Morocco Overland cultural Group Tours

Based on a 1948 novel, this Morocco small group Tour is a walking discovery to trace the footprints of Paul Bowles, a great traveler, adventurer, explorer, and famous writer who documented one of his best adventure trips in Morocco in a book he entitled “The Sheltering Sky”. For the curious Traveler, Morocco remains one of North Africa most rewarding with its geography, culture, and social diversity. An active, cultural, and romantic journey throughout Morocco. A destination that encompasses all aspects of an inclusive, tolerant and, open-minded way of life. The birthplace of Moorish Heritage of once a civilization that thrived between, Cordoba, Granada, Fez, and Marrakech. An Islamic Heritage is still alive in major old cities like Rabat, Meknes, Fes, Marrakech, and Essaouira. For nature enthusiasts, Morocco holds some of the highest mountains laced with fertile plateaus and plains giving way to the Atlantic Ocean. Morocco is also home to the rare red cedar forests of the Atlas Mountains, thuya, and argan trees unique to the south-west region of Morocco. All are included in this cultural walking tour to Morocco scheduled for small groups in 2021 and 2022.

Join us in this Morocco cultural group tours scheduled for 2021 and 2022 multiple departures as we venture amongst the mosaics of the Roman city Volubilis, the ancient Medinas, the Medersas of Fez, and the Mosques and scented gardens of Marrakech. Morocco is a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, and cultures. Visiting Morocco cultural aspects is an experience not to be missed. Join this thoroughly cultural Morocco tour and expedition designed for discovery and knowledge. If our scheduled group departures are not for you or do not fit with your travel timing, please call on us so we can customize a private Morocco tour just for you in 2021 and 2022.

PRICING & AVAILABILITY

DEPARTING FINISHING SEATS TOTAL IN USD

ITINERARY

Welcome to one of our small group Morocco overland adventure tours. Our Tour Manager will be waiting for you at Tangier Port right after custom services gate to greet and then take you on a historical tour of Tangier, home of Paul Bowles for over fifty years. Later in the afternoon, we will transfer you immediately to check-in to your guesthouse in Chefchaouen. This is a wonderful short drive of about 45 miles through the lush farms and nurseries of exotic plants. Chefchaouen is the quintessential Mediterranean city. White and Blue are the main colors, a sense of cleanliness is the aura of this city and its people project. Adding to that a sublime Moorish architecture makes from the city one of the most picturesque cities in Morocco. Enjoy a walking tour of Chefchaouen with your local guide in the afternoon. Dinner and accommodation will be in a Chefchaouen boutique guesthouse.

After breakfast, our small group will get ready to start a cultural and historic trip towards Fez exploring ancient rights and cultural encounters traveling overland. We will proceed on an excursion for the day traveling east in the hinterland covering most of the Moroccan ancient history highlights. The first stop will be the ancient Roman city of Volubilis the place where Islam was introduced at first hand to Berber native. Volubilis was a critical city in the imperial Roman department of Mauritania (modern-day Morocco, and the western Sahara) during the reign of Caracalla. Volubilis is impressively well preserved and the genius of Roman urbanism is still intact. The two central integral streets in every Roman castrum, the cardo, and Decumanus, are prominent. The cardo is the boulevard which runs north-south and the Decumanus, east-west. The intersection of the two is the heart of every Roman city. There you will find the ruins of the ancient forum.

In the neighboring hills of the vicinity, the holy citadel of Moulay Idris is nestled. Founded in the 8th century by Moulay Idris al Akbar, grandson of the prophet Mohamed (s.a.w.s), this citadel is considered to be both the cradle of Sufism to Moroccan society as well as the first Islamic capital for the premier Arab dynasty. The city was created primarily for the indigenous groups that migrated with Moulay Idris from the Middle East. Your guide will take you around the narrow streets of this ancient hill town to explore a 13 hundred years old city that still keeps its lively existence like a medieval city inside its walls. We will overnight in this holly city that was a forbidden city for non-Muslims till 2004. Our diner and accommodation are at a traditional guesthouse well equipped with all the amenities that suit your comfort.

