THE GREAT DESERT
per person
With this name is known the road that follows the Dades and Todra river valley between the mountain ranges of the Great Atlas and the Saharan Atlas, between the cities of Errachidía and Ouarzazate.
There are plenty of adobe kasbas, real castles or fortified cities, which in antiquity were used for the defense of the population against the attacks of the bellicose Saharan tribes.
Most are in ruins, some are still inhabited by families with limited economic resources and others are restored as hotels or restaurants for tourism.
9 days
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DepartureTangier
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IncludedTHE GREAT DESERTDeparture TaxesEntry Fees5 Star AccommodationPersonal GuideBreakfast
1
Day 1.- Costa del Sol - Tarifa - Tangier - Casablanca (530 km)
Departure from the Costa del Sol to Tarifa where boarding onto Tangier crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.
In Morocco, meet the guide and continuation. Stop in Larache for lunch (not included).
Like many other populations in this northern parts of the Atlantic coast, Larache has a very quiet life during the winter, but during the summer Moroccan tourists plague the beaches. This small town is characterized by being a good place for fishing for abundance and quality. After lunch continue to Casablanca, arrival in the afternoon and check -in.
Dinner and accommodation
2
Day 2.- Casablanca - Marrakech (240 km)
Breakfast and panoramic sightseeing of Casablanca, the "cinematographic". Economic capital of the country with more than four million inhabitants combines its modern art-nouveau or art-deco buildings with the old buildings of the thirteenth century, when it was known as Dar El Baida (the white's hose). See Mohammed V Square, Boulevard D'Anfa, Nôtre Dame Cathedral and the exteriors of the impressive Great Mosque of Hassan II, where more than 3,000 craftsmen worked. Only the Mecca reach more importance and size.
Continuation to Marrakech, arrival at the hotel and lunch. Then visit of the city and its great historical past: We will visit the Koutubia Mosque or the booksellers whose minaret in a hispanomorisco style, of great beauty, is the symbol of the city, the exceptional Mausoleum of the sixteenth-century princes Saadinos and The sumptuous Bahia Palace (The Precious), built in the nineteenth century by hundreds of artisans from Fès. Walking around the Medina (ancient city) and its souks where a thousand and one artisan products are offered to the visitor to end up in the fascinating world of the famous Djemaa El Fna Square (Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO) where storytellers, snake charmers, jugglers , Dancers, etc... constitute an authentic "cut of the miracles".
Free afternoon and possibility of show-dinner in the complex of Chez Ali, La Fantasia.
Accommodation at the hotel
3
Day 3.- Marrakech
After breakfast enjoy a day on our own to explore the city. Tour the favorite places or hire excursions to reach other points of the city, tour into the green valleys in 4x4 and larn about the lifestyle of the surrounding villages that have little to do with the life of the city, its impressive waterfalls located in Ouzoud and much more.
Definitely a great opportunity to relax and feel the place.
Dinner at the hotel and overnight.
4
Day 4.- Marrakech - Ait Ben Haddou - Ouarzazate (200 km)
Early departure from Marrakesh heading south. Cross the High Atlas mountains through the Tizi n'Tichka that connects Marrakesh with the presaharian oases. After several stops enjoying the wonderful panoramas, continue onto, Ait Ben Haddou, considered the most beautiful fortress in the country and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here famous films such as Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth or The Jewel of the Nile among others were filmed. Time for lunch (optional) and arrival in Ouarzazate.
Check in at the hotel, dinner and accommodation.
5
Day 5.- Ouarzazate - Boumalne de Dades - Tinghir (Todra) - Merzouga (370 km)
After breakfast departure towards the network of gorges of this area of Morocco, here from the most arid and rocky overflows fertility and greenery between the oases. The route runs through valleys such as Kelaa M'Gouna, famous for its roses and daggers; And the Boumalne du Dades, magnificent for walkers. Arrival to Tinghir, see the Gorges of Todra and its impressive canon of 300 meters of height.
