Morocco Imperial Cities and the Atlantic Coast: Fez, Marrakech and Essaouira, 7 Nights

Your driver meets you at Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport. On the way into the city you stop at the Hassan II Mosque, whose minaret rises above the waves on its platform over the ocean. Then it is up the coast to Rabat, the capital, for the unfinished Hassan Tower and the marble mausoleum of Mohammed V beside it.

East to Meknes, the imperial city of Sultan Moulay Ismail, to see its massive walls, the great Bab Mansour gate and the vast royal granaries and stables. Nearby, the Roman town of Volubilis spreads across a hillside, its floor mosaics still in place among the columns and olive trees. You reach Fez in the late afternoon.

A full day with a local guide in Fez el-Bali, the largest car-free medina in the world. You pass through the blue Bab Bou Jeloud gate, visit the carved cedar and tile of the Bou Inania madrasa, look down on the leather tanneries from a terrace, and see the Nejjarine fountain and the brass doors of the royal palace.

A long drive south through Ifrane, a tidy mountain town that looks more Alpine than African, and the cedar forests where Barbary macaques often sit by the road. The route descends past orchards around Beni Mellal and crosses the plains to arrive in Marrakech by late afternoon.

A morning with a guide among the city’s monuments, such as the Koutoubia minaret, the painted rooms of the Bahia Palace and the Saadian Tombs. The afternoon is for the souks, and as evening comes Jemaa el-Fna square fills with food stalls, musicians and storytellers. A traditional dinner show can be booked at extra cost.

The road west crosses argan country, where goats sometimes climb into the trees, to reach Essaouira on the Atlantic. In the afternoon walk the sea ramparts with their old cannons, watch the blue fishing boats in the port and wander the whitewashed medina, known for its woodcarvers and art galleries.

A drive north along the Atlantic coast through two old Portuguese strongholds. Safi is known for its potters, and El Jadida for its walled old town and the vaulted underground cistern where light falls through a single opening onto still water. You reach Casablanca in the evening for your last night.

Breakfast at the hotel and, depending on your flight, a little free time for the Art Deco buildings of the city centre or a coffee on the corniche. Your driver then takes you to Mohammed V airport for the flight home.