The length of the trip decides more than its budget: it decides how far the group can go without spending the holiday in a coach. Five days keep everyone around one city, seven reach the Sahara, ten cross the whole country. Here are three programmes that make a good starting point, with road times only, stops excluded.
Five days: one base in Marrakech
A single hotel for the whole stay: no luggage to pack each morning, and excursions that return every evening.
- Day 1, Marrakech. Arrival and a first walk to Jemaa el Fna at nightfall.
- Day 2, Marrakech. The Majorelle garden in the morning, then the Koutoubia, the Bahia palace and the souks.
- Day 3, the High Atlas (about 1 h 30 each way). Villages, a walk and lunch in the mountains, described in A day in the High Atlas.
- Day 4, Essaouira (about 3 h each way). The ramparts, the port and the ocean air.
- Day 5, Marrakech. A free morning, then departure.
Seven days: from Marrakech to Fes through the dunes
Arriving in one city and leaving from another saves the long drive back.
- Day 1, Marrakech. Arrival.
- Day 2, Marrakech. A full day of visits.
- Day 3, over the Atlas to Ouarzazate (about 4 h). A pass at more than 2,200 metres, then Ait Benhaddou waiting in the afternoon light.
- Day 4, Ouarzazate to Merzouga (about 6 h). The road of the kasbahs, the Dades valley, the Todra gorges.
- Day 5, Merzouga. The dunes of Erg Chebbi and a night at camp, as described in Taking a group into the Sahara.
- Day 6, Merzouga to Fes (about 7 to 8 h). The Ziz valley, the Middle Atlas and its cedar forests.
- Day 7, Fes. The medina in the morning, the flight home in the evening.
Ten days: the capital, the imperial cities and the south
- Day 1, Casablanca to Rabat (about 1 h 15). Arrival, then the capital.
- Day 2, Rabat to Fes (about 3 h 30 in all). Meknes and the Roman city of Volubilis on the way.
- Day 3, Fes. The medina and its craftsmen.
- Day 4, Fes to Merzouga (about 7 to 8 h). Ifrane, Midelt, then the first dunes at sunset.
- Day 5, Merzouga. A day in the desert and a night at camp.
- Day 6, Merzouga to the Dades valley (about 4 h). The Todra gorges on the way.
- Day 7, Dades to Ouarzazate (about 2 h 30). Ait Benhaddou in the afternoon.
- Day 8, Ouarzazate to Marrakech (about 4 h). Back across the Atlas.
- Day 9, Marrakech. Visits and a farewell dinner.
- Day 10, Marrakech. Departure.
Draw the route from the airports first: the right entry and exit cities can give a group a whole extra day.
How do you adapt these routes to the group?
Start from the participants, not from the map. An older group appreciates a night halfway on the longest leg; a group of incentive winners will trade a city day for a second evening in the desert. The season matters too: in summer, the south loses ground to the coast and the mountains. Our scheduled circuits follow the same logic and can serve as a base for a quote.
