were wearing full coverage clothing so we took our sweet time and took frequent rests in shaded areas.
Day 7
Our day began with a two and a half hour bus ride from Marrakech to Essaouira, where we arrived mid-morning. We checked into our airbnb and immediately started exploring this adorable seaside town. The streets of Essaouira were a site in itself so we took our time getting lost in them. We eventually ended up by the fishing port and ate lunch by the sea at a restaurant with beautiful views. That afternoon we relaxed on the rooftop of our airbnb and were so close to the water that we could feel the mist blowing over. Essaouira was much more slow paced compared to the vibrant energy in Marrakech so it felt great to take it easy.
Day 8
We had some time to explore before making our way back to Marrakech so we took advantage of that and spent the first half of our day just wandering through all the tiny, colorful streets. The same bus brought us back to Marrakech that afternoon and we reached our final hotel. We were pretty exhausted by this point in our trip and with the temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we were taking it very easy. We wandered the area around our hotel for a bit and found a nice restaurant for dinner.
Day 9
This was our finally day and were so sad to be heading to the airport. We flew out of Marrakech and had a short layover in Madrid before making it back home to Boston. While there were several places that we didn’t get to see that we would have loved to, I still feel very satisfied with the amount of things we were able to do and see in such a short amount of time.
