Welcome to Morocco! Upon arrival you will be met at the airport with our expert English speaking guide.Transfer to the hotel .

Dinner & overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast ,enjoy the tour of Casablanca ; the main economic center of Morocco.

The tour will include the highlights of Casablanca, the impressive Hassan II mosque , the outstanding Art Deco around Mohammed V Square and the modern part of the city along the seaside .

Depart to Rabat to visit the Oudaya Kasbah , the oldest fortress in Rabat, the tour also covers the exquisite Mohammed V mausoleum located near the oversized 12th C.

Hassan Tower and the Royal Palace. ” Overnight with dinner in Rabat.

This morning we visit the country's sole archaeological museum, renowned for its prehistoric and Roman collections.

Also stroll through the Chellah fortress, its lush gardens, Roman remains, and the 14th-century necropolis of the Merinid Dynasty. Across the Bou Regreg River from Rabat is Salé, an old walled city, where we have lunch before embarking on a walking tour that will include its restored, 14th-century medersa (religious college), a gem overlooked by mass tourism. The balance of the afternoon is at leisure in Salé until we gather for a Moroccan welcome dinner at an old traditional home(Riad).

Return to our hotel in Rabat.

Depart Rabat this morning for the ruins of Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage site that was Rome’s commercial hub for northwestern Africa until the 3rd century A.D., with well-preserved mosaics that are still in situ.

Continue on to the Imperial City of Meknes, which 17th-century Sultan Moulay Ismaïl built as his capital, with lunch in a former palace upon arrival.

Today Meknes is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and we will see the immense granary Ismaïl built to feed thecity’s population and his 12,000 horses in the event of up to a year-long siege; the classically-decorated, 14th-century Bou Inania Medersa; and (if it has re-opened following renovations) the Dar Jamaï Museum’s fine collections of traditional ceramics, jewelry, rugs, textiles and embroidery.

Time-permitting, we will also view the exterior of the Mausoleum of Sidi ben Aïssa (closed to non-Muslims). Then drive onward to the intellectual and spiritual capital (and UNESCO World Heritage site) of Fes.

Check-in at our boutique hotel,

Take a morning walking tour through 9th-century Fes el-Bali (“Old Fes”), considered by scholars to be the last true example of a typical medieval Arab town.

See the Cherratine Medersa, the finest artistic achievement of the 17th-century Alaouite Dynasty; the mausoleum to city founder Idriss II; the 17th-century Nejjarine caravansary, now an exquisite Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts; and the area of the world’s oldest functioning university, the Qaraouine.

After a typical Fesi lunch at a converted home in the city, take a driving tour of the ramparts and enjoy some time at leisure. This evening, dinner is at the city’s finest French restaurant.

This morning we visit the Batha Museum, located in a 19th-century summer palace with a lovely Andalusian-style garden, which houses an excellent collection of traditional arts and crafts.

Continue walking through the lush Jnan Sbil (Bou Jeloud Gardens) and see its medieval irrigation system; and onward to Fes el Jedid (“New Fes”) for a stroll in the walled Jewish quarter (“Mellah”), where we will visit the restored, 17th-century Ibn Danan Synagogue. Also visit the ruins of the Merenid tombs for a panoramic view over the city.

Lunch and the balance of the day are at leisure.

Depart Fes this morning for a long day of fascinating, ever-changing landscapes as we cross the Atlas ranges all the way to the edge of the Sahara.

We begin with the Middle Atlas andits last forests of the giant Mediterranean cedars, passing mountain station Ifrane, site of Africa’s most esteemed international university, and stopping in the heart of the forest to look for the indigenous Barbary macaques (of Gibraltar fame).

After a break for lunch in the Berber enclave of Midelt, we cross the wild, multi-hued expanses of the Eastern High Atlas, down the dramatic Ziz Valley, to the administrative center of Arfoud.

Gather for dinner at our hotel this evening. Overnight at the Hôtel Palais du Désert for two nights.

Today we explore the Tafilalet Oasis, Morocco’s largest, and its ruins of Sijilmassa, Africa’s once-immense “City of Gold,” including the site museum.

Continue on to visit the ruined 18th-century walled compound of Ksar Oulad Abd al Halim, where early Alaouite rulers kept their families.

After a picnic lunch of local Saharan specialties, we will take four-wheel-drive vehicles out to the great Erg Chebbi Dunes, rising 600 feet above the desert floor, stopping en route at a vast fossil quarry.

Scramble (or take a camel, if you prefer) up the dunes to witness the sunset over the Sahara, and then gather for dinner.

Departing Arfoud this morning, we drive west along desert hills to the narrow, 1,000-foot-deep Todgha River Gorge, and then walk through the 16th-century adobe casbah of Tinghir.

After lunch we drive to the international filming center of Ouarzazate, whose exotic surroundings were first used in the film Lawrence of Arabia.

Dinner is a buffet at our hotel, which hosts most of the film crews.

Overnight at Le Berbere Palace. (subject to availability)

At 7:00 am we depart Ouarzazate and drive to the Aït ben Haddou casbah, a World Heritage site and often-used film backdrop (e.g. Gladiator).

Continue driving north (about 3.5 hours), over the spectacular Tizi-n-Tichka Pass, with views over deep verdant vales and their adobe hamlets.

Arrive in legendary Marrakech in time for lunch at our hotel, one of the city’s finest boutique properties, located just inside the medina of Marrakech (a UNESCO World Heritage site).

Afterward, we explore the city’s prime monuments: the 12th-century Koutoubia minaret, a masterpiece of Almohad Dynasty art; the Bahia Palace of vizier Ba Ahmed, a prime example of Moorish-Andalusian art that is spread over 20 acres; and the private Dar Tiskwin Museum, exhibiting fine crafts from rural Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa.

Gather this evening for a superb Moroccan dinner in the heart of the medina. Overnight & dinner in the hotel

This morning is dedicated to exploring Marrakech’s vast, reed-covered bazaars, where all types of crafts are still fashioned by hand.

Two sites of special interest are the Souk des Teinturiers (wool-dyers), also known as Souk Sebbaghine; and the courtyard of the fascinating Zawiya (shrine) of holy man Sidi Bel-Abbes (patron saint of the blind).

After a Continental lunch in the “new city,” take a stroll in the Jardin Majorelle, the exotic, 12-acre garden created in the 1930s and restored by the late Yves St.

Laurent, and visit its exquisite Museum of Berber Culture. Dinner is on your own this evening, for a chance to sample the city’s array of excellent eateries.

Begin the day with a visit to the Saadian Dynasty’s ruined El Badi Palace and the necropolis of the Saadians, the last window into the splendor of early 17th-century Moroccan interior art, with its finely sculpted plaster, cedar panels, and Carrera marble.

After a short stroll in the Jewish Mellah and lunch, we drive to the site of Aghmat, the first capital of the Almoravid Dynasty, which was only recently uncovered and is still closed to the public while excavation continues. Return to Marrakech, where dinner is on your own this evening.

Transfer as a group or individually this morning, times to be determined, to Marrakech Menara Airport (RAK) for flights homeward. (B)