Our specialized guide in archeology will take you on a monumental discovery of Volubilis just one mile away from Moulay Idriss. Volubilis is a very interesting archeological site of the ancient Roman capital of Mauritania Tangitana. Our Morocco cultural and adventure trip will proceed to Fez where we will overnight and get ready for an in-depth-cultural tour of the city. Most of our Morocco tours go through Fez as it is the heartbeat of Morocco spiritually, intellectually and historically. Dinner and accommodation will be in a riad in Fez

The full day will be devoted to the historic guided visit of Fez ancient Medina. Extremely enthralling, Fez is a feast for the senses with its haunting yet beautiful sounds, visual splendor, and evocative smells. Fez is most ancient of the imperial capitals and the most complete medieval city of the Islamic world and a UNESCO world heritage. Time spent in Fez will reveal much about the sophistication of the Moroccan artisan, providing an unparalleled experience to all visitors who seek in-depth cultural discoveries. Your morning will be devoted to visiting historical sites in the medina. Drive down the hills to the gate of Bab Guissa where you will leave your vehicle and walk to enter an ancient world. Fez has preserved its medina as it was centuries ago. Not even a bicycle is able to be used as a tool for transportation. Only donkeys, mules, and horses are able to help to move all that the city produces and needs as supplies.

Your local guide will take to all the Islamic highlights you must visit and give an overview of the historic and cultural aspects of these sites. Walking also in the narrow medieval streets of Fez is an experience in itself among guilds and markets of all colors and sounds. You will end your Fez walking tour with your private small group back to your hotel for dinner and other accommodations.

You will spend your day discovering the rural environs of the Atlas Mountains’ Berbers villages and wards, natural landscapes, and cultural markets. Covered with evergreen pines, tall cedar trees, and poplars, and laced with flowing streams, your first view of the Middle Atlas Mountains will appear oddly un-Moroccan. Passing by Imouzzer, with a quick stop at the Swiss-like town of Ifrane, you will soon come across the first real town of the Middle Atlas, Azrou.

Azrou is an important market center for the region’s Berber tribes, located at a major junction of mountain routes for all these ethnic groups. Your driver will take a little detour in a cedar forest to introduce you to one of the oldest inhabitants of this region, the apes. This may also coincide with the encounter of a nomadic Berber family in at its temporary encampment while you are trekking the Atlas Mountains. As nomads are very hospitable people, whenever we encounter them we are all invited at least for a mint tea under their tents. At Midelt, the Middle Atlas ranges give way to the High Atlas Mountains, whose peaks are visible through the haze, soaring to over 12,000 feet. You will stop in Midelt for lunch, enjoying the dramatic sight before you. After you arrive at your Sahara Camp, you will leave your vehicle and ride your camel over the dunes of the Sahara. You will conclude your day in your camp over the dunes of Merzouga where tents are pitched for you to enjoy a night under the African Skies. After dinner, the Rokba drummers will illuminate your night with their lively dances and moving chants. Enjoy this encounter of man and nature at its best on this wonderful Morocco overland adventure tour. You'll then continue your overland trip to Erfoud, one of the most delightful southern regions consisting of a dry, exploring the red belt of the desert with a sudden drop into the lush valley of Ziz, with copious date palm groves and flowing streams. Visit the gorges of Ziz and some of the oases and natural sites before you reach the magnificent oasis of Merzouga.

You will wake up early to take a walking moment to reach the highest peak of the dunes and watch the sunrise over the spectacular Merzouga dunes. This is a natural experience that should not be missed. Afterward, you will eat breakfast with the Tuaregs and continue onward hiking and trekking peaks and valleys that highlight your Morocco tour. You will leave the Sahara camp traveling west toward the Valley of Todra, which lies right between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. You will reach Tinghir, the town where we will be spending the night. Only 15 kilometers from Tinghir inside the Valley of Todra, you will find the Todra's highest and narrowest gorges in the region.

Next, you will proceed on your Morocco adventure experience traveling through the Dadès valley, wherein the spring, thousands of Persian roses bloom in hedgerows, filling the air with their heavenly perfume. You will also be trekking trails of the thousands of Kasbahs scattered along the Dadès River, majestic sandcastles with a visually appealing, timeless beauty. You will continue to explore the Dadès Valley, traveling through El Kelaâ De Mgouna and Boumalne to view the inimitable natural vistas and unusual rock formations. You will then continue onward overland to Ouarzazate, which is one large oasis that intercepts the flow of water between the Dadès, the Drâa valleys, and the majestic High Atlas Mountains natural landscapes. This is an ideal desert town to stop for the night. You will conclude your day with dinner and other accommodations in your hotel in Ouarzazate.

