Morocco from Spain one Week Tour

Undeniably fascinating, Fez stimulates the senses with its haunting yet beautiful sounds, visual splendor, and evocative smells. The most ancient of the imperial capitals and the complete medieval city of the Islamic world, Fez is reminiscent of a city suspended in time, unfazed by the constantly evolving world outside its walls. Fez owes nothing to the Western world; save electricity.

Time spent in Fez will reveal much about the sophistication of the Moroccan artisan, providing an unparalleled learning experience to those who cross its path. First, your morning will be spent visiting the Medina. Then, our specialized guide will take you on a historic discovery of Fez, starting at the King s Palace and its Meshwar with ramparts and majestic gates.

Next, you will explore the Jewish quarter, a 15th-century citadel with all its Moorish maze architecture and medieval glory. Visits to Sephardic synagogues and mausoleums of holy Rabbis will be the highlights of this part of town. Then, we will drive to Merinides Hill to visit their necropolis. Here you will enjoy the best panoramic view of the old walled Medina, brimful with countless minarets to call for prayers in a city that has responded to these calls for 12 centuries. Finally, drive down the hills to the gate of Bab Guissa to leave your vehicle and enter an ancient world. Fez has preserved its Medina as it was centuries ago. Not even a bicycle can be used as a tool for transportation. Only donkeys, mules, and horses can help move ally produces and needs as supplies.

The first guilds you will immediately encounter are the cobblers, the saddlers, and blacksmiths, interlaced by some caravansaries for tribe members who come from the surrounding areas to trade and supply their needs. Down the hill to Juteya, you will encounter all sorts of crafts, but noticeably carpenters and leather workers as one of the traditional tanneries is not far. This walk will lead you to El Ashabine Square with its various activities. From there, you will find your way to the Sgha square, leading you to Attarine, Souk el Henna, and the Mausoleum of Moulay Idris, the founder of Fez. Next to it, you will visit the Nejjarine Square with its famous fountain, its Guild of Carpentry, and the Museum of folk arts at the Fondouk.

You will walk to the tannery and visit the Great Mosque University of Al Quarrawiyyine, passing by Shemmaine, the dried fruit market. After that, you will see the Medersa Attarine and walk to Sbetryyine, a guild of bookbinders, which will lead you to the Seffarine Square, where the tapping of metalworkers is still deafening passersby as it was the case for centuries. You will break for midday meal and then continue exploring the marvels of Fez Medina. These will highlight the Dyers souk, Foundouk Tetouani, and the shrine of Sidi Ahmed Tijani. You will end your walk at Foundouk Lihoudi, where a local Fez family will host you for traditional mint tea in their home. Finally, you will return to your hotel for dinner and other accommodations.

You will spend your day discovering the rural environs of the Atlas Mountains Berbers. Covered with evergreen pines, tall cedar trees, and poplars and laced with flowing streams, your first view of the Middle Atlas will appear oddly un-Moroccan. Passing by Imouzzer, with a break stop at the Suisse-like town of Ifrane, you will soon come across the first real town of the Middle Atlas, Azrou, and an important market center for the region s Berber tribes, located at a major junction of mountain routes. Your driver will take a little detour in the cedar forest to introduce you to one of the oldest inhabitants of this region, the Berber apes. This may also coincide with the encounter of a nomadic family in its temporary enbase campment. As nomads are very hospitable people, we are invited at least for a mint tea under their tents whenever we encounter them. At Midelt, the Middle Atlases give way to the High Atlas Mountains, whose peaks are visible through the haze, soaring to over 12,000 feet. You will stop in Midelt for midday meal, enjoying the dramatic sight before you. You will then continue to Erfoud, one of the most delightful southern regions consisting of a dry, red belt of the desert with a sudden drop into the lush valley of Ziz, with copious date palm groves and flowing streams. Visit the gorges of Ziz and some oases and natural sites before you reach the magnificent oasis of Erfoud. You will conclude your day in your base camp over the dunes of Merzouga, where tents are pitched, and camels are saddled on your behalf to enjoy a night under the African Skies. The Rokba drummers will illuminate your night with sensual dances and moving chants. Enjoy this encounter of Man and nature at best.

