At your arrival in Casablanca airport, our representative will be meeting you for a welcome and transfer to Rabat, the Royal and administrative capital of Morocco, the first of the Imperial cities that you will discover. Overnight at your accommodation

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: فندق قصر صومعة حسان

Today you will drive to Fez after the visit of the capital of Morocco Rabat and its monuments. Start from the Mohammed V mausoleum, a rich decorated monument made of white marble where you see the tombs of the last two kings of Morocco, many consider this as the most beautiful monument in the whole country and officials should visit it as a part of the protocol. Visit the museum of antiquities exhibiting objects discovered during excavations of prehistoric, Punic, Roman and Islamic sites. Your guide will lead you to the rich “bronze room” where you will admire the roman statues discovered in different architectural sites in the country. End your visit in the medieval fort of Chellah garden. In the mid-afternoon, you will leave the coast side and drive inland towards the city of fez across the rich western plains of Morocco. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: PALAIS FARAJ Suites & Spa

Fes is the oldest royal city in Morocco. Founded in the 9th century, it is said to be the most complete medieval city of the Arab world as it has preserved all its medieval aspects and way of life. Start your day with a tour of the ramparts for a generous introduction to the history and the culture of the city. Fez will stimulate all your senses as you go for your guided tour inside Fes el Bali (old Fes) across food and spice markets, handicraft quarters, auction markets and colorful Souks. Visit the medieval children’s schools and meet the school teacher and the pupils, enter artisan workshops and discover the secrets of their ancestral arts, visit the public bakeries and pastry makers in the residential quarters and see their historical fountains, mosques and sanctuaries. The highlight of your morning visit will be inside the 14th century Medersa (theological school) for its most intricate architecture, and around the karaouine mosque which was once the oldest university in the world, founded in 857 ad. by a lady from Fez. In the afternoon visit to the Royal palace of the late 19th century when the king Hassan I lived. This palace is now a museum of Fez traditional arts. Continue to Fez El Jedid (new Fez) for a stroll in the Jewish quarter where you will be able to visit a 17th century synagogue and have some time in the jewellery market. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: PALAIS FARAJ Suites & Spa

Leave Fez after breakfast and drive towards Meknes, another imperial city enclosed in the triple thickness of its walls and bastions. Meknes was built by a powerful King who made it his capital in 1672 and wanted it to be as spectacular as the royal cities in Europe. You will be taken for a sightseeing tour that will include a visit to the famous granaries and stables of the 17th century, the mausoleum of the King and the main square before you stop at Bab el Mansour, an impressive gate that served as the main entrance to the royal quarter and immortalized in a famous painting by Delacroix. From here you can take some free time to explore the traditional food market where delicious Moroccan pastries mix with olive stalls and piles of different spices. In the afternoon you will drive to the Roman Ruins of Volubilis, the most amazing and interesting archaeological site in Morocco where a specialist guide will give you a comprehensive tour of this antique city. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: PALAIS FARAJ Suites & Spa

After an early breakfast in your hotel, leave Fez and head south drive crossing the cultivated and fertile valley of Saiss up to Imouzzer de kandar with its nearby gorgeous lake ‘Dait Aoua’ and on to Ifrane, a charming ski resort, and Azrou, a typical Berber town with its flat roofed earth houses. The road goes through magnificent cedar, pine and oak forests. This particularly varied itinerary from north to south offers a diversity of impressions through the Middle Atlas Mountains where nomad shepherds live in black tents and move with their herds of goats and sheep across these mountains in the hot season down to the desert land areas in the winter. Many stops will be made along this itinerary for pictures, breaks or lunch. As soon as you start seeing the first palm trees of the oasis in the outskirts of Marrakech, you will know that you are not any more far from the red city of Morocco. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: Hotel Villa des Orangers Relais & Chateaux

Marrakech is considered as one of Morocco’s most cosmopolitan cities and boasts a spectacular location surrounded by farmlands and snow capped mountains including the highest peak in North Africa rising at 14,000 ft. As we start our visit this morning we will discover an exciting blend of modern architecture and an ancient walled medina. We will first stand by the Koutoubia Mosque with its 282 ft minaret, an architectural landmark dating back to the late 12th century. We will then enter the Kasbah from Bab Agnaou gate to visit the historical and beautifully ornate Saadian necropolis of the 16th century. Our walk through the 12th century Kasbah and its food market, bakeries and narrow alleyways will lead us to the Badii palace built in the 16th century. Here we will admire the marvelous pulpit of the Koutoubia mosque made in 1137 in the city of Cordoba by the best cabinet making artisans of that time. We will continue to the 19th century Bahia palace and discover the intricate work done by the local artisans to decorate this splendid home built by a powerful Vizir for his Harem. We will end our exploration with a stroll inside the Jewish quarter and visit the historical synagogue built in 1492 by Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain. After a break for lunch we will be guided through the “Hidden sides of Marrakech” where we will admire the architectural beauty of Medersa Ben Youssef, a medieval theological school dating back to the 16th century as well the oldest building in the city called the Koubba of the Almoravids, a dynasty who ruled in the 12th century. From there we will start exploring artisan quarters and the colorful Souks to interact with the real life of Marrakech people. Before sunset, we will be strolling in the square of which the city is so famed, Jemaa El Fna, where hundreds of locals and tourists come to spend the end of the day watching jugglers, dancers, fortune-tellers, story tellers and traditional musicians. Overnight at your accommodation

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: Hotel Villa des Orangers Relais & Chateaux

After breakfast this morning we will be going for a morning tour of the gardens and museums of Marrakech starting at Dar Si Said museum (closed on Tuesdays) to discover this aristocratic home of the 19th century. Next we will visit the private museum of Birt Flint, a Dutch anthropologist who displays in this beautiful Moorish home his collection of Berber and sub-Saharan artifacts. Most of the time this morning will be spent in the famous garden created by the orientalist Jacques Majorelle. The gardens house a collection of plants from the four corners of the earth flourishing among elegant ornamental lakes and an Art Deco villa of which the special shade of bold cobalt blue is named after the artist, the Majorelle blue. The garden hosts more than 15 bird species that are endemic to North Africa and has an amazing collection of cacti. Since 1980 the garden has been owned by Yves Saint-Laurent. The visit of the Berber museum displaying Yves Saint Laurent’s personal collection of Berber antiques will make us learn some fascinating facts about the Berbers of Morocco and admire this marvelous treasure. As we return to our hotel, the rest of our day will be at leisure to rest, explore the artisan quarters of the city.

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation:

• Luxury Accommodation: Hotel Villa des Orangers Relais & Chateaux

Our tour leader will assure our transfer and assistance to the airport for the return flight.

Meals: Breakfast