Following our adventure on the footsteps of Paul Bowles our great explorer traveled through, we will overland to Taroudant, stopping at the village of Taznakht and Taleouine the Zafran growing capital where you will feast on a typical Berber tagine lunch. You will pass through forests of the indigenous argan and thuya trees, where you may see the region notorious tree-climbing goats. Finally, you will conclude your day with dinner and other accommodations.

You will spend your morning touring the city of Taroudant cultural and historic sights with our special guide. Surrounded by red ochre walls, Taroudant is one of south Morocco's most ancient fortified cities, with its rich bazaars reflecting a strong tradition of arts and crafts, spices, and leather goods trade, silversmiths and oils are what fill up the exotic markets of Taroudant. Visiting this elegant cultural imperial city is like discovering the classic Marrakech of the 1940s, beautiful, exotic, and laidback walled oasis. Welcome to a walking tour of a real Moorish exotic city. After your historic and cultural walking tour of Taroudant, you will conclude your day with a festive dinner at your hotel.

You will begin your day by traveling to Essaouira (Mogador), a picturesque city with a rich history and culture, from one exotic environment to another will be your overland trek today. With fascinating antiquity, Essaouira was occupied by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, supplied essential purple dyes to the Romans, absorbed the sophisticated arts of the silversmith, and spent centuries as a Portuguese enclave. Despite the obvious influence of these civilizations, Essaouira has managed to remain a small, authentic Berber town. Alive with the breath of fresh air provided by the Atlantic, Essaouira is a jewel nestled in the rugged coast, with a vast expanse of empty sands trailing back along the promontory towards the south. After an introductory cultural tour to Essaouira, you will conclude your adventure discovery day with dinner and other accommodations in your Luxury hotel.

After breakfast, you will cross the Argan forests in a surreal setting of African arid terrain with rugged prehistoric trees nowhere to be found on earth. These are the famous Argan Trees. On this overland adventure tour, you will certainly see the tree-climbing goats as the love the berries of the Argan trees. Finally arriving in the foothills which overlook the magnificent oasis city of Marrakech Alhambra. Some of the aforementioned stops will include visits to Berber villages, scenic views, and traditional markets. You will devote your afternoon to the exploration of Marrakech's many historical and cultural sites, starting at the Menara gardens, a magnificent Royal Edifice overlooking a pool surrounded by flowerbeds, reflecting the image of an exquisite Moorish edifice. It was constructed in 1866 for dignitaries, who enjoyed glorious sunsets with the ethereal Atlas Mountains as a backdrop. The pool also functions as an innovative irrigation system that is serving dry life in the desert. Your walking cultural tour of Marrakech will cover many impressive sites, including the Koutoubia minaret (which is identical to la Giralda, a tower found in Sevilla, Spain), and the Saadian tombs, which demonstrate Moorish architecture at its best. The tombs consist of sixteenth-century mausoleums, which had lain walled-in and undiscovered until 1917. Next, you will explore the gardens of then the Majorelle. Finally, you will return to your hotel for a halal dinner and other accommodations.

Today you will go as a small group on a hiking excursion to the High Atlas Mountains exploring Berber villages and natural sites. In the morning, you will venture into the high-atlas mountains, to visit the Telouat fortress. The fortress is what remains of a stronghold belonging to the Berber chieftain El Glaoui (the lord of the Atlas). You will stop for lunch in Taddert, eating at the highest pass in Morocco, Tizi n'Tishka. In the afternoon, you will return to Marrakech. A Farewell Dinner will be offered at a Typical Moroccan Restaurant with a Berber show.

You will depart for the Casablanca airport early in the morning. There you will catch a flight connecting you to your next destination with a lifetime's worth of memories packed neatly into your suitcase. Another option if you are leaving from Tangier is to take the Marrakech Express Train. We hope you have enjoyed your Morocco overland adventure tour. Come back and visit us on one of our other Morocco Hiking and trekking overland expeditions. See you soon.

INCLUSIONS

INCLUDES

  • Services of local guides
  • Hotel taxes and service charges
  • Transportation in 4X4 vehicles
  • Breakfast, and dinner daily
  • Accommodation in hotel and guesthouses 4*

HOTELS

  • Chefchaouen: Casa Hassan Riad, 1 night,
  • Fez: Hotel L’Escale, 2 nights
  • Merzouga Dunes: Kasbah Leila Bivouac
  • Ouarzazate: Hotel Tishka Salaam, 1 night
  • Taroudant: Guesthouse Riad, 2 nights
  • Essaouira: Hotel Riad Loussia, 1 night
  • Marrakesh: Hotel El Andalous, 2 nights
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