With its indescribable beauty, watching the sun as it rises over the spectacular Merzouga dunes is an experience that should not be missed. Afterward, you will eat morning meal with the Tuaregs and hop in your 4X4 Vehicle to Erfoud to meet your driver, then continue to Tinghir. Only 15 kilometers from Tinghir, you will find the Todras, the highest, narrowest gorges in the region. Next, you will travel through the Dades Valley, wherein thousands of Persian roses bloom in hedgerows in spring, filling the air with heavenly perfume. You will also see the thousands of Kasbahs scattered along the Dades River, majestic sandcastles with a visually appealing, timeless beauty. After midday meal, you will explore the Dades Valley, traveling through El Kelaa De Mgouna and Boumalne to view the inimitable natural vistas and unusual rock formations. You will then continue to Sekoura, where one large oasis intercepts the flow of water between the Dades, the Draa valleys, and the majestic High Atlas Mountains. Finally, you will conclude your day with dinner and other accommodations in your Kasbah Ben Moro.

You will spend most of your day en route to Marrakech, exploring the legendary Kasbah of Ait-Benhaddou, a renowned architectural marvel, and stopping in Taddart and Tizi Tishka pass at 11,000 feet. The pass divides the mountains into two distinct facets: the harsh, stark side acting as a shield that protects the hinterland from the robust, dry expansion of the Sahara, and a lush side, soft and evergreen, which collects the moisture from the Gherbi winds of the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, you will arrive in Marrakech, a city of pleasure for visitors and locals, where southern tribespeople and Berber villagers bring their goods to market and find a variety of entertainment. To tourists, the city is a feast for the imagination, full of incomparable beauty, situated before the towering mountains that provide a thrilling backdrop. After a visit to the bustling Jemaa El Fna square, you will conclude your day with dinner and other accommodations at your hotel.

You will devote your morning to the exploration of Marrakech s many historical sites, including the Menara, a magnificent pool surrounded by flowerbeds, reflecting the image of an exquisite Moorish tower constructed in 1866 for the dignitaries, who enjoyed glorious sunsets with the ethereal Atlas Mountains as a backdrop. The pool also functions as an innovative irrigation system adapted to life in the desert. Your tour will cover many impressive sites, including the Koutoubia Minaret (identical to la Giralda, a tower found in Sevilla, Spain) and the Saadien tombs, demonstrating Moorish architecture at its best. The tombs consist of sixteenth-century mausoleums, which lay walled-in and undiscovered until 1917. You will then return to your hotel for the night.

In the morning, after morning meal, you will depart for Rabat, the capital of Morocco. This is a beautiful drive of about 45 miles through the lash farms and nurseries of all kinds of flowers and exotic plants. You will reach Rabat. Styled in a spaciously elegant European grid, yet slightly self-conscious of its modernity, Rabat and its twin city Sala Colonia separated by only a river but historically worlds apart, have an ancient legacy spanning hundreds of generations. Each civilization that has inhabited each town has left its mark, resulting in a wide variety of architectural styles, including those from the Phoenician and Roman eras. You will spend your day discovering the delights that Rabat has to offer. Your guide will take you on a historical and lively tour starting at the Jewish quarter, the Mellah, in the Heart of the city at Place Sidi Makhlouf; the 12th-century ramparts are best seen from this and up to Bab Chellah. Next, visit the medina across from Sidi Fateh St. This will lead you to the traditional Souk Laghzel (Yarn market). Your guide will introduce you to the importance of this guild on textile role in Moroccan society. Later you will cross to the citadel of the Oudaya Kasbah, entering from its 12th-century main gate to explore an extraordinary Medieval Moorish marvel overlooking the delta of the Bourgreg River. You will have the opportunity to visit the Moorish old-fashioned gardens, the traditional coffee house, and the Oudaya Museum of tribal arts and Crafts. A docent will introduce to you conventional Berber Textiles. You will continue your quest by exiting the Oudaya Kasbah and up the hill to visit the Hassan Tower and sample the Moroccan architecture at its best at Mohamed the V Mausoleum. From here, we will drive through the boulevards and Gardens of Rabat, visiting the Saint Pierre Cathedral, the Parliament, the Sounna Mosque, and the Royal Palace through the magnificent Ramparts and tower standing proud and glorious to reach the Necropolis of Chellah at the end. Finally, we will return to the hotel for dinner and other accommodations.

In the morning, you will travel to Tangier Port to catch your ferry back to Spain.