Lunch en route (opcioanl) and continue to Arfoud,land of fossils and juicy dates. On the way to the dunes of Merzouga we passed by Rissani, which was an important enclave long time ago, where the caravans of the desert reigned. The position of Rissani was so strategic that the Filali dynasty (ancestors of the alaouita dynasty that today governs the country) had here their epic battle to replace the Saadíes. Lunch en route (optional) and arrival in Merzouga, right in the Sahara, here the road fades and the dunes mark the horizon.
"When a rich family refused to help a poor woman and her son, God was offended and buried them under sand mounds 50 km from Arfoud, now known as the dunes of Erg Chebbi in Merzouga" This tells the legend about these majestic dunes .
Distribution of rooms and free time to enjoy the surroundings. Have the pleasure of witnessing the beautiful spectacle of the sunset between the dunes with a mint tea.
Dinner and accommodation. Possibility of accommodation in desert tents fully equipped.
6
Day 6.- Merzouga - Ifrane - Fez (460 km)
Breakfast between dunes at our last moment in the desert before leaving for the Middle Atlas.
Early wake up to optionally contemplate the great event of a sunrise in the Sahara. While preparing our breakfast is possible to travel around the dunes in 4WD and visit the nearby villages.
Cross the Middle Atlas and a new change of landscape along the way. Left the south to get in the North. Stop in Ifrane. For a moment feel as if Switzerland had been settled in Africa, hence its nickname "little Switzerland". This city was built during the protectorate in the 1930s. Optional lunch en route and continuation in Fez.
Delivery of rooms on arrival, dinner and entertainment.
7
Day 7.- Fez
Breakfast and departure to start the visit of this old city that with its 785 mosques and its splendid Medina (old city), is the intellectual and religious capital of the country.
The guided tour starts with the exteriors of the Royal Palace and its 7 gates, Dar El Makhzen, old residence of the Sultan, the Bab Bojloud gate decorated with blue enameled ceramics (the color of Fes) and green (color of Islam) gives access to the walled enclosure of the Medina (old city), largest of North Africa and declared Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity by Unesco. During this authentic maze of more than 2,000 squares, streets and alleys that ramble endlessly, guarding some of the most beautiful buildings in Morocco: palaces, madrasas, mosques, doors, fountains, which pleasantly surprise the visitor.
Plaza Es-Seffarin will be seen with its pretty fountain of beautiful pottery and in it will be engraved in the marble flowers of lis, symbol that left the French prisoners who collaborated in its construction in century XVI; The Karaouine Mosque, the best known in the city with its celebrated Friday prayer, holy day of the Muslims, built in the 9th century and which is the oldest religious teaching center. Also visit the district of the dyers, the tanners with spectacular colors and the Souk, where they will be assaulted by noises, smells and colors of a crowded crowd, seeming to emerge from a forgotten page of history.
Return to the hotel for lunch and free afternoon. At night you can go to a show-dinner in a typical palace in the medina.
Overnight.
8
Day 8.- Fez - Meknes - Rabat - Tánger (399 km)
Breakfast and departure to Tangier. At our first stop we pass Meknés, old Berber capital chosen for the second Alaouite Moulay Ismail King as imperial headquarters in the seventeenth century; You can still see remnants of its splendor: forty kilometers of walls, which include the gates of Bab el Mansour, one of the most beautiful in Morocco.Enroute lunch (optional) and then heading to Rabat, which besides being the administrative capital of the country is the oficial residence of King Mohamed VI. It is one of the imperial cities, founded in the twelfth century by the Almohads.
Visit the exteriors of the Royal Palace, the Tour Hassan that rises dominating the esplanade of the unfinished mosque with more than 200 columns; The Mausoleum of Mohammed V built in memory of the Sultan who won the independence of the country and in which the royal guards, in showy dress, stand guard. Finally we will have some time to see the beautiful Kasbah of the Oudayas, fortress located at the mouth of the river Buregreg with its door of the XII century.
Arrival and check-in in the hotel, dinner and overnight.
9
Day 9.- Tangier - Tarifa - Costa del Sol (198 km)
Breakfast and departure to board back to Tarifa crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. Transfer to the points of origin and farewell from our staff.
End of services.
TOUR LOCATION
Historia de la ciudad
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